Its conductor, Martyn Brabbins, returns in April for a concert to mark [pictured] Steven Osborne’s 50th birthday, which sees the pianist tackle Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto (available on BBC Sounds and iPlayer from 22 April). In addition, Elena Urioste (violin) and Tom Poster (piano) will play and direct the orchestra in a concert to air on Radio 3 on 6 April that encompasses music by Clarice Assad, Arvo Pärt, Finzi and Mendelssohn.
Tunes for Tots, the orchestra’s musical storytime for young children, will return to iPlayer just in time for the Easter holidays with an adventure down on the farm, presented by Lucy Drever, the orchestra’s Associate Artist.
Finally, Tectonics Glasgow, the BBC SSO’s festival of new and experimental music, will take place online and on-air on the weekend of 8 & 9 May 2021, with a mix of pre-recorded online performances and live late-night broadcasts on Radio 3. Full programme to follow.
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Thursday 11 March, 7.30pm
– Listen on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds
– Watch on BBC iPlayer
SHEKU KANNEH-MASON PLAYS DVOŘÁK
AUGUSTA READ THOMAS Plea for Peace (version for flute, oboe, trumpet and strings)
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto (reduced version, orch. George Morton)
SIR JAMES MACMILLAN Tryst
Martyn Brabbins, conductor
“I am just an ordinary Czech musician” said Antonín Dvořák: but great artists see whole worlds in everyday things, and the birdsong, horn calls and tender memories that he poured into his Cello Concerto only heighten its power. Former BBC Young Musician, now rising cellist superstar, Sheku Kanneh-Mason is our soloist for this much-loved work. ‘A meeting place of different music elements’ is how Sir James MacMillan describes Tryst which swaps moods, motifs and musical influences with a Stravinsky-like flair. And to open, a work whose title says it all; originally written as a vocalise for solo soprano, Augusta Read Thomas’s meditation is played here in a version for wind and strings.
From Wednesday 31 March, 10am
-Watch on BBC iPlayer
TUNES FOR TOTS: ON THE FARM
The BBC SSO’s musical storytime returns with an adventure down on the farm. Created for young children, their parents, carers, and siblings, Tunes for Tots will bring out the musical side of everyone. Presented by the orchestra’s Associate Artist, Lucy Drever.
Tuesday 6 April, 7.30pm
– Listen on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds
‘DREAMSCAPES’ WITH ELENA URIOSTE AND TOM POSTER
ARVO PÄRT Spiegel im Spiegel(for solo piano and violin)
FINZI Eclogue for Piano and Strings, Op.10
CLARICE ASSAD Dreamscapes
MENDELSSOHN Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra
Elena Urioste, violin/director
Tom Poster, piano/director
Arvo Pärt’s rapt, transfixing Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) sets the tone for this concert of music of dream-like, meditative beauty. Clarice Assad’s Dreamscapes maps the brain’s journey into the world of sleep, while Finzi’s Eclogue – intended as the central movement of a never-completed piano concerto – finds moments of grand passion among its serene English pastoralism. Elena Urioste (violin) and Tom Poster (piano) play and direct the orchestra, coming together as the joint soloists in Mendelssohn’s playful double concerto, written when he was just 14, and already brimming with his trademark grace and lyricism.
Thursday 22 April, 7.30pm
STEVEN OSBORNE PLAYS SHOSTAKOVICH
-Listen on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds
-Watch on BBC iPlayer
COPLAND Appalachian Spring: Suite
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No.2
COPLAND Quiet City
SHOSTAKOVICH Hamlet: Suite Op.32a
Steven Osborne, piano
Martyn Brabbins, conductor
Pianist Steven Osborne joins us to celebrate entering his 50th year with a work written as a birthday present for Shostakovich’s own son Maxim. It calls for youthful exuberance as well as depth of feeling – something our birthday boy has in spades. Happy Birthday, Steven! Shostakovich’s brilliant music for a stage version of Hamlet brings down the curtain but before then we cross the Atlantic for two of Aaron Copland’s rapturous visions of his home nation, both urban and in the wild: Quiet City and Appalachian Spring.
Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 May
-Watch at bbc.co.uk/bbcsso
-Listen on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds
TECTONICS GLASGOW
An online and on-air version of the BBC SSO’s annual new and experimental music festival, with a mix of pre-recorded online performances and live late-night broadcasts on Radio 3. Full programme to follow.