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3 October 20107 November 20105 December 20106 February 20116 March 20113 April 2011 Concert Dates Imagemap

About the RTWSO concerts

The RTWSO has long been established as an important arts organisation in Kent. The orchestra presents six concerts each year in the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, starting at 3pm on Sunday afternoons. The 2011/12 season will appeal to musiclovers of all ages. RTWSO concerts are an ideal way to experience entertaining and accessible live music. Support the RTWSO by going to its concerts, booking early, booking often and spreading the word to your friends about the joy of listening to classical music.



Sunday 2 October 2011


Roderick Dunk
conductor
Freddy Kempf piano

Rossini
Overture, ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’

Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 3

Brahms
Symphony No. 3

Freddy Kempf


The RTWSO’s 90th season of concerts is brimming with diversity and underpinned by first class soloists. It starts with an overture by Rossini, which is among the jewels of the Classical period. The music is remarkable for its fusion of
driving energy and elegant, pristine melodies.

Freddy Kempf is one of today’s most successful pianists and has built a reputation as a physical performer, not afraid to take risks. He will perform Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, which is rich in emotions containing intense, stormy and
agitated music. As the composer experiments with new orchestral sounds, it marks his transition from the Classical to Romantic styles with turbulent passages and freedom of form. The piano writing is muscular, challenging the capabilities of the instrument.

In his Third Symphony, Brahms achieved a new level of thematic coherence and organic unity for a large-scale work. This meticulous masterpiece is compact with well balanced proportions.

Season sponsors, Classic Violins & Tim Toft Violins Ltd.




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Sunday 6 November 2011


Neil Thomson
conductor
David Pyatt horn

Vaughan Williams

Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Mozart

Horn Concerto No. 3

Bizet

Jeux d’Enfants (Petite Suite)

Larsson
Concertino for Horn

Bizet
Symphony in C
David Pyatt


Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia is a beautifully imagined work of passion, mystery and radiance with shadows lurking in the corners. It’s an outstanding example of the creative reinterpretation of the past.

Horn player, David Pyatt has an extensive repertoire, as demonstrated in this concert. He will begin with the Third Horn
Concerto by Mozart. Written at the height of his powers, this popular piece contains a wonderful romance in the middle. Larsson’s concerto is full of Swedish melodies and one can hear the influence of Carl Nielsen. The finale requires  quick fingerwork and calls for great power and stamina.

Bizet is nowadays remembered for his lyric operas. But he was equally at home in the suite form, and his Jeux d’Enfants bears the stamp of his genius. Bizet’s early symphony is stylistically close to Gounod, yet reveals a spontaneous
melodist and charming orchestrator in an accomplished piece that foreshadows Carmen.

Season sponsors, Classic Violins & Tim Toft Violins Ltd.



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Sunday 4 December 2011



Roderick Dunk
conductor
Lara Melda piano


Arnold
The Holly and the Ivy

Tchaikovsky

The Nutcracker Suite

John Williams

Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone

Grieg
Piano Concerto

Anderson

Christmas Festival Overture

Lara Melda


The sensational winner of the 2010 BBC Young Musician of the Year, Lara Melda, will perform one of the best-loved of all Romantic piano concertos. Grieg’s enduring piece owes its popularity to the pianistic bravura and proliferation of simply
constructed, yet dramatic ideas. His musical expression defines the character and beauty of Norway, not least in the signature opening, based on intervals characteristic of Norwegian folk music.

Christmas is a magical time of year and this family concert will set the mood. It opens with Arnold’s Fantasy on Christmas Carols from The Holly and the Ivy, a festive work arranged by Christopher Palmer from the 1950s film score.

John Williams has earned a reputation for his music in blockbusters, not least through the success of the Harry Potter themes.

Characters of a different kind come to life in Tchaikovsky’s graceful music from his ballet. But the holiday season can’t begin until you’ve heard Anderson’s tuneful tapestry.

A concert for John Sumner

Season sponsors, Classic Violins & Tim Toft Violins Ltd.



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Sunday 5 February 2012 - The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert


Roderick Dunk
conductor
Callum Smart violin

Walton

Orb and Sceptre

Tchaikovsky

Violin Concerto

Coates

The Three Elizabeths

Elgar
Wand of Youth Suite

Walton
Crown Imperial

Callum Smart


Royal events have inspired some truly great music. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne, this concert features several ceremonial pieces.

Walton’s Or  and Sceptre march was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. With its bright trumpet fanfares, the grandeur of the music is paraded for all to hear. Like his Crown Imperial march, performed at the coronation of King George VI, it quietens for a trio section. Elgar’s love of ceremony and reflective quality make his Wand of Youth Suite
unmistakably English in tone. Similarly, Coates represented the nationalism of his time in his suite.

Callum Smart, from Tunbridge Wells, was a prize-winner at the 2010 Menuhin Competition in Oslo and played in the final of the 2010 BBC Young Musician competition. For his début with the RTWSO, he will perform Tchaikovsky’s lyrical Violin
Concerto, an autobiographical work born out of personal despair.

Season sponsors, Classic Violins & Tim Toft Violins Ltd.



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Sunday 4 March 2012


Christopher Adey
conductor
Jong-Gyung Park piano

Nicolai
Merry Wives of Windsor Overture

Schumann
Piano Concerto

Rachmaninov
Symphony No. 2

Jong-Gyung Park


Full of captivating melody, Nicolai’s light-hearted overture is bright and fresh. He revered Mozart and sought to emulate his elegance and clarity of form. The introduction suggests the broad landscape of the Thames-side town of Windsor.

Schumann was the essence of the Romantic composer who wrote in a personal idiom. His Piano Concerto was inspired by his love for his wife, Clara. Composed during the idyllic early months of his marriage, it reflects the composer’s happiness at the time. Written by a pianist, for a pianist, the work displays a unique understanding of the instrument. After her engaging performance last season, we eagerly await hearing soloist Jong-Gyung Park again.

Russian music doesn’t get any more Romantic than Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. Lush, expansive and gloriously indulgent, it sweeps from vast brooding landscapes to soaring love scenes. This flowing piece demonstrates the composer’s mastery of technique from skilful counterpoint to brilliant orchestration.

Sponsored by Relish restaurant

Season sponsors, Classic Violins & Tim Toft Violins Ltd.



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Sunday 1 April 2012


Neil Thomson
conductor
Guy Johnston cello

German

Overture ‘Nell Gwyn’

Elgar

Cello Concerto

Bliss

Prologue & Five Dances from Checkmate

Britten
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Guy Johnston


Nowadays German is remembered for his incidental music and as a successor to Sullivan in the field of English comic opera. We celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth by performing his Nell Gwyn overture.

Elgar was an outstanding figure in British musical life. The intense passion and reflective melodies of his Cello Concerto draw from a world shattered by the consequences of the First World War. Similarly, in 1937, it was impossible for Bliss to ignore the politics of Europe. As befits the theme of a warlike game of chess, the brutal power of Checkmate never fails to capture the imagination in the struggle between the opposing forces of love and death.

The Young Person’s Guide is an effervescent set of variations on a theme by Purcell. Britten’s wellcrafted showpiece gives each section of the orchestra a chance to shine, culminating in one of the great moments in 20th-century music.

Sponsored by The Friends of the RTWSO

Season sponsors, Classic Violins & Tim Toft Violins Ltd.



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The RTWSO reserves the right to change advertised programmes and artists without notice.