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Beethoven in New York: sinfonia ViVA with Colin Currie

Thursday 6th November 2008 at 7.30pm
Lancaster University
Ticket details from the Box Office on the number below
Box Office: 01524 594151
Online booking available

Principal Conductor André de Ridder and Colin Currie, Percussion

The amazing Colin Currie makes a welcome return to sinfonia ViVA with Principal Conductor André de Ridder for a concert that not only showcases the world-class talents of a percussionist, but also takes the listener on a journey of interconnected interpretations of familiar musical structures.

Mozart wrote a large amount of dance music over his lifetime, much of it orchestral, including over 50 German Dances. The 6 German Dances K571 comprise a lively set with a sprightly, infectious brightness which imparts an overall impression of waltzing jollity.

Steven Mackey's 2006 percussion concerto Time Release, written for Colin Currie, focuses on the marimba, yet, in the composer's words: " ...is not really about the marimba but rather about musical lines, shapes, activities and the expressive potential they have for a listener. Colin and I both wanted our collaboration to result in a music that cast the soloist in a leading role but kept the musical story front and centre... As old fashioned as it might sound, I kept thinking of my favourite Mozart Piano Concerti and how the music is not a vehicle for the instrument but rather the two are merged so that my primary awareness is of how the music sings."

Beethoven's energetic, intense and multi-emotive Symphony No.7 was begun in 1811 and was first performed two years later, with the composer conducting, at a charity event which raised money for the support of soldiers wounded in the Napoleonic wars. The work had a mixed reception amongst critics; whilst some applauded - amongst them Wagner who is said to have acclaimed it 'the apotheosis of the dance' - others regarded it as uncharacteristic of the composer, with its strange, almost confusing mixture of intentions (Schumann's father-in-law is said to have commented that Beethoven must have been drunk when he composed it). The work nevertheless became one of the composer's 'greatest hits' of the period and its exceptional vitality, coming 5 years after the previous two symphonies had premiered, has lost none of its impact over time.

This programme may also be heard at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon on Sunday 9th November 2008

Supported by Orchestras Live and Arts Council England

Photo credits: André de Ridder - Marco Borggreve, Colin Currie - Chris Dawes