NCEM York Early Music Festival 2020

3–11 July

2020

METHOD&

MADNESS

Box office 01904 658338

ncem.co.uk/yemf

book online

TICKETS.ncem.co.uk

WELCOME TO THE 2020 FESTIVAL

Welcome to the 2020 Festival as we celebrate the

‘Method & Madness’ of musical styles - from the

wild excesses of the Italian Renaissance, through

the soothing virtuosity of Bach, to the towering

genius of Beethoven.

Opening with the Norwegian-based Barokksolistene,

presenting their vivacious Alehouse programme,

the Festival offers a wealth of concerts, illustrated

lectures and workshops designed to engage,

entertain and enthral.

Guest artists include the acclaimed countertenor

Iestyn Davies, working with Scottish instrumental

group, the Dunedin Consort; The Sixteen directed

by Harry Christophers; and two remarkable

vocal ensembles interpreting the music of the

Renaissance: Voces Suaves and Profeti della

Quinta.

Highlights abound with a presentation of Handel’s

opera Orlando directed by Peter Seymour with soloists

including Carolyn Sampson, Helen Charlston and

Matthew Brook. The Society of Strange & Ancient

Instruments launch their truly remarkable Trumpet

Marine project; and we are delighted to present a

showcase of emerging professional talent from

across Europe.

As ever, our thanks are due to Arts Council England,

the City of York Council and the York hoteliers who

support us year on year; our sponsors Harrowells

Solicitors, JWP Creers Chartered Accountants,

Creative Europe, Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and

Shepherd Group; our media partner BBC Radio 3

and a number of extraordinary kind individuals. And

of course - you - the audience, the Friends of the

Festival and the NCEM Patrons. We look forward to

welcoming you all.

Delma Tomlin MBE

Administrative Director

ARTISTIC ADVISERS John Bryan / Lindsay Kemp / Peter Seymour

GUEST ADVISER Steven Devine

TRAILBLAZER WITH BRAHMS

Join our young trailblazers on 1 July at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall for an afternoon of

music and dance.

Inspired by the 2020 BBC Ten Pieces project, young people from a variety of York primary

schools will be working on their interpretation of Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No.5.

Tickets are free of charge: contact boxoffice@ncem.co.uk for details.

To find out how you can take part, and get creative, in our learning and participation

programme, contact Lottie on lottie.brook@ncem.co.uk

Supported by

02

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Friday 3 July

Sponsored by

Event 1 7.30pm – c.9.30pm

Venue Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York

Tickets Reserved seating: £35 & £30 (£33 & £28 | *Under 35s £6)

BAROKKSOLISTENE

Bjarte Eike violin, vocals, artistic director

Fredrik Bock guitar, charango, vocals Per Buhre viola, vocals Thomas Guthrie lead vocals, violin

Johannes Lundberg double bass, vocals Helge Andreas Norbakken percussion, vocals

Steven Player dance, guitar, vocals Hans Knut Sveen harmonium, harpsichord, vocals

Milos Valent violin, viola, vocals

THE ALEHOUSE SESSIONS

The dynamic Norwegian

ensemble returns to York with

the latest instalment of their everevolving

and riotously entertaining

signature project; a mix of folk,

baroque and experimental music,

improvisation, visual arts, dance

and story-telling that evokes the

uninhibited atmosphere of the

English 17th-century tavern.

Less like traditional concerts

than boisterous evenings out

with music aplenty, The Alehouse

Sessions are special occasions

that have played to sold-out

audiences throughout the world.

‘innately theatrical, genre

bending and suffused with great

musicianship’ The Strad

barokksolistene.com

book online

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Saturday 4 July

Event 2

Venue

Tickets

10.30am – c.11.30am

Bedern Hall, Bedern

Unreserved seating: £12 including coffee & biscuits on arrival

ORLANDO, OR THE JEALOUS MADNESS

Join Graham Cummings, Visiting Professor in Historical Musicology at the University of Huddersfield, as he

explores the central issue faced by the eponymous hero of Handel’s opera Orlando – the conflict between

Glory (duty and destiny) and Love (personal happiness) that leads him to disaster and temporary madness.

Hear this magnificent opera live – see Event 7

Event 3

Venue

1.00pm – c.2.00pm

NCEM, St Margaret’s Church

12.30pm to 12.45pm

Tickets Reserved seating: £20 (£18 | *Under 35s £6)

ROSE CONSORT OF VIOLS

Ibrahim Aziz, John Bryan, Alison Crum Andrew Kerr, Roy Marks, Peter Wendland viols

FLIGHTS OF FANCY

No lyrics? No dance steps? Then you are free to let your imagination run riot, to create a fantasy that can plumb

the depths of melancholy or leap for joy. But even a flight of fancy needs a shape, so composers from Byrd to

Purcell devised cunningly concealed musical girders on which their viol fantasias could flourish – a plainsong

melody perhaps, or even (as in Purcell’s case) just a single note…

‘beguiling: the Rose Consort is rightly well established as one of the world’s premiere ensembles of its type’ Fanfare

roseconsort.co.uk

book online

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Saturday 4 July

Event 4 7.00pm – c.8.15pm

Venue St Lawrence Church, Hull Road

Tickets Unreserved seating: £25 (£23 | *Under 35s £6)

VOCES SUAVES

Christina Boner, Jenny Högström sopranos

Jan Thomer countertenor

Paolo Borgonovo, Dan Dunkelblum tenors

Tobias Wicky baritone Davide Benetti bass

with Giovanna Baviera viola da gamba

Orí Harmelin theorbo

ARIANNA’S LAMENT 1

Music for Caterina Martinelli

by Monteverdi and his

contemporaries

Voces Suaves invites you to relive

the dramatic events in Mantua

in 1608 when, shortly before the

premiere of Monteverdi’s opera

L’Arianna, the prima donna

Caterina Martinelli fell gravely

ill. Who was this young lady for

whom Arianna’s great lament,

a de facto mad scene, was

conceived?

How did her brief life make such

an extraordinary impact on one

of Italy’s most important musical

centres?

‘The vocal virtuosity and the

extraordinary sound of Voces

Suaves made the performance

into an unforgettable experience.’

Die Welt

Time 3.00pm - 4.30pm

Venue Bedern Hall, Bedern

Tickets £16

FESTIVAL

AFTERNOON TEA

Join us for afternoon tea just 24

hours into the Festival. Greet old

Friends, meet new people, and get

updates about future Festivals and

events planned at the NCEM.

The Friends are dedicated to

supporting the summer festival

and to encouraging young talent.

Membership brings many benefits

including advance booking,

discounted tickets, reserved seating

where practical and opportunities

to meet with like-minded individuals.

To join the Friends,

please contact Libby Burborough

on 01904 658338;

voces-suaves.ch

email friends@ncem.co.uk

or visit www.ncem.co.uk/friends

See also event 23

book online

TICKETS.ncem.co.uk

05

Saturday 4 July

Event 5 9.30pm – c.10.30pm

Venue NCEM, St Margaret’s Church


HUBERT HAZEBROUCQ dance

JULIEN MARTINrecorders

HARLEQUIN’S FLUTE

Telemann’s Fantasias for solo flute are extensive explorations of forms in French

and Italian styles, intermingling dances such as the minuet, gavotte and rigaudon

with abstract fugues and sonata movements.

Join us for an evening of enchantment as Telemann’s musical genius is

reinterpreted by baroque dance specialist Hubert Hazebroucq – mixing together

the grotesque Italian and French noble dance styles. The resulting contrasts – from

humorous to solemn, tender to majestic – create a lively and multifarious journey.

facebook.com/hubert.hazebroucq

facebook.com/LesCorpsEloquents

Supported by

Middlethorpe

Hall Hotel and Spa

06

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www.middlethorpe.com

Sunday 5 July

Event 6

Venue

Tickets

2.00pm – 3.00pm

NCEM, St Margaret’s Church

Reserved seating. Free to those attending other events within the Festival but please do book in

advance to avoid disappointment.

THE EARLY MUSIC SHOW

Join us for a live broadcast of this popular show,

presented by Hannah French, and meet selected guests from the 2020 Festival.

YORK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Immediately following the broadcast, the Festival

will present its eighth biennial Lifetime Achievement

Award to violinist Catherine Mackintosh.

Catherine Mackintosh (known to the profession as Cat) is

one of the most notable pioneers of the British early music

scene. After picking up a treble viol while at music college she

never looked back. Consort-playing gave her the foundations

of understanding the aesthetics and the language of baroque

music, and that was soon translated to the violin. She led

a number of orchestras, notably Christopher Hogwood’s

Academy of Ancient Music, and later co-founded and led the

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for two decades.

