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| Music for Holy Week and Easter |
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Handel and Bach |
Monday 6 April, 7.30pm
A HANDEL 250 concert |
Renowned early music specialists Catherine Manson (violin), Nicholas Parle (harpsichord) and Martin Feinstein join the Feinstein Ensemble for an evening of Baroque brilliance.
Tickets: £20, £15, £12, £9, £6 |
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| Meet The Artist |
| James Bowman |
 One of the world's greatest living countertenors, James Bowman's is a voice known and admired from the great opera houses of Europe to performance platforms across the world.
Throughout more than thirty years of his acclaimed career he has been both an ambassador for the revival of early music and the period performance movement, and a champion of the music of his greatest contemporaries including Benjamin Britten, Michael Tippett, Peter Maxwell Davies, Richard Rodney Bennett, Robin Holloway, Geoffrey Burgon, Michael Nyman and Alan Ridout.
James returns to St Martin-in-the-Fields on the 250th anniversary of the death of George Frederic Handel, Tuesday 14 April at 7.30pm to present his tribute to the Baroque master with London Octave. His concert is featured in St Martin's Handel 250 festival.
ITP: James Bowman, it is a privilege to welcome you back to St Martin-in-the-Fields. One of my favourite concerts enjoyed at the church was January of 2008 when you last appeared here with London Octave. You've sung here a number of times before however, I hope you enjoy returning?
JB: Yes, I find St Martin's a very congenial space to perform in, especially since the church has
been restored. The actual performing area is ideally placed for making contact with an audience.
ITP: You have long been hailed as a key revivalist of Handel opera where you "...incarnate Handel's heroes with burnished authority" (Michael Church, The Independent, 17th Jan 2008). Are the arias you have selected to perform here on 14 April personally significant?
JB: I always choose arias that have a personal feel for me. They are taken from works that mean
a lot to me, like the operas 'Alcina' and 'Ottone' both of which I have performed several times on stage. Also the aria 'Father of Heaven' is a perfect choice for this particular day.
ITP: Does your interest in 'early music' have any connection with your background in historical studies at Oxford?
JB: Only marginally. When I was a student I sang music from all periods, ranging from William Byrd to William Walton. My interest in Early Music came later.
 ITP: How did you end up at the fateful audition with Benjamin Britten that led to your London debut as 'Oberon' in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
JB: I heard about the auditions at the Royal Opera House quite by chance and decided to apply. It was a shot in the dark, as I had never done any opera before. But I decided to take a gamble as I wanted a career move away from Oxford.
ITP: How did you move from a launch pad based on the performance of essentially contemporary music – working with Britten – to your role of central importance in the 'early music' movement?
JB: There is a very simple answer to this question. It was my meeting with David Munrow and being invited to join his highly successful Early Music Consort that established me in the Early Music movement. Also, working subsequently with Christopher Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music did a lot to put me on the map.
 ITP: You have achieved a wonderful fusion between the very old and very new in the form of (amongst other things) your work with the viol ensemble Fretwork performing new works by today's great composers such as Michael Nyman's Self-Laudatory Hymn of Inanna and her Omnipotence. Do you feel there is a link between the performance of 'early' and 'contemporary' works?
JB: I have to admit to finding many contemporary works very difficult to perform. They are often written with very little knowledge of the vocal range of the Counter tenor voice and there are sometimes problems of balance with instrumental over-scoring. So I tend to regard performing 'Early' and 'Contemporary' as two separate spheres.
ITP: James, thank you so much again for answering our questions and we look forward to 'Father of Heaven'. |
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| Lunchtime Concerts |
Monday, Tuesday, Friday, 1.00pm |
| St Martin's has a commitment to discovering, nurturing and promoting new talent and for over sixty years the Lunchtime Concert Series has given opportunities to young musicians to perform in a professional environment in central London to an appreciative audience. Concerts feature an extraordinarily wide range of performers and repertoire. Entry is free however, for those able to give a suggested donations of £3.50 is greatly appreciated to help fund all aspects of the work of St Martin's. |
Highlights:
Monday 6 April, 1.00pm
Andrew Earis – Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields performs in the St Martin-in-the-Fields Organ Series.
Monday 20 April, 1.00pm
Eimear McGeown (flute) and Aleksander Szram (piano).
Friday 24 April, 1.00pm
Alexander Romanovsky (piano).
Monday 27 April, 1.00pm
Famia Choi Castro and Sharon Barnea. |
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| April Offer |
| Make the most of your evenings out at the Handel 250 festival with a FREE glass of wine from the Café in the Crypt. Purchase tickets to 3 of the festival's concerts and you will receive a voucher your voucher. Ask at the box office for further information on 020 7766 1100 or visit our website www.smitf.org |
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| ITP Competition |
Congratulations to March's ITP competition winner Juliet Chaplin.
To enter this month's competition and be in to win two free tickets and a meal voucher for two to the Café in the Crypt, simply email your answer to the question below to music@smitf.org with 'Competition' in the subject field.
Good luck!
Q: Ivor Setterfield conducts which vocal ensemble for Requiem for Holy Week on Tuesday 7 April? |
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