Today the news that the classical music fans in the city have been waiting for – the new Festival Director unveils his choice for the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival. In truth there will be a further announcement next month when the whole programme is announced, but there will be plenty for the music critics and the public to digest here.
The great names in classical music are set to flock to Edinburgh this summer in a programme of 49 concerts and recitals over the course of three weeks.
Long established Festival favourites including Iván Fischer, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Andrew Davis, William Christie, Valery Gergiev and Donald Runnicles all return in 2015, joined by Gianandrea Noseda, Robin Ticciati and Vasily Petrenko on the podium.
2015 marks the first Festival appearances of major international soloists Yuja Wang, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Rudolf Buchbinder, Colin Currie and Lang Lang.
The Usher Hall has been at the heart of the Festival from the beginning and has always remained the crucial continuum within the broad programme of music, theatre, dance and opera that has grown around its foundations.
Festival 2015 fills the Usher Hall with great music starting with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms in the Opening Concert with Donald Runnicles and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, and concluding with the ground shaking The Rite of Spring performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev on Sunday 30 August.
In between a packed programme of international and UK artists includes Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony with the ground-breaking St. Lawrence String Quartet making its first Edinburgh appearance, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra makes a welcome return under the direction of Vasily Petrenko, Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by the superb Iván Fischer.
The Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the Festival’s only performing element, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2015. Acclaimed by critics, audiences, orchestras and conductors, the Chorus will demonstrate why it has been called one of the best in the world with performances of some of the biggest and greatest choral music ever written: Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and Berlioz’s epic Grande messe des morts.
Stories of love, money, morals, magic, bears, ballerinas and fiery tempers are brought to life for audiences in strong and dramatic story-telling through Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Petrushka, Berlioz’s Lélio, Sibelius’s Kullervo and Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore all performed in concert at the Usher Hall.
Celebrated Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, who has been performing and revisiting Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas since the 1970s, brings his remarkable technique and provocative insights to one of the greatest bodies of music ever written. In 9 concerts, you can hear Buchbinder play all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, around 10 hours of incredible music.
The full programme for Edinburgh International Festival 2015 will be unveiled on Wednesday 18 March, and all tickets to Festival 2015 go on sale on Saturday 28 March.
Launching his first classical music programme for the Edinburgh International Festival, Director Fergus Linehan said: ‘The flame which lit Edinburgh’s reputation as the world’s festival city was the international standard of concert programming and the unique qualities of the Usher Hall.’
‘Launching the classical music concerts ahead of the full programme, allows us to shine a light on the scale of work and quality of artistry these musicians will bring to Edinburgh this year.’
‘Over the past 68 years relationships have been forged between artists and festivalgoers that have proved lasting and profound. Audiences have flocked year after year to artists such as Claudio Abaddo and Charles Mackerras and in return have been rewarded with complex and far reaching musical experiences. I want to continue to develop deep and rewarding relationships with musicians such as Ivan Fischer and Andrew Davies while exploring artists new to the Festival who have so much to give our audiences.
‘In sharing the classical music season for Festival 2015 I am sharing the first step in a line of programming that will evolve over the next five years. In 2015 we are proud to be presenting a programme built around artists who love and understand the Festival and those we feel have a unique contribution to make to Edinburgh’s musical history.’
Leonie Bell, Director of Arts and Engagement at Creative Scotland, said:
‘Edinburgh International Festival is exciting, inspiring, challenging and an important part of our cultural lives. The festival creates a buzz of excitement across the city and is an important international platform for the arts. The benefits that it brings to Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK has been well documented, but just as important, is the excitement and the spark that this particular Festival creates. We are delighted to support the Festival as it announces its classical music programme and look forward to further announcements, as the full festival programme is unveiled over the coming months.’
Councillor Steve Cardownie, Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events Champion at City of Edinburgh Council, said: ‘The Usher Hall has an international reputation for its outstanding acoustics and the venue has staged concerts with some of the biggest names in music for a century.
‘It is where it all began for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Council-managed concert hall has been home to the classical music programme since the Festival’s inception in 1947.
‘This year, we expect tens of thousands of concertgoers to visit and experience the sounds of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival Chorus and London Symphony Orchestra amongst others. It’s sure to be another busy and impressive programme.’
Fergus Linehan added: ‘I would like to thank the many people who are supporting the Festival and its concerts this year. The financial foundation provided by the City of Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland underscores everything we do; alongside this the continuing support of individuals, trusts, foundations and corporate partners all ensures that we can bring the very best musicians to Edinburgh audiences and visitors to our city from Scotland and around the world.’
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
