6th North Norfolk Music Festival

Thursday 2 - Sunday 12 September 2010

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THURSDAY 2 SEPTEMBER

6.30pm

St Margaret’s Church, Burnham Norton  £10

OLIVER CONDY organ

JS Bach, Gibbons, Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Francis Jackson, Pärt

Organist Oliver Condy, also editor of BBC Music Magazine, returns to the Festival following his sell-out concert two years ago.  His enticing and varied programme will show off the versatility of St. Margaret’s wonderful organ.

FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER

7.00pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£18

ELIZABETH WATTS soprano SIMON LEPPER piano

Schubert: Die Forelle, An den Mond, Nacht und Träume

Schumann: Liederkreis Op. 39

Barber: Hermit Songs

Wolf: Songs from the Italian Songbook

Since winning the Song Prize at the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition Elizabeth Watts has firmly established herself as one of the country’s leading singers.  She makes her second appearance in South Creake in a typically thoughtful and challenging recital programme. Having made her début with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden at the Linbury Theatre last season she will be singing the role of Marzelline on the main stage in Fidelio in the autumn.

"... buckets of passion and thrilling coloratura as

Xerxe's anguished daughter Mandane."  (The Times)

SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER

3.30pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

BRIGHT YOUNG STARS concert No. 1

£12 (£30 for all three Bright Young Star concerts)

EBLANA STRING TRIO, DAVID CURINGTON oboe

Mozart: Oboe Quartet in F K370

Beethoven: String Trio in C minor Op.9 No.3

Britten: Phantasy Quartet Op.2 for Oboe and String Trio

Dohnanyi: Serenade for String Trio in C Op.10

Both Festival Directors were present at the Royal Northern College of Music’s highly prestigious Chamber Music Festival in January this year and were lucky enough to catch a concert given by this wonderful young trio together with the very talented oboist/composer David Curington.  All four nearing the end of their studies at the RNCM, they bring us this delightful programme of string trios and oboe quartets.

“...the late, mercurial, if elliptical, String Trio [Schönberg],was brilliantly undertaken by the RNCM’s Eblana String Trio.” (The Sunday Times)

6.00pm

The Old Chapel, Creake Centre, South Creake

FESTIVAL DINNER  1

£30 (Wines, coffee/teas included)

Quail egg and French bean salad with beetroot and blood orange dressing

Sea bass and red mullet on crushed minted potatoes with peas and glazed carrots

Olive oil and sauterne cake with blackberries and crème fraîche

French cheese plate

8pm     St Mary’s Church, South Creake

BRIGHT YOUNG STARS concert No. 2

£12 (£30 for all three Bright Young Star concerts)

ALASDAIR BEATSON piano

Mendelssohn: Sonata in E Op. 6

Schumann: Arabesque Op. 18, Abegg Variations

Beethoven: Sonata in F minor Op. 57 “Appassionata”

Liszt: Transcriptions of Schubert and Schumann Lieder

We are delighted that the brilliant young Scottish pianist, Alasdair Beatson, has been able to include NNMF in his busy schedule.  A regular soloist at Wigmore Hall, Alasdair has recently appeared at New York's Carnegie Hall and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

“…a young artist of exceptional talent” (The Independent)

“Artistry incarnate” (The Sunday Times)

SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER

3.30pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

BRIGHT YOUNG STARS concert No. 3

£12 (£30 for all three Bright Young Star concerts)

PHILIP HIGHAM cello with IAN BROWN piano

Fauré: Romance Op.69; Elégie Op.24; Op.69; Papillons Op.77

Brahms: Sonata in E minor Op.38

Schumann: Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op.102

Beethoven: Cello Sonata No.5 in D, Op.102 No.2

Deeply  impressed by his consummate musicianshipat last year’s Young Concert Artists Trust auditions, Festival director Simon Rowland-Jones immediately invited Philip Higham to NNMF where he will play with a firmly established Festival favourite, Ian Brown.

