Events

Franz Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio no. 34 in B flat major, Hob. XV:20
Antonin Dvořák: Piano Trio no. 2 in G minor, op. 26
Interval
Bedřich Smetana: Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 15

Ludwig van Beethoven: Variations in G Major on Wenzel Muller’s Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu, op. 121a
Franz Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio no. 39 in G major Hob. XV:25, Gypsy
Vítězslav Novák: Piano Trio no.2, op. 27

Festival Launch

Gabriel Fauré: Piano Quartet no. 2 in G minor, op. 45
Louise Farrenc: Nonet, op. 38

Mozart and Schubert
Ella Taylor, Robin Ireland & Ensemble 360

Mozart: Ach, ich fühl’s! (from The Magic Flute)
Mozart : String Quintet No.4 in G minor K516
Trad. Se solen sjunker (Swedish folksong)
Schubert :Piano Trio No.2 in E flat

Music in the Round is delighted to welcome Robin Ireland back to the Crucible, a venue he knows so well from his years as violist with the Lindsay String Quartet.

Robin will join Ensemble 360 for one of Mozart’s finest chamber works, his String Quintet in G minor. It’s a work that’s rich in drama, the hallmark of one of the greatest opera composers, and a delicate aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute will lead straight into the Quintet.

Schubert’s Second Piano Trio was one of the final pieces he completed before his death at the young age of 31. It’s a work of incredible emotional depth, with its most famous melody, frequently used in soundtracks for film and television, inspired by a traditional Swedish folksong.

Relaxed Concert: Carnival

Saint-Saëns: Morceau de concert for horn and piano
Saint-Saëns: Bassoon Sonata
Saint-Saëns: The Carnival of the Animals

For this ‘Relaxed’ concert featuring ‘The Carnival of the Animals’, doors will be left open, lights raised, a break-out space provided, and there will be less emphasis on the audience being quiet during the performance. People with an Autism Spectrum, sensory or communication disorder or learning disability, those with age-related impairments and parents/carers with babies are all especially welcome.

Saint-Saëns. The Renaissance Man

Saint-Saëns:
Morceau de concert for horn and piano
Bassoon Sonata
Les odeurs de Paris
L’assassinat du duc de guise
The Carnival of the Animals

Camille Saint-Saëns’ most celebrated work, ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ is a work unlike any other, transporting the listener into a musical menagerie that includes a swan, a tortoise, lions and a plunge into a truly magical aquarium. It is presented here alongside rarely performed pieces including ‘Les odeurs de Paris’, a musical riot, with the addition of trumpets and children’s toys to convey the many smells of Paris. Early French film The Assassination of the Duke of Guise is one of the very first to feature an original film score. Written by Saint-Saëns, the music will be performed live alongside a screening of the film in a celebration of the beloved French composer.

French Gems

Maurice Ravel: Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré
Camille Saint-Saëns: Oboe Sonata in D major, op. 166
Thomas Adès: Alchymia for clarinet quintet
Interval
André Messager: Solo de Concours for solo clarinet
César Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor

French Gems

Maurice Ravel: Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré
Camille Saint-Saëns: Oboe Sonata in D major, op. 166
Thomas Adès: Alchymia for clarinet quintet
Interval
André Messager: Solo de Concours for solo clarinet
César Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor

Enescu: Violin Sonata no.2
Fauré: Violin Concerto
Fauré:String Quartet

Friday Night in Paris
Roderick Williams and Ensemble 360

Musical national treasure Roderick Williams, soloist at King Charles III’s Coronation and Singer-in-Residence with Music in the Round, returns to the Crucible Playhouse with Ensemble 360 for a magical tour through the City of Light.

Fauré’s first Piano Quintet was a labour of love that he nurtured over many years, and the song cycles and works for violin he wrote alongside it echo through this exquisitely constructed piece.

Poulenc’s kaleidoscopic sextet encompasses jazz, ragtime, pastiche of Mozart and a tribute to Ravel, whose ‘Madagascan’ songs they follow, in this programme luxuriating in the many sounds of fin de siècle Paris.

Culminating in Fauré’s intricate song-cycle, crafted from the poems of Paul Verlaine, this concert reunites Ensemble 360, with Music in the Round’s singer-in-residence Roderick Williams for the first time since 2017.

Gabriel Fauré: Piano Quintet no. 1 in D minor, op. 89
Maurice Ravel: Chansons madécasses
Interval
Francis Poulenc: Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano in C major
Gabriel Fauré: La Bonne Chanson for Baritone, String Quintet and Piano

Ensemble 360 and Steven Isserlis in Festival Finale

George Onslow: Nonet, op. 77
Gabriel Fauré: Elegie, op. 24
Interval
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky: String Sextet in D minor, op.70, Souvenir de Florence

A grand work for a grand finale: captivating charm and wit from George Onslow’s Nonet. Nicknamed the ‘French Beethoven’, this is a chance to hear one of his finest and largest-scale chamber works whose five movements move through an expressive array of moods from turbulence to a jubilant conclusion.

Steven Isserlis then joins pianist Tim Horton for a heartfelt lament by Gabriel Fauré, before we sign off with Tchaikovsky’s celebratory musical postcard, Souvenir de Florence. This hugely popular string sextet by the great Russian composer features both Steven Isserlis and Ensemble 360’s cellist Gemma Rosefield, and promises to be a fitting farewell to the Festival in our anniversary year.

Recorded for BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert
Leonore Piano Trio and Lawrence Power

Luise Adolpha Le Beau : Piano Quartet in F minor Op.28
Gabriel Fauré: Piano Quartet no. 2 in G minor, op. 45

Recorded for BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Gabriel Fauré: Piano Trio in D minor, op. 120
Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor