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| Evening Concert Highlights |
| Full Concert Listings and the opportunity to purchase tickets are available on our website. |
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Mendelssohn 200th Anniversary Concert
3 February, 7.30pm
Tickets: £16, £12, £8, £6 |
| To celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn, London Concertante performs a special concert featuring not only the magnificent and youthful Octet, but also the highly accomplished String Quintet No 2 in B flat op 87. |
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| Valentine's Day Concert with readings from favourite love poems |
14 February, 7.30pm
Tickets: £25, £22, £15, £12, £6
Luxury Dinner ticket: £50 |
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A special Valentine's Day concert by candlelight with the London Musical Arts String Orchestra. Under the baton of charismatic conductor John Landor, the programme will includes classical favourites such as Elgar's Salut d'Amour, the Pizzicato Polka by Strauss and music from Bizet's famously melodic opera Carmen, interspersed with readings from favourite love poems.
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Complete the evening with luxury dining in the Gallery in the Crypt with champagne and canapés and starter before the concert, a glass of fine wine during the interval, main course and dessert after the concert followed by coffee, chocolates and port. Luxury Valentine's dinner tickets are available at £50 per head to concert ticket holders.
Full menu details can be found on our website. |
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Fauré Requiem
17 February, 7.30pm
Tickets: £18, £15, £9 |
Fauré's beautiful Requiem is paired with Frank Martin's remarkable Mass for Double Choir and motets by Poulenc in this concert by the New London Singers.
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| The concert will be conducted by Ivor Setterfield, featured in the BBC's high-profile Maestro (2008) television series as well as his own TV documentary on Channel Five, The Singing Estate (2006). |
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Bach – The Complete Musical Offering
19 February, 7.30pm
Tickets: £20, £15, £12, £9, £6 |
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Period performance specialists the Feinstein Ensemble present a performance of J. S. Bach's Musical Offering. Written in 1747, the Musical Offering is a collection of variations written by Bach on a theme presented to him by the King of Prussia, Frederick II.
Violinist Catherine Manson shares her thoughts on the concert in this month's 'Meet the Artist' below. |
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| Jazz In The Crypt |
| Wednesdays, 8.00pm |
| Don't miss February's line-up of hot young bands in this cool venue including
Zrazy on 4 February,
Riamba on 11 February including a salsa class at 7.00pm for jazz ticket holders,
The Fabulations on 18 February and
TJ Johnson's Bourbon Kick on 25 February. See
our website for full programme details. |
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| Meet The Artist |
| Catherine Manson (Violin) |
 Catherine Manson is known as one of the leading chamber music specialists of her generation. She has appeared throughout Europe and North America, both as a soloist and as a guest leader of ensembles including the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica in the USA, Ensemble Innovacion in Germany, Il Gardellino and Ensemble Explorations in Belgium. A particular interest in period performance led her to found the classical London Haydn Quartet. Several of her recordings have won Diapason d'Or and Gramophone Awards. Teaching is an important part of her musical life; she is on the staff of Junior Guildhall, has taught regularly at the Royal Academy of Music, Domaine Forget chamber music courses in Quebec and at the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin College, USA. Catherine makes frequent appearances at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Q: You've been leading the Feinstein Ensemble for some time. How did you become involved with the Ensemble?
I've been working with the Feinstein Ensemble now for about 4 years and at this point it feels like a kind of musical family to me. It's such a joy to be part of this wonderful group playing great music in this beautiful church for extremely appreciative audiences. Martin Feinstein has managed to gather around him a team of some of the finest baroque players in the world and to make it a very happy group full of friends who love making music with each other. This enjoyment communicates itself to the audiences so the concerts always feel like real celebrations - just the way it should be!
Q: Feinstein Ensemble specialises in historically accurate performances. Has this always been a special interest for you?
I was extremely lucky to have studied with Jane and Lucy Cowan who were passionate about playing with gut strings and fostered a lifelong interest in trying to discover how the music might have sounded to the composers and contemporary performers. It's a very exciting field to be in as we are constantly experimenting with ideas about interpreting the music and I feel I'm constantly discovering new and amazing things.
Q: You'll be performing Bach's Musical Offering on 19 February. What do you feel is the significance of this work?
This is one of the mightiest works ever written. Bach was handed an improbably difficult theme by Frederick the Great, and was challenged to use it as the subject for a work involving his instrument, the flute. The result was one of the greatest masterpieces ever written. The sheer technical skill of the composition is quite dazzling but even while Bach is performing the most unimaginable feats of counterpoint and dissecting the theme to a microscopic level, he never loses sight of the musical narrative. The four-movement trio sonata seems to explore the human potential of the theme from profound reflection to soaring lyricism.
Q: What highlights are coming up for you during the rest of during 2009?
With the Feinstein Ensemble I'm particularly excited about the Bach Festival we have at the South Bank Centre in March. There is no greater music than Bach so this will be an absolute feast - we'll be playing all the Brandenburg Concertos, Nick Parle and I will play four of the sonatas for violin and harpsichord and I will play the great D minor solo partita.
Since 2009 is Haydn's bicentenary, my quartet the London Haydn Quartet will be very busy and we have a new CD coming out any minute now on the Hyperion label (Haydn's 6 quartets op 17 - also spectacular music). The Spring is action-packed - my job as leader of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra will take me to the Far East and around Europe. When I get back, Martin Feinstein and I will record Vivaldi (The Four Seasons and recorder concerti) with the Feinstein Ensemble so finally when people come and ask us if they can buy our recording of these pieces we can say yes!
However, there is nothing like playing Bach at St Martin's - the newly restored church provides the perfect environment for this glorious music. It's hard to choose highlights from our series of concerts but the cantatas are a particular love of mine and it is like a dream come true to play this music in such a wonderful place. On 14 May we will expand to include a cantata 'Du aber Daniel' by Telemann - one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written and something which is mysteriously seldom heard. In October (6 - 10) we will hold a Bach Festival focusing on the later music he wrote in Leipzig which includes such magnificent music as the Art of Fugue. St Martin's is hosting some of the best music happening in London this year and I am thrilled to be involved with it.
Thank you for your time Catherine, we look forward to hearing you with the Feinstein Ensemble on 19 February. |
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| ITP Competition |
Congratulations to January’s ITP competition winner Mr Martin Petronis.
For the chance to be in to win a meal for two at the Café in the Crypt and two free tickets to a concert of your choice, simply email your answer to the question below to music@smitf.org with 'Competition' in the subject field.
Q: Name the reader who will present favourite love poems at a special concert in February? |
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