DISS 2015: The Creation of the World

Conducted by Sian Edwards and students on the Advanced Conducting Course
Thomas Ang: piano
Joseph Havlat: piano
Dartington Festival Wind Orchestra

Wednesday 26 August, 7.45pm Great Hall
£18.50 reserved / £14 unreserved / Under 16s £9.25 reserved / £7 unreserved

A wonderful programme of spicy, sharp classics, conducted by Sian Edwards and her Advanced Conducting students.

The French composer Milhaud’s fine, jazzy La Création du Monde snappily outlines the creation of the world based on African folk mythology, inspired by his visits to the streets of Harlem. Varèse’s Octandre reflects his study of science, of Leonardo da Vinci and ‘the corporealization of the intelligence that is in sounds.’ The piquant scoring of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments seamlessly switches pace, moving from movements of slow grace to explosive blasts of sound. The second half pairs Stravinsky’s witty, sparkling Octet with Strauss’ richly melodic and lyrical Serenade, written when the composer was just seventeen. We conclude with Weill’s jazzy suite from The Threepenny Opera, which includes Polly’s Song and the show stopper Cannon Song, made famous in the original opera.

Sian Edwards has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland, Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Berlin Symphony, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, MDR Leipzig, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, the Hallé, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She made her operatic debut in 1986 conducting Weill’s Mahagonny for Scottish Opera and her ROH debut in 1988 with Tippett’s The Knot Garden. From 1993 to 1995 she was Music Director of English National Opersa. Sian Edwards’ many recordings include Peter and the Wolf, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, and Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, and Judith Weir’s opera Blond Eckbert with English National Opera.

Milhaud La Création du Monde
Varèse Octandre
Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
Stravinsky Octet
Strauss Serenade for Thirteen Wind Instruments in E flat major Op.7
Kurt Weill Suite from The Threepenny Opera

Part of the Dartington International Summer School 2015 concert and events programme.

For more information visit https://www.dartington.org/whats-on/event/?id=88998