Classical and Jazz: Preview - 110th anniversary season of Marylebone's Wigmore Hall
Published: 02 September 2010
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
A PRODIGIOUS number of the world’s finest musicians will be joining the celebrations to mark the 110th anniversary season of the Wigmore Hall in Marylebone. Daniel Barenboim, for instance, will be returning the hall to play Liszt. His concert will come nearly 55 years after his WH debut performance at the age of 13 playing Beethoven’s Hammerklavier.
Other world-renowned pianists include Dame Mitsuko Uchida, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Maria Joao Pires.
Alfred Brendel is coming out of retirement to give four lecture/ recitals and Stephen Kovacevich is celebrating his 70th birthday with one of his former wives, the outstanding Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich.
Among the singers will be Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli familiarly known as “the Queen of Agility” in recognition of her coloratura skills.
Also performing will be German lyric coloratura soprano Diana Damrau who made opera history two years ago by singing both Pamina and the Queen of the Night in the same production, but different performances, of The Magic Flute at the New York Met.
The 110th anniversary celebrations start on September 10, with a song recital given by Karita Mattila, hailed as “the most electrifying singer actress of our day”.
Later concerts will feature such singers as Angelika Kirchschlager, Ian Bostridge, Julius Drake, Susan Graham, long-standing WH favourite Andras Schiff, Jonas Kaufmann, Andreas Scholl and Matthias Goerne.
The Tokyo String Quartet will be repeating their Beethoven programme played at their WH debut 40 years ago.
There’s going to be a major series to mark Robert Schumann’s bicentenary, a French series devised by much-loved Steven Isserlis as artist-in-residence and a four-concert guitar series opened by John Williams.
The Jerusalem Quartet are back again, its north London fan club will be pleased to know. Back again too will be the Emerson and Ebene Quartets.
Inevitably, many Wigmore Hall concerts are sold out. So keep an eye on my weekly listings as I try to select interesting concerts where tickets are still available.
• Wigmore Hall box office: 020 7935 2141, www.wigmore-hall.org.uk