St David's Hall 2010 / 2011 Part 1

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Visitors to this blog may be mistaken in thinking that I only accompany my hair, pearl handled tangle tamer and compact mirror to the opera, but from time to time I like to take in such things as Man v Pigeon racing (waiting for my first victory after thirty-one contests: 30 losses 1 dead heat), Breakfast Cereal Night Classes (oxymoronic class on the hazards of mixing your Snap with your Bix) and Correct Oxymoron Quiz Nights (held at The Quiet Night pub on Elm Street).

I also find time to fret over my hair at St David's Hall, where the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is the band in residence. But it's not only BBC NOW who appear at St David's Hall. Throughout the year a mixture of international orchestras and soloists ply their wares under the guise of the International Concert Series.

So what's on at Neuadd Dewi Sant over the 2010 / 2011 season?

Quite a bit. I failed at narrowing down both BBC NOW's concerts and the ICS concerts to a-typical Top 5s, settling instead for Top 5s + 1s. To avoid confusion I've split my highlights with BBC NOW appearing in this post, and the ICS highlights appearing in the next post.

In a refreshing break with celebrity culture the ticket availability is the opposite of what you would expect. The BBC NOW concerts are heavily booked (with tickets still available) and the ICS concerts are moderately booked with plenty of tickets left in all price bands, despite including the likes of Lang Lang, Julia Fischer and Steven Isserlis. Not that the BBC NOW season suffers from an inferiority complex with Gautier Capuçon, Katarina Karnéus (BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Winner 1995), Viktoria Mullova and Miah Persson on the team sheet. The reasons for this bucking of trends is a mixture of long standing audience loyalty to BBC NOW and a reflection of their more affordable pricing with tickets ranging from £6* - £25.

Without further delay, the highlights of BBC NOW, according to my uneducated taste buds:


Fri 17 Sep 2010
Mussorgsky Night on a Bare Mountain Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme Rimsky-Korsakov Overture, May Night Shostakovich Symphony No 6
Cello Gautier Capuçon
Conductor Thierry Fischer
BBC National Orchestra of Wales


Fri 1 Oct 2010
Mahler Symphony No 3
Mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus
Conductor Tadaaki Otaka
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC National Chorus of Wales
Gloucester, Hereford & Worcester Cathedral Boys


Sat 5 Feb 2011
Liszt Mazeppa Beethoven Violin Concerto Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
Violin Viktoria Mullova
Conductor François-Xavier Roth
BBC National Orchestra of Wales


Fri 15 Apr 2011
Berlioz Roméo et Juliette
Mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley
Tenor Jean-Paul Fouchecourt
Bass Jonathan Lemalu
Conductor Thierry Fischer
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC National Chorus of Wales


Fri 27 May 2011
Strauss Four Last Songs Bruckner Symphony No 9
Mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus
Conductor Jac van Steen
BBC National Orchestra of Wales


Fri 24 June 2011
Fauré Pavane Dutilleux L'arbre des songes Ravel Daphnis et Chloé (Complete)
Soprano Miah Persson
Mezzo-soprano Pamela Helen Stephen
Tenor James Gilchrist
Bass Peter Rose
Conductor Thierry Fischer
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC National Chorus of Wales


You can download a full BBC NOW St David's Hall pdf season brochure by clicking here. For details of BBC NOW BBC Hoddinott Hall events rest your finger here. For Brangwyn Hall (Swansea) events slide your arrow here, and for further concerts around Wales drop in here.


* Student rate