YORK Barbican’s orchestra-in-residence ended its season with a mixed bag centred around Bruch’s First Violin Concerto – by far the most famous of the three he wrote – alongside two overtures from opposite ends of the Romantic era, plus Britten’s Sea Interludes and Ravel’s La Valse.
It was all very tastefully delivered but lacked the final punch that a meatier second half – with a symphony perhaps – might have produced.
Bradley Creswick made his name hereabouts as leader for 25 years of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, of which he is now Leader Emeritus. He lollops onto the stage with a mischievous smile that radiates both surprise and delight, but his casual demeanour belies a fluent technique and a seriousness of intent.
He immediately took a slower tempo than that suggested by the opening chords: his entire approach to the introduction was leisurely, liberally laced with rubato, and his mellow tone in the slow movement was ideally suited to its tear-jerking melodies.
It was not until the jaunty rhythms of the finale that he really let loose, bouncing crisply through both main melodies and accelerating with panache through the coda. Accompanying his relatively wayward tempos, especially in the first two movements, would have tested a lesser conductor than Simon Wright. However, the orchestra stayed in remarkably close attendance, even matching Creswick’s energy in the finale.
Each half of the afternoon was prefaced with an overture. The horn quartet at the start of Weber’s Der Freischütz was stylish, near faultless in fact. Not to be outdone, the violins were positively spine- tingling in the Vivace section.
Creswick humbly took a seat with them after the interval, when Verdi’s overture to La Forza del Destino offered the brass a chance to show their mettle, especially in the final prolonged crescendo – a trick Verdi had learned from Rossini.
Britten aligned four of the six sea interludes in his opera Peter Grimes into a suite, to which he appended the passacaglia that falls between the two scenes of Act 2.
In many ways, the different moods of the interludes reflect varied aspects of Grimes’ own volatile personality. Playing them as a suite relies on the chameleon qualities of an orchestra.
Two aspects here predominate. The woodwinds need to be highly flexible, running around seemingly in circles while the rest of the orchestra remains largely calm, as in ‘Dawn’. He also uses an extensive percussion section. Wright handled both these superbly.
He also brought extra emphasis to the dark underlay of ‘Moonlight’, while benefiting from the aplomb of his viola soloist in the Passacaglia, and encouraging some real shrieking from his winds in ‘Storm’.
Ravel’s ‘choreographic poem’ La Valse was at first rejected by Diaghilev as not being balletic enough, but was eventually staged. Above all, it needs to dance, particularly in its apotheosis when its constituent parts seem to disintegrate.
After conjuring a passionate mood for the central section, Wright was not afraid to launch into stridency in the final frenzied chords when the waltz seems to self-destruct.
Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron: One of six artists in residence at Ryedale Festival. Picture: Victoria Cadisch
IN the words of guest speaker Dame Sheila Hancock, “classical music thrills, comforts and amazes me. When I begin to lose faith in the human species, it reminds me what the best of us can do.”
“That seems a good motto for the Ryedale Festival 2024,” says director Christopher Glynn, introducing the programme of 58 events at 35 locations that begins today.
“Our aim at the Ryedale Festival is simple: to make North Yorkshire one of the best places in Europe to enjoy and encounter classical music, and to do it with a sense of vision and adventure.
“I look forward to welcoming audiences from near and far to enjoy internationally renowned performers this summer, from Angela Hewitt performing Bach to Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing Bob Marley – and all in beautiful Yorkshire locations.
“Just as importantly, the festival offers opportunities to hundreds of local young people and a platform for emerging talent, as well as breaking new ground with seven world/UK premieres. Above all, it’s a team effort involving thousands of people who all believe in the important and life-enhancing role that music can play in our communities.”
Dame Sheila Hancock: “Classical music is one of the biggest comforts and joys of my life,” she says. Picture: Neil Spence
Actress and author Dame Sheila, 91, will reflect on her life and introduce live performances of favourite works by Mahler, Dvorak, Shostakovich, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd in My Music: An Afternoon With Dame Sheila Hancock at Duncombe Park on July 25 at 3pm.
“I love classical music. It’s my stabiliser,” says Dame Sheila, who will be joined by the Carducci Quartet, soprano Caroline Blair and interviewer Katy Hamilton. “It’s one of the biggest comforts and joys of my life. And I want everybody to have the opportunity of that – I really do. We need people to know that it’s for everybody.”
Violinist Rachel Podger: Troubadour Trail at St Oswald’s Church Filey (24/7/2024, 11am), Christ Church, Appleton-le-Moors (25/7/2024, 11am) and Church of St Michael and All Angels, Garton on the Wolds (26/7/2024, 3pm)
Pianist Angela Hewitt opens the festival tonight with an 8pm programme of Bach’s Partita No. 6 in E minor, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Scarlatti’s Three Sonatas and Brahms’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel at Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering.
