new bristol sinfonia

Next concert:
Saturday 25th November 2006

...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 final concert of 2006:

We open tonight’s concert with the overture to Rossini’s final opera, William Tell. It is a very familiar work, especially its high-energy finale and there has been repeated use (and sometimes parody) of it in many films and commercials. It is also quoted by Shostakovich in his Symphony No. 15 (which we will hear later in tonight’s programme!) The overture has 4 parts; the Prelude (a beautiful introduction with low-pitch instruments such as cello and bass) the Storm (a dynamic section played by full orchestra) the Ranz des vaches ("call to the dairy cows" featuring the English horn) and the famous Finale (the "cavalry charge" heralded by trumpets).

Wagner completed the Forest Murmurs from Act Two of his opera Siegfried in June 1857, having by then worked on the opera’s first two acts intently for nine months. This movement tells how Siegfried lies in wait outside the lair of the dragon Fafner, whom he intends to kill in order to acquire the golden ring. He has recently learned of his interesting genealogy and is musing on how to make sense of it all. A bird hovers overhead, chirping, apparently hoping to communicate something to Siegfried, who endeavours to make sense of the forest sounds. As the movement unrolls it grows into a full-bodied depiction of the forest and is an idyllic descriptive tone poem within an often dark opera.

Shostakovich’s 15th symphony is also his last and was written in a little over a month during the summer of 1971. Though it is written for a large orchestra, the symphony is sparingly scored, almost like chamber music, with a large percussion section adding to the unusual colourings. The symphony is filled with cryptic allusions to Shostakovich's own music as well as the music of Richard Wagner, Mikhail Glinka, Gustav Mahler and as mentioned before, Rossini, where he quotes part of the William Tell Overture! Shostakovich said in a conversation with his friend, Isaak Glikman, that, "I don't myself quite know why the quotations are there, but I could not, not include them".

Concert

Date: Saturday 25 November, 2006

Programme:

• Rossini: William Tell Overture
• Wagner: Forest Murmurs from Siegfried
• Shostakovich: Symphony No 15, Opus 141
  

Conductor: James Lowe

Time: 7.30pm

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

Tickets:
We recommend booking in advance on our ticket hotline: "MusicBox" 01275 349010. (Cheques and all major credit and debit cards accepted, 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.

The ticket prices are expected to be:

• £13 (£11 concessions) balcony
• £10 adults (£8 concessions) front stalls
• £7 adults (£5 concessions) rear stalls under the balcony (unreseved)
• £5 students, any seat
• £2 children/school parties, any seat

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