As a founder of the Purcell Quartet she recorded and

performed all the major works of the baroque trio-sonata

repertoire (and much more) the world over. She was

also Britain’s pioneer and champion of the viola

d’amore. Cat’s influence as a teacher and

educator has been unique and far-reaching,

with many generations of violinists, violists

and other instrumentalists passing through

her hands at the Royal College of Music, the

Royal Conservatoire The Hague, and on

numerous courses world-wide.

The York Early Music Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award

honours major figures who have made a significant difference to

the world of early music and has been presented every other year

since its inauguration in 2006. The previous winners have been:

the Kuijken brothers (2006); Dame Emma Kirkby (2008); James

Bowman (2010); Jordi Savall (2012); Andrew Parrott (2014);

Anthony Rooley (2016) and Trevor Pinnock (2018).

book online


Sunday 5 July

Event 07 6.30pm – c.10.15pm


Tickets Reserved seating: £35 & £30 (£33 & £28 | *Under 35s £6)

Anna Huntley mezzo-soprano Orlando

Carolyn Sampson soprano Angelica

Helen Charlston mezzo soprano Medoro

Bethany Seymour soprano Dorinda

Matthew Brook bass Zoroastro

Yorkshire Baroque Soloists

Peter Seymour director

HANDEL: ORLANDO

Arguably Handel’s operatic masterpiece, Orlando contains

not only one winning aria after another but also strong

musical portrayal and projection of character and dramatic

situation, including the most famous of all baroque musical

mad scenes. Our starry cast sings of love, suspicion, jealousy,

rejection; Orlando is in love with a princess who in turn adores

an African prince, who is also the object of a shepherdess’s

affections. Surely this way only madness lies, but luckily there is

a magician on hand to sort things out with a magic potion…

‘[YBS]... Outstanding – faultless intonation and rhythmic accuracy –

freshness and sincerity both in accuracy and expression’ Yorkshire Post

yorkshirebaroquesoloists.org.uk

Learn more about this extraordinary opera – see Event 2

Kindly supported by

an anonymous donation

WEEKEND

SAVER TICKET

Buy tickets for events 1, 3, 4, 5 & 7 in one

transaction and save £10.00. See page 22

for all our discount offers.

08

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Monday 6 July

Event 08 10.30am – c.11.30am


Tickets Unreserved seating: £12

including coffee & biscuits on arrival

Event 09 1.00pm – c.2.00pm

Venue St Olave’s Church, Marygate


(£18 | *Under 35s £6)

DAVID OWEN NORRIS piano

INSIDE THE

COMPOSER’S HEAD

Centuries before Freud began to codify its workings,

the unconscious mind had been a favourite place for

musicians to wander. Drama required a plot and a

script; poetry a verse form; painting a subject.

Yet in music, free association has always been a

fruitful process. David Owen Norris picks apart the

idea of fantasy that runs through this year’s festival to

see what it tells us about the composers, the age they

lived in, and the nature of music itself.

‘disarming freshness, agility and intelligence’.

Gramophone

davidowennorris.com

MATTHEW

WADSWORTH lute, theorbo

ECHOES IN AIR

The lute and its larger cousin the theorbo have a long

association with fantasy, whether in the improvisatory

works of Kapsperger and Piccinini or the more formal

contrapuntal creations of Dowland and Francesco

da Milano. Matthew Wadsworth brings these strands

together, along with Echoes in Air, a new piece written

specially for him by Laura Snowden.

‘Wadsworth’s playing is sensitive and polished – his

performances are masterful’ BBC Music Magazine

matthewwadsworth.com

Supported by

www.grangehotel.co.uk

book online


Monday 6 July

Event 10 6.30pm – 7.30pm



STEVEN DEVINE harpsichord

J.S.BACH: 48 PRELUDES & FUGUES

(THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER)

The festival is presenting this monumental work across four concerts.

The first on 21 March – early music day. See also events 18 and 24

The Well-Tempered Clavier – two

books of preludes and fugues in all

the major and minor keys – is the

most famous example of Bach’s

fascination with meticulously

ordered collections of works

exploring in depth a particular

compositional method or style.

Within these 48 ingenious reimaginings

of the simple pairing of

free, often improvisational prelude

and the more strictly controlled

contrapuntal structure that is

the fugue, he achieves incredible

variety, taking us on a richly

expressive journey through the

major keyboard styles and textures

of his day.

book online


‘Why play ALL the ‘48’? Surely

they were never designed to be

played together?

