- Over 200 UK-based musicians including soloists, singers, string quartets, choirs and small ensembles to perform 40 concerts, streamed on HD free-of-charge on Wigmore Hall’s website
- Live-streaming returns to Wigmore Hall every weeknight from 22 February
- Special Good Friday concert featuring the first major UK performance of St. Matthew Passion by German composer Johann Sebastiani
- Online donations on course to meet GBP£1-million landmark by the first anniversary UK’s first nationwide lockdown on 23 March
In anticipation of UK government’s announcement of the roadmap forward on 22 February, Wigmore Hall today unveils its spring series of 40 concerts from Monday 22 February to Easter, Saturday 3 April.
Over six weeks, more than 200 UK-based musicians will come through the doors of Wigmore Hall to perform 40 concerts, from solo recitals to a panoply of choral concerts for the Easter season. Every weeknight concert and most of the matinee concerts will be streamed live on HD on Wigmore Hall’s website. Each concert, lasting 60–90 minute in length with no interval, will be performed behind closed doors with no audience present.
John Gilhooly, Director of Wigmore Hall said, ‘As the anniversary of UK’s first national lockdown approaches, the livelihoods of most musicians remain hugely precarious. Compounded by uncertainty over European travel in the next few months, it is more important than ever that Wigmore Hall plays a part in providing refuge for musicians in these impossibly challenging circumstances.’
‘We are heartened and grateful for the overwhelming support that music lovers around the world have shown since we first started streaming concerts on 1 June last year. I hope this generosity will continue as our online donations edge ever closer to the £1-million landmark. I cannot emphasise enough how vital every single contribution has been in enabling us to put on concerts to support musicians.’
Wigmore Hall’s spring series culminates in Easter week that sees the return of UK’s leading choirs and baroque ensembles including The Sixteen, Stile Antico, La Serenissima, Fretwork and Tenebrae. The week includes a performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater led by British singers Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson. Fretwork marks Good Friday with the first ever Wigmore Hall performance of St. Matthew Passion by the 17th-century German composer Johann Sebastiani.
For St. Patrick’s Day on 17 March, Limerick-born Gilhooly has devised a special programme featuring Irish singers Ailish Tynan and Robin Tritschler with pianist James Baillieu in a concert including some of the most beloved traditional folksongs which reflect the cultural ties between the two nations. Adrian O’Neill, the Ambassador of Ireland to Great Britain, will introduce the concert with a message of friendship from the Irish government.
Line-up of Wigmore Hall’s 2021 Spring Series:
Ensembles
12 Ensemble, Apartment House, Arcangelo, Carducci String Quartet, Doric String Quartet, Dunedin Consort, The English Concert, Fretwork, Gould Piano Trio, Heath Quartet, Leonore Piano Trio, London Handel Players, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Nash Ensemble, Septura, La Serenissima, The Sixteen, Stile Antico, Tenebrae
Singers
Claire Booth (soprano), Ian Bostridge (tenor), Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jess Dandy (mezzo-soprano), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Gweneth Ann Rand (soprano), Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Kathryn Rudge (mezzo-soprano), Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Robin Tritschler (tenor), Ailish Tynan (soprano)
Instrumentalists
James Baillieu (piano), Benjamin Baker (violin), Kristian Bezuidenhout (harpsichord), Julius Drake (piano), Danny Driver (piano), Kirill Gerstein (piano), Christopher Glynn (piano), Tim Horton (piano), Alina Ibragimova (violin), Steven Isserlis (cello), Jean Johnson (clarinet), Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano), Daniel Lebhardt (piano), Simon Lepper (piano), Bjørg Lewis (cello), Paul Lewis (piano), Petr Limonov (piano), Leon McCawley (piano), Joseph Middleton (piano), Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano), Steven Osborne (piano), Jennifer Pike (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Martin Roscoe (piano), Sean Shibe (guitar), Katherine Stott (piano), Llŷr Williams (piano)