The festival has no fewer than six artists in residence: international horn player Felix Klieser, who was born without arms and taught himself to play with his feet; trailblazing guitarist Xuefei Yang, whose musical journey began at a time when the guitar was banned as an “hooligan” instrument in China; mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, born to a British father and Singaporean mother; violinist Stella Chen, the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year; the Van Baerle Trio and baroque violinist Rachel Podger, whose Troubadour Trail solo programme takes her to three North Yorkshire churches.
Nigel Short conducts the choir Tenebrae in A Prayer For Deliverance at Ampleforth Abbey on July 17 at 8pm when highlights include Joel Thompson’s title work Richard Rodney Bennett’s tribute to Linda McCartney, A Good-Night, and Herbert Howells’ Requiem to his young son Michael.
Violinist Maria Wloszczowska directs the Royal Northern Sinfonia in Mozart In Scarborough, a 7pm programme of Mozart concertos and Prague symphony at Church of St Martin-on-the-Hill on July 20.
Royal Wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs music from Brahms’s Hungarian Dances to Bob Marley’s Redemption Song, Burt Bacharach’s I Say A Little Prayer to Antonio Carlos Jobim’s The Girl From Ipanema, Laura Mvula’s Sing To The Moon to Dvorak’s Song To The Moon, on July 27 at both St Peter’s Church, Norton (1.30pm), and Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York (6pm).
Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Two concerts in one day. Picture: Ollie Ali
He will be joined by violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason, guitarist Plinio Fernandes, Fantasia Orchestra and conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh at both St Peter’s Church, Norton (1.30pm), and Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York (6pm).
“You can spot stars of tomorrow, such as Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili (who started as a child pop singer and even won The Voice), conductor and ‘spark to watch’ Tom Fetherstonhaugh, Brazilian guitar pioneer Plínio Fernandes, and an array of others, including our own Ryedale Festival Young Artists,” says Christopher.
“All are welcome to Come and Sing Fauré’s Requiem [A Tenebrae Effect Workshop] at St Mary’s Church, Thirsk or promenade through a Triple Concert at Castle Howard [Van Baerle Trio, Long Gallery; Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain, Great Hall; Marian Consort, Chapel).
“You can also picnic in the interval of a Double Concert [Piatti Quartet and Katona Twins] at Sledmere House and Church, enjoy the Orchestra of Opera North [Final Gala Concert] at Hovingham Hall, or join us at new venues such as Selby Abbey[Marian Consort, In Sorrow’s Footsteps, Allegri’s Miserere, July 25] and stunning locations on the Yorkshire Wolds, North York Moors and coast.”
Jazz, folk and world music feature too. Claire Martin & Friends mark the 100th anniversary Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blues at the Milton Rooms, Malton, on July 19, and Northumbrian folk band The Unthanks perform there with an 11-piece line-up on July 23.
Becky and Rachel Unthank: July 23 concert at Milton Rooms, Malton
Fleur Barron and pianist Julius Drake will be joined by Hibiki Ichikawa (shamisen) and Suleiman Suleiman (actor/dancer) for Spring Snow, a meditation on sound and silence, solitude and communion, love and loss, built around the Kabuki play Yasuna and Schubert’s Winterreise as shamisen music meets Japanese dance-theatre at St Peters Church, Norton, on July 16.
Family concerts, talks, masterclasses, late-night candlelit concerts, choral evensong, Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band and seven world/UK premieres will be further highlights.
For the full programme, visit: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777 or ryedalefestival.com.
Baritone Roderick Wilson: Artist in residence at 2022 Ryedale Festival
THE 2022 Ryedale Festival will embrace 300 performers in 52 concerts from July 15 to 31, kicking of the event’s fifth decade of inspiring performances in beautiful North Yorkshire locations.
Under Christopher Glynn’s artistic directorship, the festival will find a special place for Handel’s music, including a pop-up production of his magical opera Acis And Galatea that will visit three churches.
The music and legacy of Ralph Vaughan Williams will be in focus too, as will the genre-blending elan of Errollyn Wallen and the 50th anniversary of Swedish supergroup Abba.
The Kanneh-Mason family will open the festival on July 15 with a concert by the seven brothers and sisters from Nottingham, aged between 11 and 24. On July 16, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason will be in conversation with Edward Seckerson in House of Music: Raising The Kanneh-Masons, a joyful celebration of this extraordinary musical story.
Six world premieres will take centre stage. Julian Philips will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vaughan Williams with Looking West, a new work inspired by the ancient stories and landscapes of northern England.
Composer Julian Philips: World premiere of Looking West
Roxanna Panufnik’s Babylonia will go on an imaginative journey to the Middle East, while Errollyn Wallen and Tarik O’Regan will explore the myth of creation in their co-composed work Ancestor, to be premiered by Philharmonia Baroque.