But playing the complete

collection is a monumental

experience. From the simplicity of

the broken chords of the first Prelude

in Book 1 to the fiendish complexity

of the B-flat minor Fugue in Book

2, via the blatant virtuosity of the

B flat major Prelude in Book 1, this

music has it all. Presented over four

hour-long concerts, the 48 contains

a huge variety of technical and

emotional demands on the player

and a very satisfying experience for

the listener.’

Steven Devine

Supported by

The Queens Hotel

www.queenshotel-york.com

See also events 18 and 24>

Monday 6 July

Event 11 8.30pm – c.9.45pm



Bethany Seymour soprano

Helen Charlston, Anna Huntley mezzo-sopranos

Matthew Brook bass Peter Seymour harpsichord

MADNESS AND

TORMENT

Madness – especially when brought on by the emotional

extremes of love won and lost – fascinated many a

17th-century playwright, and their colourful texts inspired such

composers as Henry Purcell to create some of their most intensely

dramatic music. Purcell’s From Rosy Bow’rs, Let the dreadful engines

of eternal love, and Bess of Bedlam are the most famous, but this

concert also presents lesser-known but equally disturbed songs

by contemporaries such as Blow, Eccles, Weldon, Finger and

Daniel Purcell.

Helen Charlston ‘An exceptional interpreter’ Classical Source

a

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Tuesday 7 July

Event 12 12 noon – 4.00pm


Tickets Unreserved seating: £30 (£25 if booked with event 14) including afternoon tea served at 2.00pm.

THE SIXTEEN INSIGHT DAY

Whether you are new to the Choral Pilgrimage repertoire or want to expand your existing knowledge, Insight

Days provide a fascinating exploration into the stories behind the music. Join singer and practical scholar

Sally Dunkley and musicologist John Milsom for talks, debate and discussion, and discover the rich history

behind the 2020 Choral Pilgrimage repertory in the company of a consort of Sixteen singers.

‘a thoroughly enjoyable experience …giving us a rich musical insight into the evening concert.’ Peter, Oxford.

Event 13 5.00pm – c.6.00pm


Tickets Unreserved seating £20 (Concessions £18 | *Under 35s £6)

UNIVERSITY BAROQUE ENSEMBLE

Lucy Russell, Rachel Gray directors

FANTASY, FICTION AND FORM

Telemann

Purcell

Schmelzer

Mozart

Biber

Burlesque de Quixotte

Fantasia upon one note

Die Fechtschule

Adagio and Fugue in C minor

Battalia

A chance to experience psychedelic chromaticism

and harmony in music, from Purcell’s obsessive

‘one-note’ Fantazia, to the vividly depicted unhinged

behaviour of Telemann’s Don Quixote, to warlike

whackiness in Schmelzer’s ‘Fencing School’

and Biber’s boisterous (and in places drunkenly

cacophonous) Battalia, armed with daring new string

techniques. Meanwhile Mozart combines fantasy

and form in one work, progressing from a poignantly

dissonant opening to a toweringly dramatic fugue.

12

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Tuesday 7 July

Sponsored by

Event 14 7.30pm - c.9.30pm

Venue York Minster

Tickets Reserved seating front nave: £35

Reserved seating rear nave: £28

Unreserved seating side aisles: £20 | *Under 35s £6

THE SIXTEEN

Harry Christophers conductor

THE CALL OF ROME

Plainsong De Lamentatione

Victoria Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday 1- 6

Josquin Pater noster / Ave Maria

Felice Anerio Litaniae Beatissimae Virginis Mariae

Josquin Gaude virgo Mater Christi

Allegri ‘Gloria’ from Missa In lectulo meo

Josquin Illibata Dei Virgo nutrix

Allegri Miserere

Anerio Regina caeli laetare a8

Victoria Salve Regina a8

2020 marks the 20th anniversary

of The Sixteen’s annual Choral

Pilgrimage tour. Since 2000 the

famous choir has travelled the

length and breadth of the UK,

celebrating some of the country’s

most beautiful architecture

and building relationships with

wonderful communities, including

here at the York Early Music

Festival. This year’s tour focuses

on Rome, a city which has itself

inspired countless pilgrimages,

and where each of the four

Renaissance composers in the

programme created some of

their finest work - including the

extraordinarily beautiful Miserere.

‘spine-shiveringly radiant from first

to last’ The Times

thesixteen.com

Photo: Firedog

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13

Wednesday 8 July

Event 15 10.30am – c.11.30am

Venue Bedern Hall, Bedern

Tickets Unreserved seating: £12 including coffee & biscuits on arrival

BACH: Method & Obsessive Compositional Syndrome

Bach is often seen as the most ordered and systematic of composers, yet for many in his own time he simply

went too far, pushing compositional methods well beyond standard boundaries in a way that might have

seemed like madness to many.

John Butt – Gardiner Professor of Music at the University of Glasgow and musical director of the Dunedin

Consort – examines this side of Bach that, ironically, has given his music such enduring significance for later

generations.

You’ve heard the story, now hear the music - see event 17

Event 16 12.30pm – c.1.30pm

Venue Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate

Tickets Unreserved seating: £16 (£14 concessions | *Under 35s £6)

PRISMA

Franciska Anna Hajdu violin Elisabeth Champollion recorder

Alon Sariel lute Dávid Budai viola da gamba

with Jan van Elsacker tenor

THE SOUL’S PASSIONS

A musical and poetic exploration of six passions – admiration, desire, love, hate, sadness and joy – as

expressed by composers from Elizabethan and Jacobean England, including Dowland, Campion, Holborne,

Hume, Morley, Corkine and Ferrabosco.

‘exceptional – exciting and incredibly good!’ Wesermarsch

prisma-music.eu

Photo: Bertrand Picène

book online


Wednesday 8 July

Event 17 6.30pm – c.8.30pm


Tickets Reserved seating: £35 & £30 (Concessions £33 & £28 | *Under 35s £6)

IESTYN DAVIEScountertenor

DUNEDIN CONSORT

directed by JOHN BUTT

BACH: COUNTERTENOR ARIAS

Schütz

Bach

Erlebach

Erlebach

Bach

Bach

Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott

Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV54

Overture No. 6 in G minor

Trocknet euch ihr heissen Zahren

Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV1066

Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV170

Widely celebrated as one of the greatest countertenors of

his generation, York-born Iestyn Davies joins the Dunedin Consort

in two of Bach’s most intimate church cantatas. The elegant poetry

of Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust and startling intensity

of Widerstehe doch der Sünde are paired with works by two of Bach’s

most important predecessors, whose music glows with the same

easy contrapuntal fluidity and expressive detail. One of Bach’s

sparkling Orchestral Suites completes this rich and intricate picture of

the German Baroque.

‘John Butt conducts Bach’s eternal masterpieces as though the music

were the elixir of life’ The Times

dunedin-consort.org.uk

See also event 15

book online


Thursday 9 July

Event 19 6.30pm – c.8.30pm



THE SOCIETY OF

STRANGE AND

ANCIENT INSTRUMENTS

Reiko Ichise trumpet marine, viols

Jean Kelly trumpet marine, harps

Clare Salaman trumpet marine, nyckelharpa

Sam Stadlen trumpet marine, viols

with Steven Player dancer, actor, musician

THE TRUMPET MARINE PROJECT

For their latest ground-breaking

project, The Society of Strange

and Ancient Instruments proudly

revives the ‘trumpet marine’.

A towering, single-stringed

instrument with a host of

resonating or sympathetic strings,

it was a trumpet-substitute for the

use of nuns but also an unusual

book online


vehicle for virtuosic musical

display in the late 17 th century.

Despite its magnificent sound and

appearance, it fell out of circulation

in the late 18th century and has

rarely been seen or heard since.

Now, for the first time in 345 years,

four trumpet marines will be heard

together in this re-imagining of a

‘their vibrant, carefree virtuosity was as enthralling as ever’ Early Music Today

strangeandancientinstruments.com

‘A Rare Concert of four Trumpets

Marine’ advertised in the London

Gazette in 1674. Conjuring the

curious sights and compelling

sounds of late-17 th -century

England, SSAI will present old and

new works for trumpet marine

ensemble and other combinations

of exotic musical instruments.

NCEM is partnering SSAI to support a new commission which will help to bring the Trumpet Marine to a wider,

younger, audience. Find out more at: ncem.co.uk/ssai-commission

Thursday 9 July

Thursday 9 July

Event 20 9.30pm – c.10.30pm

Venue Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Fossgate


PATRIZIA BOVI voice

LEAH STUTTARD bray harp

TWELVE SIBYLS

THE MADNESS

OF PROPHECY FORETELLS

Event 18 1.00pm – 2.00pm



(£14 | *Under 35s £6)

PART 3

See page 10 for details

THE LIFE OF

CHRIST

Prophetic texts ascribed to

powerful women visionaries

known as sibyls fascinated the

early Christian church. One poem

ascribed to the Erythraean Sibyl,

for instance, was thought to foretell

the coming of Christ. By the 16 th

century the number of sibyls was

fixed at twelve, each associated

with prophecies concerning the

life of Christ. This concert presents

music from the 11 th to the 16 th

centuries highlighting each of the

sibyls’ symbols and the Christian

prophecies they represent.

‘rare talent of a modern rhapsodist‘…

rich and original’ Diapason

leahstuttard.com

book online


Friday 10 July

Event 21 1.00pm – c.2.00pm

Venue NCEM, St Margaret’s

Tickets Reserved seating: £16

(£14 | *Under 35s £6)

LA VAGHEZZA

Mayah Kadish, Ignacio Ramel Viejo violins

Gianluca Geremia lute

Anastasia Baraviera cello

Marco Crosetto harpsichord

MUSIC ISN’T

JUST THE NOTES

Instrumental flamboyance from

17th-century Italy

When canzonas and sonatas by Marini, Merula, Fontana

and Rossi swept across Europe in the early 17th century, the

notes on the page could hardly keep pace with the vivid spirit

of invention the music demanded. La Vaghezza explores the

wildly virtuosic embellishments and interpretative freedom

their early baroque counterparts employed to liberate the

avant-garde music of the early 1600’s era from the shackles

of the page, in the idiom that came to be known as the stylus

fantasticus.

Event 22 4.30pm – 6.00pm


Tickets £11 (* Under 35s £6)

including loan of a score if required

COME & SING

FAURÉ: REQUIEM

Amy Walker soprano

Jonty Ward baritone

Ben Horden organ

Peter Seymour conductor

Open to all, we invite you to Come & Sing

this exquisitely beautiful Requiem. We

will have a short rehearsal led by Peter

Seymour, followed by a performance

(mainly to ourselves!) with organ.

A fabulously festive occasion.

We will be using the OUP vocal score. When

booking please advise what voice you are

and whether you need to borrow a score.

For details, see www.ncem.co.uk/Faure

‘From the first notes, the quality of La Vaghezza’s playing was remarkable ... a tightly woven ensemble

that gave an engaged and stirring performance. La Vaghezza seduced us with the quality and the

élan of their interpretation’ Classicagenda

lavaghezza.com

Photo: Bertrand Picène

18

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Friday 10 July

Event 23 7.30pm – c.8.30pm



PROFETI DELLA QUINTA

Doron Schleifer, Roman Melish countertenors Lior Leibovici, Jacob Lawrence tenors

Elam Rotem bass & musical direction Lukas Henning theorbo

ARIANNA’S LAMENT 2

Italian Renaissance madrigals

from Rore to Monteverdi

York Early Music Festival is

a member of REMA - the

European Early Music

Network. REMA boasts

a membership of 88 organisations

involved in the promotion of early

music from across 21 countries.

Deserted by her faithless lover, Arianna

rages in a mixture of anger and self-pity.

Monteverdi knew that his music for this

operatic scene was too good to lose and

arranged it as an intense sequence of

madrigals, but drama was nothing new to

the madrigal composers of Renaissance

Italy. Profeti della Quinta (winners of

the YEM International Young Artists

Competition in 2011), makes a welcome

return to present Monteverdi’s music

alongside expressive creations by Rore,

Luzzaschi, and Gesualdo – a man once

described as ‘madly obsessed with music’.

See also event 4

‘The sound is of such

a thrilling beauty, that

one forgets time and

place… emphasized

dynamics and perfect

diction characterize

the manner in which

ensemble Profeti della

Quinta breathes new

life into early music.’

Wiesbadener Tagblatt

quintaprofeti.com

FRIDAY 10 JULY

Event 24 9.30pm - c.10.30pm

Venue NCEM

Tickets Reserved seating: £16

(£14 *Under 35s £6)

PART 4

See page 10 for details

book online

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19

Saturday 11 July

Event 25 10.00am – 4.00pm

(Informal performance

3.30pm – observers welcome)

Venue York Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Road

Tickets £18 (Students £10)

A CHORAL WORKSHOP

directed by Robert Hollingworth

We return to the elegant surroundings of York

Cemetery Chapel for a workshop featuring two

of the pieces featured within The Sixteen’s 2020

Choral Pilgrimage - by Victoria and Josquin - and

two contrasting works by Monteverdi and Gesualdo

inspired by the Renaissance programmes which

‘book-end’ the festival this year.

