new bristol sinfonia

Next concert:
Saturday 23rd June 2007

...the Sinfonia showed no qualms in their interpretation...
Click here to read a review of one of our recent concerts.

New Bristol Sinfonia present their second concert of 2007:

Tonight’s concert contains 2 famous 5th Symphonies! We begin with one of the most well known of all; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Although preliminary sketches of the symphony date from as early as 1804, the bulk of the work was written in 1807-08, at roughly the same time as the 6th Symphony. Both symphonies were performed for the first time at a benefit concert in Vienna on December 22, 1808. The 5th Symphony was recognised as a masterpiece, and has remained the single most familiar of Beethoven’s works since then. There is no more recognisable motif in Western music than the opening four notes of the first movement. Whether or not Beethoven attached a specific meaning to this motto is unclear - his first biographer, Anton Schindler reported that Beethoven referred to this motive as "Fate knocking at the door," but this may be apocryphal. Later times have attached all sorts of meanings, for example, during World War II, because of its identity with the Morse Code "V," it became the musical emblem of Allied victory. According to an account by Hector Berlioz, he brought his former teacher Jean-François Le Seur to an early performance of the 5th Symphony in Paris. After the final bars, the old man was so excited by the piece that his head was reeling, and he wryly complained that: "One should not be permitted to write such music." Berlioz replied: "Calm yourself, it will not be done often."

Tchaikovsky worked on his Symphony No. 5 during the summer of 1888 in his forest home away from the city. He conducted the first performance himself in St. Petersburg in November that year. He was not a great conductor, but the audience was receptive. However, his self esteem was low and he didn’t trust what he experienced, writing about the first performances "I have come to the conclusion that it is a failure. There is something repellent, something superfluous, patchy and insincere which the public instinctively recognises. It was obvious to me that the ovations I received were prompted more by my earlier work, and that the Symphony itself did not really please the audience." Some time later he thought better of the symphony and suggested it had been his own inept conducting that made such a poor case for the work! However, almost 120 years later, Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony is one of the staples of orchestral literature.

Concert

Date: Saturday 23 June, 2007

Programme:

• Beethoven: Symphony No 5
  
• Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 5
  

Conductor: Jason Lai

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: Victoria Rooms, Clifton, Bristol. Click here for a map

Tickets:
We recommend booking in advance with our Box Office: 0117 983 5922. (Cheques are accepted and there is no booking fee.) Pre-booked tickets will be posted to you or can be picked up at the door.

Most seats for this concert are numbered and can be reserved in advance. Click here to see a seating plan of the Victoria Rooms. Use the Back button on your browser to return to this page. The Box Office can advise on which seats are available and which have the best view.

The ticket prices are:

• £13 (£11 concessions) balcony
• £10 adults (£8 concessions) stalls
• £5 students
• £2 children/school parties

Pre-concert talk:
Jason will be presenting a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. This is open to all and entry is free.