Joseph Howard’s community song cycle Seven Mercies celebrated the heritage and talent of Pickering on May 21; Robert Balanas will be debuting an ABBA medley for solo violin, and Callum Au will be bringing a new work co-commissioned with Spitalfields Festival.
A strong line-up of artists in residence will be in Ryedale for the festival. Baritone Roderick Williams will lead two of the four concerts marking Vaughan Williams’s anniversary with Christopher Glynn and fellow artists in residence the Maxwell Quartet, as well as leading a singing masterclass with talented young artists. The Gesualdo Six will perform two vibrant programmes in Ampleforth Abbey and Castle Howard.
The festival’s two ensembles in residence, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque (in their first UK tour for more than a decade), will present one of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a tour-de-force of vocal and instrumental virtuosity that bubbles with the energy and exuberance of youth.
Ryedale Festival Young Artists will be in the spotlight too. Violinist Roberts Balanas will perform a late-night candlelit concert, while Scottish accordionist Ryan Corbett will set out on a “troubadour trail” across Ryedale, bringing music – from the grandeur of Bach to the romance of Tchaikovsky – to beautiful and little-known churches across the region.
The Maxwell Quartet: Artists in residence
Soprano Siân Dicker and pianist Krystal Tunnicliffe will create a relaxed, informal and interactive concert for people living with dementia, their friends, family and carers – and anyone else who would like to attend. Bassoonist Ashby Mayes will collaborate with Krystal Tunnicliffe in an enterprising programme at a coffee concert.
Further highlights will include the London Mozart Players with pianist conductor Martin James Bartlett; The National Youth Choir of Great Britain performing a programme on the theme of environment; Pete Long and Friends playing 100 Years Of Jazz In 99 Minutes and fast-rising soloists such as violinist Johan Dalene, cellist Bruno Phillipe, trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary, harpsichordist Richard Egarr and pianists Rebeca Omordia and Alim Beisembayev. Renaudin Vary will give a brass masterclass too.
Dame Janet Baker will be in conversation with Edward Seckerson and a visit from poet, author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay will be among the literary events. Family concerts will include a musical version of the modern children’s classic Izzy Gizmo.
For the final gala concert, trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary will join the Royal Northern Sinfonia for a sunny-spirited concerto at the heart of an eclectic programme that will take in lyricism of two English romantics, a Bach-inspired work by Errollyn Wallen and one of Haydn’s most rousing and witty symphonies.
A new partnership with the Richard Shephard Foundation is working in primary schools to transform the festival’s engagement with children across Yorkshire. Already this has supported Seven Mercies, a new Community Song Cycle by Joseph Howard and Emma Harding at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering, on May 21. Inspired by the church’s famous murals, this celebration of local heritage and talent took the theme of countering difficult times through small acts of kindness.
Dame Janet Baker: In conversation at Duncombe Park
Seven Mercies is one of two major elements of the festival taking place outside the main festival in July. Post festival, on October 29, the Hallé Orchestra and Chorus, Natalya Romaniw, Alice Coote, Thomas Atkins, James Platt and conductor Sir Mark Elder will perform Verdi’s mighty and dramatic Requiem in York Minster.
First-time ticket-buyers can attend selected events for £10, under-18s for £5. All are invited to watch the free-to-view additional content that will be shared on the digital platform RyeStream.
Artistic director Christopher Glynn says: “From legendary artists such as Dame Janet Baker to stars of the new generation like the Kanneh-Masons, we’ve brought together a line-up of international quality to perform in stunning locations across the beautiful area of Ryedale, from historic old churches to magnificent stately homes.
“As always, the festival is a celebration of music and place, and how they can enhance each other. I’m especially pleased that we are working with the Richard Shephard Music Foundation to bring musical opportunities to primary school children across Yorkshire, and that hundreds of tickets will be available from as little as £5 for under-18s and first-time attenders. We look forward to welcoming music-lovers from far and wide to Ryedale this summer.”
For full details, go to: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777; ryedalefestival.com; in person from Memorial Hall, Potter Hill, Pickering, second floor, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9.30am to 2.30pm.
