Masonic music by Mozart, one of Beethoven’s best-known compositions, and by Saint-Saëns, perhaps the greatest of all cello concertos.
Both Mozart and Beethoven were associated with the Masonic lodges of Vienna, with Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute being noted for its prominent Masonic elements. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony must be one of the best-known compositions in classical music.
By contrast, the Cello Concerto by Saint-Saëns comes from a different world: dramatic and beautiful, demanding and bursting the conventions of its time.
We are delighted to welcome back the great Turkish cellist Jamal Aliyev for what is considered by many to be the greatest of all cello concertos.
‘The tender cello solo … is in my ear still’
Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph (BBC Proms)
European Classics: Magic & Mayhem
Tuesday 7 February 2023 7.30pm St George’s Hanover Square, London
Mozart Overture to Die Zauberflöte, K.620 Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.33 Beethoven Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67
Conductor George Jackson (pictured above) Cello Jamal Aliyev
Remember – you can support the orchestra from as little as £100 as a Silver Firebird member to help us continue with our important work for young musicians.
So how did it all begin and and who were your most influential teachers?
Music was around from an early age. I loved the sound of the violin heard on recordings, so I wanted to learn!
After reading Music at Oxford I studied at the Royal College in London. My main teacher, Natasha Boyarsky, is my greatest influence. She was a rigorous teacher, who taught me the value of hard work, belief and communication.
Do you prefer performing as a solo violinist, chamber musician or as the soloist in a concerto and why?
I enjoy playing solo violin, concertos and chamber music equally, as they help me appreciate each for what it is.
We know that education is an important part of your career. What sort of advice do you find yourself regularly offering to young violinists?
I enjoy teaching and try to encourage a love of music and desire to improve.
I always try to help students ask what the meaning of the music might be, why the composer wrote what they did and how to use their imagination to communicate.
Finally we look forward to your performance of the Brahms concerto on 25 October. What do you bring to it that’s different?
I believe Brahms has a powerful message in his concerto. I aim to speak through my sound to communicate the feelings of struggle, love and exuberance which are at the heart of this work.
Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D is on an epic scale, full of unrelenting passion and spectacular virtuosity. We are delighted to bring back violinist Emmanuel Bach following his memorable 2021 interpretation of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
European Classics: Pastoral
Tuesday 25 October 7.30pm St George’s Hanover Square, London
Mozart Overture to Don Giovanni, K. 527 Brahms Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 Beethoven Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 Pastoral
The next concert of European Classics brings us masterworks by Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart, prizewinning British violinist Emmanuel Bach and of course the outstanding London Firebird Orchestra…
A lover of nature, Beethoven spent much time walking in the countryside outside Vienna. His 6th symphony – the ‘Pastoral’ –is unusual in that it is programmatic, and depicts ideas including a shepherd’s pipe, birds singing, streams flowing, and a thunderstorm.
However, Beethoven himself said of the work: ‘It is more the expression of feeling than painting’.
Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D is on an epic scale, full of unrelenting passion and spectacular virtuosity. And who better to perform this musical masterpiece than violinist Emmanuel Bach who we welcome back following his memorable 2021 interpretation of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
A thundering D minor cadence opens this fantastic concert with Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni. But before long the music turns to a more light-hearted Allegro as conductor Michael Thrift sets the scene for the magnificent evening of great music.
European Classics: Pastoral
Tuesday 25 October 7.30pm St George’s Hanover Square, London
Mozart Overture to Don Giovanni, K. 527 Brahms Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 Beethoven Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 Pastoral
It’s ten years since the London Firebird Orchestra was formed on 20 March 2012. So join us as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary Season…
We have a terrific line up of no less than seven concerts to look forward to this season with some of your favourite concertos, symphonies, overtures and much more.
All the orchestral concerts in this season will be conducted by our much-loved conductors, Michael Thrift and George Jackson:
We are also very excited to welcome back wonderful soloists to perform with the Orchestra. These include George Harliono, Emmanuel Bach, Jamal Aliyev and Yury Revich (pictured below), as well as featuring some of the finest upcoming stars for the first time.