The workshop is open to all voices (SATB) with

confident sight-reading skills (the music will

be available to download from our website

in advance). Details from www.ncem.co.uk/

yorkworkshop20

Book tickets for event 23 at the same time,

and get a £5 discount!

Event 27 12.30pm – c.1.30pm


Ticket Unreserved seating: £16 (£14 | *Under 35s £6)

L’APOTHÉOSE

Laura Quesada flute Victor Martínez Soto violin

Carla Sanfélix cello Asís Márquez harpsichord

Event 26 11.00am – c.12 noon

Venue Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate


(£9 | *Under 35s £6)

Free to Festival Friends and NCEM Patrons

MINSTER MINSTRELS

directed by Ailsa Batters

with Rachel Gray cello

VARIATION ON A THEME

Variation was a popular compositional method

during the 17 th and 18 th centuries, to be found in

variations on popular tunes, but also in forms

such as the ground bass, which spun elaborate

variations over a repeating bassline. The Minster

Minstrels explores the use of variation in a

programme which will include the joyful Carman’s

Whistle, the more

Supported by

reflective Ah, Robyn, and

the use of ground bass

in the music of Henry

Purcell and John Blow.

TO MONSIEUR CLARGES

We are delighted to welcome the winners of the 2019

York EM International Young Artists Competition back

to the stage as they prepare for their prize – winning

CD recording with Linn.

Their programme revolves around the works of Carl

Philipp Stamitz, an 18 th -century German composer

and instrumentalist whose work now sits within the

Spanish National Library.

‘overwhelming energy…exquisite finesse…overflowing

imagination…bombproof mutual understanding.’

Scherzo

lapotheoseensemble.com

Photo: Segio Albert

book online


Saturday 11 July

Event 28 5.30pm – 6.30pm



CONSONE QUARTET

Agata Daraskaite, Magdalena Loth-Hill violins Elitsa Bogdanova viola George Ross cello

Beethoven String Quartet in G major, Op.18 No. 2

Beethoven String Quartet in D major, Op.18 No. 3

Aware, no doubt, of the shadow

cast by the string quartets of

Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven

did not attempt any of his own

until he was in his late 20s.

The Consone Quartet mark

the 250 th anniversary of

Beethoven’s birth with two

of those quartets, published

when the composer had

already begun to be aware of his

oncoming deafness, an affliction

which (he later wrote) ‘drove me

almost to despair; a little more and

I would have ended my life – it was

only my art that held me back’.

‘The textures were always clear and

voice-leading immaculate.’ The Strad

consonequartet.com

NCEM is honoured to showcase four exceptionally talented young ensembles within the 2020 Festival:

Prisma; La Vaghezza; L’Apothéose and Consone Quartet. All four groups have been selected to be part of the

prestigious EEEMERGING + programme funded by Creative Europe.

Prisma join us from Germany; La Vaghezza from Italy and L’Apothéose from Spain. Consone Quartet are based

in the UK and have recently been appointed BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists.

NCEM is dedicated to supporting emerging professionals in the field of early music - a pan-European art form.

If you would like to help us keep this invaluable work alive at this complicated time, please get in touch.

www.ncem.co.uk/eee

book online


Stile Antico | filoBarocco | La Serenissima

Julia Doyle | Matthew Wadsworth | Alva

Full details

ncem.co.uk/bemf

SUPPORTING INNOVATION,

EXCELLENCE AND CREATIVE

JOIN US AS A PATRON

LEARNING AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Meet early music specialists and like-minded individuals

through informal receptions, supper parties and concerts.

Enjoy a unique opportunity to learn more of the musical

inspirations behind the Festival concerts in the company

of experts and friends.

If you would like to find out more,

please contact Delma Tomlin MBE

Tel: 01904 632220 email: support@ncem.co.uk

www.ncem.co.uk/patrons

DISCOVER ALL OUR DISCOUNTS

Please note that all concerts must be booked at the same time, and that offers are a) based on the top price

tickets and b) are subject to availability. Saver tickets may not be used in conjunction with any other offers.

Weekend Saver

£130.00 (£120.00 concessions)

Buy a weekend saver ticket covering events

1, 3, 4, 5 & 7 and save £10.00

*Under 35 Ticket Scheme

If you are under 35 or a full-time student, you

can purchase tickets for most concerts at just £6.

Please note that this is a limited offer and is on a

first-come, first-served basis. You can purchase

these by ringing the Box Office on 01904 658338

or book online tickets.ncem.co.uk When collecting

tickets, you will need to bring along photo ID which

will be checked as proof of age. More info at www.

ncem.co.uk/U35. Subject to availability.