Concert listings:
Monday 22 February 7.30pm
Doric String Quartet
Mozart String Quartet No. 23 in F K590 ‘Prussian’
Beethoven Razumovsky Op. 59 No. 1
Tuesday 23 February 1.00pm
Sean Shibe guitar
Dowland Preludium; Forlorn Hope Fancy; Fantasia
Bach Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in E flat major for Lute BWV998
Thomas Adès Habanera from The Exterminating Angel
Falla Homenaje: pièce de guitare écrite pour ‘Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy’
Poulenc Sarabande
Britten Nocturnal after John Dowland Op. 70
Anon Rowallan manuscript A Scots Tune
Tuesday 23 February 7.30pm
Dunedin Consort
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D BWV1050; Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major BWV1051; Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G BWV1049
Wednesday 24 February 7.30pm
Benjamin Baker violin
Daniel Lebhardt piano
Copland Sonata for violin and piano
Janáček Violin Sonata
Brahms Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor Op. 108
Thursday 25 February 7.30pm
Fretwork
Holborne The Honeysuckle; Heres Paternus; Muy Linda; The Fairie-round
Locke Flat Consort No. 5 in A minor
Jenkins Fantasia No. 7
Gibbons Duo for two trebles
Lawes Consort Sett a 5 in C major
Locke Flat Consort No. 1 in C minor
Purcell Fantasia a 4 No. 7 in C minor Z738; Fantasia a 4 No. 11 in G major Z742
White In Nomine
Cranford Fantasy in 3 parts
Lawes Consort Sett a 5 in C minor
Friday 26 February 7.30pm
Tim Horton piano
Mozart Fantasia in C minor K396
Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor Op. 23; Ballade No. 2 in F Op. 38
Szymanowski Masques Op. 34 I. Schéhérazade; Masques Op. 34 II. Tantris le bouffon
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A flat Op. 47; Ballade No. 4 in F minor Op. 52; Mazurkas Op. 63 Mazurka in C sharp minor No. 3
Monday 1 March 1.00pm
Gould Piano Trio
Beach Piano Trio Op. 150
Schubert Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat D898
Monday 1 March 7.30pm
Septura
Ravel Ma mère l’Oye
Debussy Préludes Book I La fille aux cheveux de lin; Préludes Book I Minstrels; Préludes Book II Bruyères
Gershwin 3 Preludes; An American in Paris
Tuesday 2 March 1.00pm
The English Concert
Kristian Bezuidenhout director, harpsichord
Matthew Truscott guest leader
Purcell Dioclesian Z627 Overture; The Fairy Queen Z629 Hornpipe; The Gordion Knot Unty’d Z597 Rondeau Minuet; The Virtuous Wife, or Good Luck at Last Z611 Second music; The Virtuous Wife, or Good Luck at Last Z611 First act Tune; The Indian Queen Z630 No. 8 3rd Act Tune (Rondeau); Chacony in G minor Z730
Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D minor BWV1052
Erlebach Overture No. 5 in F major
Tuesday 2 March 7.30pm
Gweneth Ann Rand soprano
Simon Lepper piano
Wagner Wesendonck Lieder
Messiaen Poèmes pour Mi
Barber Despite and Still Op. 41
Wednesday 3 March 7.30pm
Leonore Piano Trio
Dvořák Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat Op. 21
Brahms Piano Trio No. 2 in C Op. 87
Thursday 4 March 7.30pm
Kirill Gerstein piano
Haydn Fantasia in C HXVII 4
Beethoven Fantasia in G minor Op. 77
Schubert Wanderer D760
Chopin Fantasy in F minor Op. 49
Friday 5 March 7.30pm
Carolyn Sampson soprano
Joseph Middleton piano
Schumann Album für die Jugend Op. 68 Winterszeit I
Fauré La bonne chanson Op. 61 L’hiver a cessé
Gounod Le Temps des roses
Chausson Le colibri Op. 2 No. 7
Fauré Mai Op. 1 No. 2
Debussy Chansons de Bilitis
Schumann Sechs Gesänge Op. 89 Röselein, Röselein! No. 6; 6 Gedichte von N Lenau und Requiem Op. 90 Meine Rose No. 2
C Schumann 6 Lieder aus Jucunde Op. 23 No. 2 An einem lichten Morgen
Schumann Lieder und Gesänge Op. 51 Volksliedchen No. 2
C Schumann Sechs Lieder Op. 13 No. 3 Liebeszauber
Schumann Lieder und Gesänge Op. 27 Jasminenstrauch No. 4; Lieder-Album für die Jugend Op. 79 Schneeglöckchen; Vier Gesänge Op. 142 Mädchen-Schwermut No. 3
Schubert Die Blumensprache D519; Im Haine D738; Ganymed D544; Der liebliche Stern D861
Copland 12 poems of Emily Dickinson Dear March, Come In!