We are also launching the first in a series of concerts entitled Firebird Chamber Platform Concerts. This will give a much needed opportunity for smaller scale ensembles to perform under the Firebird banner.
27 September 2022: Egmont
Music by Beethoven and Mozart and featuring the wonderful soloist George Harliono.
25 October 2022: Pastoral
Emmanuel Bach performs the beautiful Violin Concerto by Brahms along with one of Beethoven’s most memorable symphonies evoking the spirit of a pastoral scene.
7 February 2023: Magic & Mayhem
This concert features Masonic music by Mozart, one of the best-known compositions in classical music by Beethoven, and the great Turkish cellist Jamal Aliyev performing what is considered by many to be the greatest of all cello concertos.
21 March 2023: Trio de Beauvoir
Firebird welcomes this dazzling piano trio in the first of our new Firebird Chamber Platform Concerts, featuring trios by Mendelssohn, Dvorak and Beethoven.
7 May 2023: Garden of Fire
The lyrical orchestral writing of British composer Ruth Gipps opens a concert featuring Haydn’s so-called ‘Fire Symphony’. In between, two glorious works by Mozart.
16 May 2023: Firebird for Schools
Join London Firebird for this new tailor-made concert for schoolchildren introducing young people to the magical world of the orchestra.
13 June 2023: Virtuoso
Two great masterpieces of the 19th century stand sentinel either side of the latest work from virtuoso violinist Yury Revich in this Midsummer Firebird concert.
https://www.londonfirebird.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/unnamed-8.jpg6751200London Firebird Orchestrahttps://www.londonfirebird.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/firebird11.pngLondon Firebird Orchestra2022-09-05 12:08:282022-09-05 12:08:3310 Years and Counting
It’s an extinct volcano in New Zealand… It’s a group of islands in the Indian Ocean… It’s a magnificent palace in Brussels… But on 27 September Beethoven’s monumental Egmont Overture sets the scene for the next concert of European Classics…
Composed during the Napoleonic wars, Beethoven’s heroic 1810 Egmont Overture originally opened Goethe’s play telling the wife and heroism of the 16th century noblemen, Lamoral – Count of Egmont. This powerful and expressive overture was to become the unofficial anthem of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Following in the footsteps of Beethoven is the celebrated young pianist George Harlino with a performance of his 3rd piano concerto. Beethoven premiered this work in 1803 with himself at the piano with a dedication to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia:
The concert concludes with one of Mozart’s most famous works – his 40th Symphony. Composed in 1788, this is unquestionably one of Mozart’s most greatly admired works. It is said that one of the reasons for its success is that this work reflects Mozart’s interest in the artistic movement known as Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), in which darker and stronger emotions were showcased.
European Classics: Egmont
Tuesday 27 September 7.30pm St George’s Hanover Square, London
Beethoven Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 37 Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
Ravel’s homage is based on a traditional Baroque suite with each movement dedicated to the memory of a friend who died in WWI. ‘Memorial to Couperin’ began as a six part piano suite.
He started writing the first movement of it, the Forlane, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, in 1914, as a celebration of the eighteenth century French composer François Couperin.
Completed in 1917, Ravel orchestrated four of the movements two years later which is the version that will be performed by Firebird.
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Virtuoso violinist, Yury Revich performs one of the world’s most popular concertos of all time. A composer and conductor from the German romantic school, Bruch’s Violin Concerto is the first of three which he wrote and one of the most popular and respected concertos for the instrument – with his next two concertos gaining less recognition.
Completed in 1866, it was premiered by the star violinist of the day, Joseph Joachim. nçois Couperin. Completed in 1917, Ravel orchestrated four of the movements two years later which is the version that will be performed by Firebird.
Ravel, Bruch, Schubert & Revich
Schubert: Symphony No. 1 in D. 82
Composed when Schubert was just 16, this youthful symphony was clearly inspired by the later symphonies of Haydn.