Opening concert: The Kanneh-Mason family of musicians
2022 Ryedale Festival programme
July 15, 7pm, St Peter’s Church, Norton
Opening Concert
Kanneh-Mason Family
July 16, 3pm, St Michael’s Church, Malton
House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons
Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason
July 16, 8pm, St Mary’s Priory Church, Old Malton
Johan Dalene, violin
Charles Owen, piano
July 17, 3pm, Helmsley Arts Centre
Family Concert
July 17, 7pm, Duncombe Park
Pre-concert talk: Katy Hamilton
London Mozart Players: July 23 concert
July 17, 8pm, Duncombe Park
The Wanderer
Roderick Williams, baritone
Christopher Glynn, piano
July 18, 11am, Helmsley Arts Centre
Shakespeare’s Infinite Variety
Lucy Beckett, speaker
July 18, 3pm to 5pm, Helmsley Arts Centre
Roderick Williams, masterclass
July 18, 7pm, Sledmere House and Church
Double Concert
July 19, 11am, All Saints’ Church, Slingsby
The Maxwell Quartet
Christopher Glynn: Ryedale Festival artistic director
July 19, 2pm, All Saints’ Church, Helmsley
Pre-concert talk
Katy Hamilton
July 19, 3pm, All Saints’ Church, Helmsley
Acis And Galatea I
July 19, 9.30pm, The Milton Rooms, Malton
Late-Night Folk
July 20, 11am, Birdsall House
Margaret Fingerhut, piano
July 20, 3pm, St Mary’s Church, Lastingham
Acis And Galatea II
July 20, 7pm, Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering
Pre-concert talk
Katy Hamilton
Trumpet player Lucienne Renaudin Vary. Picture: Simon Fowler
July 20, 8pm, Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering
Mystical Songs
Roderick Williams & The Maxwell Quartet
July 21, 11am, St Nicholas Church, Husthwaite
Troubadour Trail I
Ryan Corbett, accordion
July 21, 3pm, St Michael’s Church, Malton
Acis And Galatea III
July 21, 8pm, Birdsall House
Bruno Phillipe, cello
Tanguy de Williencourt, piano
July 22, 1pm, Church of St Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough
National Youth Choir
Poet Lemn Sissay:
July 22, 3pm, St Hilda’s Church, Sherburn
Troubadour Trail II
Ryan Corbett, accordion
July 22, 8pm, The Milton Rooms,Malton
100 Years Of Jazz In 99 Minutes
Pete Long and Friends
July 23, 11am, Holy Cross Church, East Gilling
Troubadour Trail III
Ryan Corbett, accordion
July 23, 3pm to 5pm, The Milton Rooms, Malton
Come and Sing ABBA!
July 23, 8pm, St Peter’s Church, Norton
London Mozart Players
July 24, 3pm, James Holt Concert Hall, Kirkbymoorside
Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band
July 24, 6.30pm, All Saints’ Church, Kirkbymoorside
Alim Beisembayev, piano
July 24, 9.30pm, All Saints’ Church, Kirkbymoorside
Late-Night Candlelit Concert
Roberts Balanas, violin
July 25, 11am, All Saints’ Church, Hovingham
Rebeca Omordia,piano
July 25, 2pm, Hovingham Hall
National Youth Chamber Choir
Philharmonia Baroque
July 25, 7.30pm, Duncombe Park
Dame Janet Baker
In conversation with Edward Seckerson
The Gesualdo Six. Picture: Ash Mills
July 26, 11am, St Lawrence’s ’s Church, York
Music For A While
Rowan Pierce & Philharmonia Baroque
July 26, 8pm, Ampleforth Abbey
The Gesualdo Six
July 27, 11am, St Michael’s Church, Coxwold
Lucienne Renaudin Vary, trumpet
Félicien Brut, accordion
July 27, 7pm, Castle Howard
Triple Concert
July 28, 11am, St Oswald’s Church, Sowerby
Ashby Mayes, bassoon
Krystal Tunnicliffe, piano
July 28, 3pm, The Milton Rooms, Malton
Dementia-friendly Concert
Siân Dicker, soprano
Krystal Tunnicliffe, piano
Harpsichordist Richard Egarr: A Byrde In The Hande candlelit concert
July 28, 7pm, Duncombe Park
Stephen Kovacevich, piano
July 28, 9.30pm, St Gregory’s Minster, Kirkdale
Late-Night Candlelit Concert
Richard Egarr, harpsichord
July 29, 11am, St Peter’s Church, Norton
Inner City Brass
July 29, 3pm to 5pm, James Holt Concert Hall, Kirkbymoorside
Brass masterclass
Lucienne Renaudin Vary
July 29, 7pm, St Peter’s Church, Norton
A Garden Of Good And Evil
Philharmonia Baroque
July 30, 11am, All Saints’ Church, Hovingham
Siân Dicker, soprano
Krystal Tunnicliffe, piano
July 30, 3pm, The Galtres Centre, Easingwold
Lemn Sissay
My Name Is Why
July 30, 6pm, Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering
Pre-concert talk
July 30, 7.30pm, Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering
Looking West
July 31, 3pm, The Worsley Arms, Hovingham
Jazz in the Garden
July 31, 5pm, All Saints’ Church, Hovingham
Festival Service
July 31, 6.30pm, Hovingham Hall
Final Gala Concert
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Lucienne Renaudin Vary, trumpet
Post-festival concert: October 29, 7.30pm,York Minster