Britten The Red Cockatoo & other songs Not even summer yet
Barber The Daisies Op. 2 No. 1
Ireland Spring sorrow
Coates Bird songs at eventide
Friday 5 March 1.00pm
Martin Roscoe piano
Schubert 4 Impromptus D935 Impromptu in A flat No. 2; 3 Klavierstücke D946 Klavierstück in E flat No. 2; Piano Sonata in B flat D960
Monday 8 March 1.00pm
Isata Kanneh-Mason piano
C Schumann Soirées musicales Op. 6 Notturno; Scherzo No. 2 in C minor Op. 14
Natalie Klouda Nightscapes 2020
Sofia Gubaidulina Chaconne
C Schumann Piano Sonata in G minor
Monday 8 March 7.30pm
Apartment House
Anton Lukoszevieze director
Satie Prière (fragment)
John Cage Haiku
Mindaugas Urbaitis Ramybė (Stillness)
Christian Wolff Eight Days a Week Variation
John Lely Meander section
Walter Zimmermann When I am 84
Jim O’Rourke Best that you do this for me
Gerhard Rühm Kleine Geschichte der Zivilisation
Tuesday 9 March 7.30pm
Danny Driver piano
Fauré Thème et Variations in C sharp minor Op. 73
Debussy Images, Series 2 Cloches à travers les feuilles
Fauré Nocturne No. 6 in D flat Op. 63
Ligeti Etudes Book II Etude No. 7 Galamb borong; Etudes Book I Etude No. 5 Arc-en-ciel
Musorgsky Pictures from an Exhibition
Wednesday 10 March 7.30pm
Claire Booth soprano
Christopher Glynn piano
Poulenc La voix humaine (English translation by Richard Stokes)
Thursday 11 March 7.30pm
Heath Quartet
Bartók String Quartet No. 2 BB75 Op. 17
Beethoven String Quartet No. 10 in E flat Op. 74 ‘Harp’
Friday 12 March 7.30pm
Steven Osborne 50th Birthday Concert
Ailish Tynan soprano
Jean Johnson clarinet
Alina Ibragimova violin
Bjørg Lewis cello
Paul Lewis piano
Steven Osborne piano
Schubert Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D965; Fantasie in F minor D940
Ravel Miroirs La vallée des cloches; Piano Trio in A minor
Monday 15 March
7.30pm
Jennifer Pike violin
Petr Limonov piano
Poldowski Violin Sonata
Mozart Violin Sonata in E minor K304
A selection of Polish pieces
Monday 15 March 1.00pm
Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano
Christopher Glynn piano
Harty My Lagan Love; Scythe Song; The Song of Glen Dun
Quilter Seven Elizabethan Lyrics Op. 12
Harty Sea Wrack; By the Sea; The Lowlands of Holland
Finzi Let us garlands bring Op. 18
Vaughan Williams The House of Life Silent Noon; Linden Lea
Coates I pitch my Lonely Caravan; Bird songs at eventide; Rise up and reach the stars; Sleepy Lagoon
Harty 5 Irish Poems The Fiddler of Dooney
Tuesday 16 March 7.30pm
Carducci String Quartet
Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 6 in F minor Op. 80
Clarke Poem
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 2 in A Op. 68
Wednesday 17 March 7.30pm
Ailish Tynan soprano
Robin Tritschler tenor
James Baillieu piano
Traditional Believe me if all those endearing young charms
Britten Vol. 4 Moore’s Irish Melodies Oft in the stilly night; Vol. 4 Moore’s Irish Melodies Sail on, sail on
Clarke A Dream
Bridge When you are old
Britten Vol. 1 British Isles The Salley Gardens
Herbert The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Dunhill The Cloths of Heaven
Barber Hermit Songs Op. 29; Nuvoletta Op. 25
Bridge Golden Hair
Pendleton Bid adieu
Stanford Songs of Erin Op. 76 Trottin’ to the fair; La Belle Dame sans merci
Trad/English Reynardine
Traditional The Fanaid Grove
Trad/Irish The Old Turf Fire
Hughes I will walk with my love
Traditional Johnny I hardly knew you
Trad/Irish The Gartan Mother’s Lullaby; Spanish Lady
Traditional Tigaree torum orum
Balfe Come into the garden Maud; I dreamt that I dwelt in Marble Halls
Trad/Irish Londonderry Air
Bishop Home! Sweet Home!
Thursday 18 March 7.30pm
12 Ensemble
Tavener The Lamb
Lutosławski Musique Funebre
Beethoven String Quartet in A minor Op. 132 III. Molto adagio
Oliver Leith Honey Siren
Friday 19 March 7.30pm
Leon McCawley piano
Schubert 3 Klavierstücke D946
Grieg Slåtter Op. 72 IV. Haugelåt: halling; Slåtter Op. 72 II. Jon Vestafes springdans
Schumann Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6; Fantasiestücke Op. 12 Warum?
