2017
2017
BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
NEW YEAR STRAUSS GALA
Saturday 7 January 2017, 7.30pm, Cheltenham Town Hall
Nearly 700 people celebrated the arrival of 2016 at the Town Hall with the BSO when
they performed our first-ever New Year Strauss Gala last January. Why not join
them this time, to celebrate the New Year in style with a concert featuring all things
Viennese, and evoking the wonderful atmosphere of the Vienna Philharmonic’s worldfamous annual New Year’s Day concert at the Musikverien?
British soprano Soraya Mafi will join the BSO to bring to life the glories of the Vienna
dance-halls in a bubbling selection of waltzes, gallops, polkas and marches by Johann
Strauss and his contemporaries. Works include Thunder & Lightning, Blue Danube,
Radetzky March, Emperor Waltz, Gypsy Baron, Voices of Spring and The Persian
March - among many other Viennese favourites!
Note: There is no Pre-Concert Talk prior to this performance.
CONDUCTOR
Frank Zielhorst
SOPRANO
Soraya Mafi
PHILHARMONIA
ORCHESTRA
Tuesday 24 January 2017, 7.30pm,
Cheltenham Town Hall
Friday 24 February 2017, 7.30pm,
Cheltenham Town Hall
Taiwanese violinist Hsien and Dutch conductor
Hermus bring their international flair to tonight’s
concert, spanning two musical eras and two
strongly nationalistic 19th century styles. Mozart
represents the 18th century, with the last of his five
violin concertos - composed in 1775 in Salzburg. Its
rondo finale, similar in feel to his famous Rondo alla
Turca, gives the piece its nickname - ‘The Turkish’.
Smetana’s Bartered Bride is one of the most vibrant
and virtuosic of 19th century overtures, filled with
the flavour of his native Czechoslovakia. While
Dvorak’s penultimate symphony is sometimes the
subject of discussion: some say it possesses many
of the traits of his 9th (‘The New World’), others
claim it has the same strong Czech flavour that
runs through Smetana’s works. Dvorak composed
it at his summer house in Bohemia in 1889, 3 years
before he even set foot in America - tonight you can
decide for yourself!
Having departed Dresden and the shadow of
Wagner, a reinvigorated Schumann completed two
major works in just three months in 1850, both
performed tonight. However, while the symphony
had acclaimed performances in Germany, the
concerto remained unplayed until after his death,
championed by his widow, Clara, who wrote in her
diary, ‘I have played Robert’s concerto again…the
romantic quality, freshness and humour are indeed
ravishing.’ The symphony is equally exhilarating,
with moments of both joyous rapture and grand
solemnity.
Pre-Concert Talk (6.30pm to 7pm): Antony
Hermus is interviewed as an introduction
to tonight’s programme. Supported by The
Hattori Foundation for Music & The Arts.
CONDUCTOR
Antony Hermus
VIOLIN
Rose Hsien
SMETANA
Overture, The
Bartered Bride
6
September 2016 - June 2017
BOURNEMOUTH
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MOZART
Violin Concerto No.5
in A major, K219
DVORAK
Symphony No.8 in
G major, Op.88
Lohengrin was Wagner’s first recognised
masterpiece. The Act I Prelude is a musical depiction
of the Holy Grail descending to Earth in the care of
an angelic host, whilst that of Act III, containing just
about the most ostentatious music Wagner wrote,
sets the scene for Lohengrin’s wedding.
Pre-Concert Talk (6.30pm to 7pm): Presented
by BSO’s Head of Concerts, Heather Duncan.
CONDUCTOR
Kirill Karabits
minor, Op.129
CELLO
Steven Isserlis
WAGNER
Prelude, Lohengrin
(Act 1)
SCHUMANN
Cello Concerto in A
WAGNER
Prelude, Lohengrin
(Act 3)
SCHUMANN
Symphony No.3 in
E flat major, Op.97,
Rhenish
September 2016 - June 2017
7