Programme announced for Edinburgh International Festival 2018

News

14 Mar 2018 at 18:30

The Edinburgh International Festival has announced the programme for their 2018 festival, which runs from 3 to 27 August and welcomes 2,750 artists from 31 nations to Scotland’s capital city.

Highlights include the UK and festival debut of NYO Jazz, the new sister programme of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, plus the festival debut of pianist James Baillieu, who joins the Hebrides Ensemble to kick off the Festival’s day-long Leonard Bernstein centenary celebrations.

Nicola Benedetti returns to the festival to open the Queen’s Hall series of concerts, performing Telemann and Vivaldi with the Academy of Ancient Music, while Daniel Harding conducts Mahler 8 with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in the closing concert of the festival. Daniel is joined on stage by Christopher Maltman, and Simon O’Neill, in his second performance of the festival; his first being Siegfried in a concert performance of Wagner’s eponymous opera, with Anna Larsson as Erda.

The Queen’s Hall will host recitals from Piotr Anderszewski, Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labèque, and Dorothea Röschmann and Roger Vignoles, as well as a performance of Handel’s Samson with Louise Alder, Sophie Bevan and David Soar.

Over two nights, Robin Ticciati will conduct Brahms Symphonies Nos. 1 to 4 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, repertoire they have recently recorded for release on Linn Records. The SCO will also perform under the baton of Matthias Pintscher, and Edward Gardner, who returns to the festival following outstanding performances of Peter Grimes with the Bergen Philharmonic last year. Edward will conduct Haydn’s The Creation, with soloists including Robert Murray and Neal Davies.

Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra will give two performances at the festival, presenting works by Bernstein, Dvořák, Janáček and Mahler, and Christopher Maltman joins the BBC Scottish Symphony and Martyn Brabbins for Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony.

Performances by AH artists are listed below. For the full line-up, visit eif.co.uk.

#EdintFest

Saturday 4 August

TELEMANN Alster Overture-Suite
VIVALDI Concerto for violin in D major Il Grosso Mogul
VIVALDI Concerto in F major Dresden
TELEMANN Concerto for violin in A major The Frogs
TELEMANN Concerto for four violins in C major
VIVALDI Concerto for harpsichord RV780

Violin: Nicola Benedetti
Academy of Ancient Music

Recorded for deferred broadcast on BBC Radio 3

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HAYDN The Creation

Soprano: Sarah Tynan
Tenor: Robert Murray
Bass: Neal Davies

Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Edward Gardner
National Youth Choir of Scotland / Christopher Bell

Sunday 5 August

AH Tours & Projects

NYO Jazz make their EIF debut as part of their inaugural tour, with a performance showcasing American music for big band from Basie and Ellington to today’s jazz greats.

NYO Jazz (EIF debut)
Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra
Trumpet and bandleader: Sean Jones, trumpet and bandleader
Guest vocalist: Dianne Reeves

Tuesday 7 August

BACH Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 870
BACH Prelude and Fugue in A flat major BWV 886
BACH Prelude and Fugue in in D sharp minor BWV 877
BACH English Suite No. 3 in G minor
BEETHOVEN Diabelli Variations

Piano: Piotr Anderszewski

Wednesday 8 August

PROKOFIEV Solo Violin Sonata in D major Op. 115
SCHUMANN Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor
TAKEMITSU Distance de fee for violin & piano
PÄRT Fratres
RAVEL Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major

Violin: Viktoria Mullova
Piano: Katia Labèque

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WAGNER Siegfried (concert performance)

Third instalment of the Festival’s four-year Ring cycle.

Siegfried: Simon O’Neill
Brünnhilde: Christine Goerke
The Wanderer: Iain Paterson
Mime: Gerhard Siegel
Alberich: Samuel Youn
Fafner: Clive Bayley
Erda: Anna Larsson
Woodbird: Malin Christensson

Hallé / Sir Mark Elder

Thursday 9 August

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A Sea Symphony

Christopher Maltman

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins
Edinburgh Festival Chorus

Friday 10 August

BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety
DVOŘÁK Slavonic Dances Op. 72
JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle

Saturday 11 August

MAHLER Symphony No. 9

London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle

Monday 13 August