Monday 22 March 1.00pm
Nash Ensemble
Bruch 8 Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano Op. 83 V. Rumänische Melodie: Andante; 8 Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano Op. 83 I. Andante; 8 Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano Op. 83 VII. Allegro vivace, ma non troppo
Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 34
Monday 22 March 7.30pm
London Handel Players
Lucy Crowe soprano
Bach Ich habe genug BWV82a Ich habe genug; Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D BWV1050
Handel Giulio Cesare in Egitto HWV17 Da tempeste il legno infranto
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G BWV1049
Handel Alceste HWV45 Gentle Morpheus, son of night
Tuesday 23 March 7.30pm
Steven Isserlis cello
Mishka Rushdie Momen piano
Beethoven 12 Variations on ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus WoO. 45
Bruch Kol Nidrei: Adagio on Hebrew Melodies Op. 47
Bloch Suite No. 1 for solo cello
Ravel Deux mélodies hébraïques
Mendelssohn Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Op. 58
Wednesday 24 March 7.30pm
Ashley Riches bass-baritone
Joseph Middleton piano
A programme of English songs on the apt subject of Winter turning to Spring, ending with Finzi’s Let us Garlands Bring.
Thursday 25 March 7.30pm
Timothy Ridout viola
James Baillieu piano
Flackton Viola Sonata in G minor
Forsyth Chanson Celtique
Vaughan Williams 6 Studies in English Folksong
Britten Suite for violin and piano Op. 6 IV. Waltz
Beethoven Moonlight Op. 27 No. 2 I. Adagio sostenuto No. 2
Clarke Viola Sonata
Coates First Meeting (souvenir)
Friday 26 March 7.30pm
Arcangelo
Alina Ibragimova violin
Programme to be announced
Monday 29 March 1.00pm
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
To include:
Fauré Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor Op. 45
Monday 29 March 7.30pm
Ian Bostridge tenor
Julius Drake piano
Debussy Fêtes galantes Book I; Fêtes galantes Book II
Britten The Holy Sonnets of John Donne Op. 35
Tuesday 30 March 1.00pm
Iestyn Davies countertenor
Carolyn Sampson soprano
Arcangelo
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
Tuesday 30 March 7.30pm
Tenebrae
Schütz Das ist je gewißlich wahr SWV 388
Bach Komm, Jesu, komm BWV229
Reger Geistliche Gesänge O Tod, wie bitter bist du
Bach St Matthew Passion BWV244 Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden
Reger Nachtlied Op. 138 No. 3; Der Mensch lebt und bestehet Op. 138 No. 1
Bach Motet: Jesu, meine Freude BWV227
Schütz Matthäus-Passion Beschluss
Bach Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied BWV190
Wednesday 31 March 1.00pm
Kathryn Stott piano
Bach Flute Sonata in E flat BWV1031 II. Siciliano
Grieg Holberg Suite Op. 40
Fauré Nocturne No. 4 in E flat major Op. 36
Poulenc Mélancolie
Bach The Well-tempered Clavier Book I, Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E minor BWV855 I. Prelude
Wagner Isoldes Liebestod
Trad/Irish Londonderry Air
Gershwin Girl Crazy Embraceable You
Wednesday 31 March 7.30pm
La Serenissima
Adrian Chandler director, violin
Jess Dandy mezzo-soprano
Valentini Concerto for 4 violins in A minor Op. 7 No. 11
Telemann Concerto for 4 violins in G major TWV40:201
Ariosti Caio Marzio Coriolano Act III Scene VIII
Telemann Concerto for 4 violins in D major TWV40:202
Vivaldi Concerto for 4 Violins in B flat major RV553; Amor, hai vinto (II) RV683
Thursday 1 April 1.00pm
Llŷr Williams piano
Schubert Fantasy Sonata in G D894; Piano Sonata in C minor D958
Thursday 1 April 7.30pm
Stile Antico
Victoria Tenebrae Responsories
interspersed with
Plainchant Lent prose Ad te Rex summe; Lent prose Rogamus Deus; Lent prose Innocens captus
Guerrero Maria Magdalene
Friday 2 April 3.00pm
Fretwork
Sebastiani St Matthew Passion
Saturday 3 April 7.30pm
The Sixteen
Purcell Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes Z135; Miserere mei; Remember not, Lord, our offences Z50
Tavener In pace in idipsum
Purcell Close thine eyes and sleep secure (Upon a Quiet Conscience) Z184
Gibbons Hosanna to the son of David
Tomkins Organ solo TBC
Almeida In monte Oliveti; Lamentationes Ieremiae Prohetae Feria V Lectio I
Tomkins Organ solo TBC
Weelkes Hosanna to the Son of David
Purcell O praise the Lord, all ye heathen Z43
Sheppard In pace
Byrd Diliges Dominum; Salvator mundi I; Salvator mundi II; Haec dies a 6