The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Classical music and opera treats
Various venues
One would have thought that the classical music scene in Courier Country might take a breather after a hectic season and refresh itself before another fullon few months of top quality concerts. However, that is definitely not the case.
June is a very busy month, while July tapers off before the Edinburgh Festival gets into full swing in August.
Opera plays a leading part in the performance schedule over the coming weeks, and with the East Neuk Festival fast approaching and a mix of one-off recitals and performances dotted around, there is much to look forward to.
Perhaps the most significant event in the operatic context is Tayside Opera’s production of La Traviata which takes place in The Space Theatre this weekend, June 1 and 2. The company have been building up to a full-staged, fullorchestra accompanied performance and it is fitting that in this their 50th anniversary year, such endeavours have reached fulfilment.
Byre Opera are a fledgling unit in comparison, formed in 2008 as St Andrews Opera. Previous performances have included Britten’s Albert Herring and Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen but their project for later this month in the Byre Theatre, St Andrews (June 22-24) is Handel’s Xerxes. First performed in 1738, it contains one of opera’s most enduring arias, Ombra Mai Fu. Or, to give it its more familiar title, Handel’s Largo.
Further down the Fife coast, and further into June, the East Neuk Festival makes its very welcome 14th appearance on the musical scene. Thirteen performers in six intimate venues, including Kilrenny and Crail Parish churches, equate to five days of splendid music with some old favourites and some new talent.
“Each year at the festival we welcome back old friends and introduce new faces,” says festival director Svend Brown.
“The old friends this year are Christian Zacharias, The Tallis Scholars, Renaud Garcia Fons and the Elias Quartet. Christian is virtually a founding father of the festival as he has been coming since year one, yet each time he brings something fresh and new.
“This year he has turned his attention to the 18th Century, a golden age of zkeyboard music – Scarlatti, Bach, Rameau, Mozart and-Haydn .”
JS Bach’s solo cello suites have been called “the Himalayas of cello music” and to scale these heights, who better than Jean-Guihen Queyras who will perform all six suites in three locations.
The Scottish Chamber Choir are performing in Crail at 6pm this Sunday and Mr McFall’s Chamber – in a programme exploring migration, exile and displacement – will take to the stage in Perth’s St John’s Kirk on June 20.