Friends Saver Ticket

£419.00 (£381.00 concessions)

Purchase a Friends’ Saver Ticket covering events

1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24,

27 and 28 and save £50.00.

Friends enjoy additional discounts, priority

booking, reserved seats (where practical) and

good company.

Please email friends@ncem.co.uk

for information on how to join or log on to

www.ncem.co.uk/friends

book online


HOW TO BOOK

The National Centre For Early Music

St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York YO1 9TL

Box Office: 01904 658338

Email: boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

tickets.ncem.co.uk

Booking opens on Monday 2

March to NCEM Patrons, to YEMF

Friends on Wednesday 4 March,

and to the public on Monday 9

March.

Tickets are available to buy online

tickets.ncem.co.uk, by telephone,

by post or in person.

In person: The NCEM box

office is open Monday to

Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm. The Box

Office entrance is on Percy’s Lane

which is just off Navigation Road,

running parallel to Walmgate.

Online: Visit our web site at

tickets.ncem.co.uk and use

the secure online booking service.

Tickets are also available online as

Print at Home Tickets.

By telephone:

Please contact the box office

on 01904 658338.

There is a non-refundable

£1.00 administration charge per

transaction made online or by

telephone. A charge of £1 applies

if you would like the tickets posted.

There is no charge for print at

home tickets or if you collect in

person.

By post: Please send your

order to the NCEM Box Office, St

Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York

YO1 9TL enclosing an SAE. Please

use a large stamp if ordering more

than 10 tickets. Cheques should be

made payable to: National Centre

for Early Music.

Email: Simply email your

enquiry to boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

Reservations

Tickets can be reserved but must

be paid for within three working

days, and at least 24 hours

prior to the performance. Any

remaining tickets will be sold at

the venue immediately prior to the

performance.

Concession prices

Where applicable, these apply

to over 65’s, under 16’s, full

time students, those in receipt

of means-tested benefits and

audience members who have

disabilities.

Group discounts

The NCEM welcomes

group bookings. If you buy 10

tickets (full price or concessions)

there is a 20% discount off the

total amount.

Saver Tickets See page 22

Refunds and Exchanges

We regret that refunds can only

be given if the concert is sold out

and we are able to resell the ticket.

Please note that there will be a

10% administration charge.

Access

The Festival offers a warm

welcome to everyone. The NCEM

is fully accessible to wheelchair

users, with level access to the foyer

and concert space, suitable toilets,

and designated parking. If you

have any access requirements,

please let us know at the time of

booking. The NCEM is a Typetalk

Approved Business.

To ensure that the entire

community can access our

events, we offer a complimentary

ticket to an essential personal

assistant. To qualify, please join

our access scheme or have a

valid CredAbility Access Card with

the +1 symbol. Full details can be

found online or in person, and can

also be requested by e-mailing

boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

VISITOR INFORMATION

Registered assistance dogs

are welcome at concerts.

York is less than 2hrs train journey from London King’s Cross and on a

direct line from Edinburgh and Manchester. The Festival prides itself on

utilising a variety of York’s beautiful, historic buildings. Some of these

venues are quirky. All of them are accessible and chosen to enhance

the visitor’s experience of this picturesque city. See ncem.co.uk/yemf

for details.

The NCEM warmly recommends a number of York hotels – please log

on to www.ncem.co.uk/hotels for details. The York Visitor Information

Centre offers help with accommodation and general information about

the city. Ring 01904 550099 or email info@visityork.org

23

3–11 July

2020

METHOD&

MADNESS

THE SIXTEEN | BAROKKSOLISTENE

VOCES SUAVES | PROFETI DELLA QUINTA

HANDEL’S ORLANDO | ANNA HUNTLEY, CAROLYN SAMPSON, MATTHEW BROOK

DUNEDIN CONSORT | IESTYN DAVIES

THE SOCIETY OF STRANGE AND ANCIENT INSTRUMENTS

tickets.ncem.co.uk

Design: RedBonsai.co.uk

Box office 01904 658338

online ncem.co.uk/yemf

yorkearlymusic

nationalcentreforearlymusic

York Early Music Festival is administered by the National Centre for Early Music

through the York Early Music Foundation – registered charity number 1068331.

All details are correct at the time of going to press but the Festival reserves the

right to make alterations to the published programme if necessary.

NCEM York Early Music Festival 2020

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