“Higham’s passionate connection with the piece [Finzi Cello Concerto], his total technical command of its virtuosic demands, were outstanding.” The Guardian

6pm

The Village Hall, North Creake

FESTIVAL DINNER  2

£30 (Wines, coffee/teas included)

Timbale of late summer vegetables

Roast salmon with stem ginger and toasted pine nuts, sweet chili sauce, new potatoes and mixed leaf salad vinaigrette

Cheese plate

Panna cotta with red fruits

8pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£20

HILLIARD ENSEMBLE

‘ARKHANGELOS’ a programme of early and modern Christian music from the Roman, English, Greek, Russian and Armenian traditions.

Unrivalled for its formidable reputation for performances of both early and contemporary music, The Hilliard Ensemble is one of the world's finest vocal chamber groups.

“One of the most beautiful sounds in the whole world” (The Independent)

The Gramophone said “Few vocal groups can be recognized within a single bar but The Hilliard Ensemble is one. Their sound is not contrived, their distinctive character having developed organically from their collective musicianship”.

MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER

7pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£18

SACCONI STRING QUARTET

Dvořák: String Quartet in F, Op.96 ‘American’

Janáček: String Quartet No.2 ‘Intimate Letters’

Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No.1 in D, Op.11

Frequent visitors to Norfolk, the Sacconi is widely known for its energy, creativity and integrity of interpretation.  Their programme is full of some of the best melodies in all string quartet music, celebrating the fire and colour of three great composers.

“The festival sensation…….. The chemistry between these four young players is tangible and magical.”  (The Scotsman)

TUESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER

7pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£15

CLARA MOURIZ mezzo-soprano with

MORGAN SZYMANSKI guitar

A programme of English and Spanish songs

During his last visit to Norfolk the much-loved guitarist Morgan Szymanski told us about his new discovery, a thrilling young Spanish soprano.  She studied in Madrid and London and has already sung a number of major roles in Europe. She won the Audience Prize in the 2008 Handel Singing Competition where Hilary Finch described Clara Mouriz in The Times as “a very classy act with a light agile voice of great charm and elegant intelligence.”

WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER

6.30pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£20 (includes a glass of wine in both intervals!)

SIMON ROWLAND-JONES at 60

Fund-raising star-studded Gala Concert in aid of the North Norfolk Music Festival.

Joint Festival Director Simon Rowland-Jones reaches his 60^th birthday during the 2010 Festival and the occasion will be marked by a special Gala Fund-raising Concert celebrating Simon’s forty years as performer, teacher and composer.

Joining him will be the Chilingirian Quartet, the Brodowski Quartet, writer Hermione Lee, Andrew Ball, Maureen Smith, Carole Presland, Morgan Szymanski, former members of the Belcea & Doric Quartets, Laura Samuel, Alasdair Tait & Mark Braithwaite together with distinguished past students of Simon’s.

This 3-part programme will be introduced by Barry Cheeseman.

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

6.30pm (One-hour concert with no interval)

St Margaret’s Church, Burnham Norton

£10

LAURA SAMUEL violin SIMON ROWLAND-JONES viola

Mozart: Duo for violin and viola in G K423

Rowland-Jones: Duo for violin and viola

Bach: Partita for solo violin No.2  in D minor

Highly distinguished violinist Laura Samuel returns to the Festival following her appearance last year with the Belcea Quartet of which she was a founder member.  After 16 years with the Quartet she is currently developing a career as a soloist and has recently joined the Nash Ensemble.   Joined by Simon Rowland-Jones in two Duos for violin and viola, she will end the recital with Bach’s Partita in D minor with its legendary ‘Chaconne’, a tour de force for the violin.

We are delighted that Laura will be opening her 2010 season with this performance in Norfolk.

8.30pm

The Village Hall, North Creake

£10

THE LIFE AND WORK OF PIANIST ANNIE FISCHER

NIEL IMMELMAN pianist and professor at Royal College of Music

Niel Immelman reflects on the life of this remarkable Hungarian pianist, with rare film clips from her astonishing performances.  These include the Chopin E minor Concerto and works by Beethoven, Schumann and Handel.

The North Creake Village Hall now doubles as a cinema thanks to the installation of a state of the art cinema screen and projector.

Sandwiches and wine can be purchased at the Village Hall from 8pm.

