'Every generation revisits the 'classics' of western music, on occasion, reviving neglected composers or works. Until the late 1980s, Schoenberg was somewhat neglected except for a number of his earlier more 'Romantic' pieces. Even the First Chamber Symphony was a rarity. Happily, things have moved on for the better and this thanks to the championing of the Viennese School by succeeding younger generations of artists. The Vienna Revisited cycle places Schoenberg in the familiar context of his traditionalist roots Beethoven and Brahms, his mentor Mahler and his devoted disciples and contemporaries Berg and Webern.
There are many 'firsts' in our series: the Kings Place-based London Sinfonietta, and Aurora, Kings Place's resident orchestra, appear for the first time in one cycle and under the same young and brilliant conductor, Nicholas Collon. British singers representing the current generation of stars, Sarah Connolly and Kate Royal take part alongside the new generation making their mark, Eleanor Dennis and Alice Privett. Sarah Connolly will sing her first Song of the Wood-dove on this occasion, and the new artists will also be performing their works here for the first time. Aurora and its soloists will be giving their first Berg Chamber Concerto and the exceptional French quartet, Quatuor Diotima, will be making their Kings Place debut.'
– Nicholas Snowman, curator
Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht - London Sinfonietta, Sarah Connolly, Nicholas Collon
Thursday, 18 September 2014 - 7:30pm / Music
‘Every time I come back to this work I am gobsmacked by its saturated emotional atmosphere; it's a 25-minute journey which feels like a whole opera' - Jonathan Morton (London Sinfonietta)
Quatuor Diotima: The String Quartet
Friday, 19 September 2014 - 7:30pm / Music
Three masterpieces from three generations of Viennese-based composers.
Panel Discussion – Second Viennese School: Schoenberg and His Contemporaries
Saturday, 20 September 2014 - 4:00pm /
Tom Service, presenter of BBC Radio 3's Music Matters, talks to Schoenberg's daughter, Nuria Schoenberg-Nono, the composer Alexander Goehr and John Deathridge, Professor of Music at Kings College, London.
Cabaret Songs
Saturday, 20 September 2014 - 5:30pm / Music
Berg's crystalline, haunting Early Songs are contrasted in this concert by the earthy eroticism of Schoenberg's Cabaret Songs (Brettl-Lieder, 1901), whose rich sensuality and arch humour reveal a very different side to the composer.
Little Giants – Webern, Berg and Mahler
Saturday, 20 September 2014 - 7:30pm / Music
Aurora sizes up three Viennese masterpieces, each performed in dazzling miniature.