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

7pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£20

LEON McCAWLEY piano

CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET

SIMON ROWLAND-JONES viola

MOZART EVENING

String Quartet in C K465 ‘Dissonance’

Piano Concerto in E flat K449 (in Mozart’s version with string quartet)

String Quintet in C K515

Leon McCawley is one of this country’s most admired pianists and we are delighted to have him here for two performances. In this concert he is the soloist in the first-ever piano concerto at the Festival. Mozart himself liked to perform this work with string quartet rather than orchestra.  The Carducci Quartet, back for a second consecutive year, join us in this all-Mozart programme, which ends with the great String Quintet in C.

Leon McCawley’s recent recording of the Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas is a “superb set” (The Observer) and “technically flawless” (The Independent).

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

3.30pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£18

CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET

Haydn: String Quartet in E flat Op.33 No.2 “Joke”

Shostakovich: String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor Op.108

Schubert: String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’

This afternoon’s programme comprises three of the greatest string quartets in the whole repertoire and will show off the brio and musical insight of this brilliant young quartet.  Since last year’s appearance at NNMF they have twice toured the USA, and given a critically acclaimed concert at Wigmore Hall early in 2010.

“…among the finest of the current exceptional crop of young British-based string quartets.” (The Guardian) “...the Carducci String Quartet were stunning...they are clearly musicians of high intelligence.” (The Times)

6pm

The Village Hall, North Creake

FESTIVAL DINNER 3

£30 (Wines, coffee/teas included)

Red pepper and fennel bruschetta

Thai-spiced chicken with aromatic rice, mixed leaf salad vinaigrette

Cheese plate

Late summer pudding with crème fraîche

8pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£20

LEON McCAWLEY piano

Janáček: In the Mists

Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Op.24

Chopin: Four Impromptus

Barber: Nocturne Op. 33

Barber: Sonata for Piano Op. 26

Leeds prize-winner Leon McCawley is a regular performer at The Proms as well as playing with all the world’s great orchestras.

To celebrate the centenary of Samuel Barber’s birth (and bi-centenary of Chopin’s)

in 2010, McCawley pays tribute to the great American composer in a contrasting solo recital. Barber’s influences were largely European and span from the classical, majestic structures of Brahms (the great Fugue of the Handel Variations was a clear inspiration for Barber’s Fugue finale of the Sonata), to the jagged and poignant contrasting styles of Janáček, and the poetic, romantic works of Chopin, whilst creating his own unique voice that still speaks volumes today.

“….lyrical, heartfelt performance” (New York Times)

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

12.30pm

The Old Chapel, Creake Centre, South Creake

FESTIVAL LUNCH

£30 (Wines, coffee/teas included)

A warm salad of shredded duck on frisée lettuce with lentils drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sesame oil

Filet of pork en croute with fondant potatoes and seasonal vegetables

Cold strawberry meringue soufflé

Norfolk Binham Blue cheese with homemade soda bread and pickles

3pm

St Mary’s Church, South Creake

£20

DIANA MONTAGUE mezzo-soprano PAUL NILON tenor

IAN BROWN piano

Bach: Partita No. 6 in E minor for solo keyboard

Mahler: ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ in Mahler’s original version with piano

Ian Brown sets the mood for this majestic finale to the Festival with Bach’s inventive and profound Partita in E minor. This is followed by an extremely rare opportunity to hear one of the most popular pieces in the entire repertory, Mahler’s moving Das Lied von der Erde.” This version by Mahler with piano provides the opportunity to enjoy the work in a chamber-like setting where the voices can shine through and illuminate the texts in a more revealing and immediate way than with a full orchestra. The piano version of the piece was discovered in a cupboard amongst Alma Mahler’s private documents in 1953 and received its first public performance in Tokyo in 1989.  Be prepared for a deeply moving musical experience.

Ian Brown is joined by two of the country’s most distinguished singers.  Diana Montague has a glittering international career and has sung major roles at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York City, the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals and at major houses around the world. Paul Nilon sang the titles roles of Werther with Opera North and Idomeneo with ENO last season, to great acclaim.  He is equally at home with Janáček as he is with bel-canto operas and has made a number of recordings with Opera Rara.