Completed in 1813 when Schubert was receiving tuition from the composer Antonio Salieri, he was introduced to the symphonies of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
The influence of these masters is evident in Schubert’s First Symphony, though it is an impressive and original contribution to the classical symphonic genre in its own right.
Yury Revich : Awakening
The UK Première of Awakening (The Blue Version) by violinist/composer Yury Revich. Revich’s musical masterpiece is inspired by the sounds and rhythms of nature and of our planet through a series of cinematic soundscapes.
Opening with Dawn on the River with various colours of winds and strings, it is followed by Song of The Moon showcasing the singing abilities of a violin as an instrument, in the best tradition of canzonetta style. Finally, Together We Stand is inspired by the power of unity.
Tuesday 14 June, 7.30pm St George’s Hanover Square, London
Conductor George Jackson Violin Yury Revich
Ravel Tombeau de Couperin Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op.26 Schubert Symphony No. 1 in D major, D.82 Yury Revich Awakening (The Blue Version)UK Première
We are thrilled to be welcoming back one of our favourite stars – Yury Revich – to perform at the first in our European Classics concerts with Awakening on Tuesday 14 June…
Yes, the dazzling virtuoso, Yury Revich, will be back with one of the world’s most popular and beautiful violin concertos: Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26.
‘Full-blooded authority, fleet-fingered dexterity, innate musicality, and substantial accuracy…’
The Strad
This fabulous concert includes some of the best loved works from the repertoire including Ravel’s Homage to Couperin based on a traditional Baroque suite and Schubert’s youthful First Symphony, written when he was just 16.
In addition, we are very excited to be performing the UK Première of a new work by Yury Revich himself: Awakening (The Blue Version).
Austrian violinist and composer Yury Revichis no ordinary musician. He has been featured by the likes of Vogue, Forbes Magazine, The Times, Die Zeit Magazin, etc.
Winner of the ECHO Klassik Award, the International Classical Music Award, his recording of Saint-Georges double concertos was listed on the US Billboard classical charts in 2021.
Over the last decade, Yury has been a passionate advocate for various charitable and philanthropic causes. Among his projects is the Austrian Gala Charity All for Autism which he started in 2015. He created and hosted the Dreamland Gala for UNICEF for years.As a soloist he performed at the major concert halls across Europe with some of the finest conductors and orchestras. As a prize-winning recording artist, he recorded 9 CDs for various labels, including SONY and NAXOS.
Since 2021, Yury has been an Honorary Representative of UNICEF Austria. Under the invitation of the Austrian president, Yury performed at, curated, and directed the concert dedicated to the Day of Austria at the 2021/2021 World Expo in Dubai.
European Classics: Awakening
Tuesday 14 June, 7.30pm St George’s Hanover Square, London
Conductor George Jackson Violin Yury Revich
Ravel Tombeau de Couperin Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op.26 Schubert Symphony No. 1 in D major, D.82 Yury Revich Awakening (The Blue Version)UK Première
Ravel’s homage to Couperin is based on a traditional Baroque suite. Each movement is dedicated to the memory of a friend of the composer who died in WWI.
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Virtuoso violinist, Yury Revich returns to perform one of the world’s most popular concertos. Bruch composed two more concertos after this but none equalled the popularity of his first.
Schubert Symphony No. 1 in D. 82
Schubert’s youthful first symphony was written when he was just 16, this is an impressive piece of orchestral music for both its time and size, clearly inspired by the later symphonies of Haydn.
Yury Revich Prelude
In addition, we are delighted to also be performing Prelude, a work by Yury Revich himself which he recently performed at the World Expo in Dubai.
George Jackson returns to conduct the Orchestra for this thrilling concert of European Classics.
Don’t forget to visit our Youtube channel where you can watch videos of past concerts. Just added is this video of musc from Grieg and Dvořák from our latest concert in Oxford ‘From the New World’.
The centre piece of this 13 March concert features Grieg’s much-loved Piano Concerto which will be performed by Marc Corbett-Weaver. But what is it about Grieg’s music which so richly evokes a beautiful landscape of fjords and mountains?
Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg premiered his Piano Concerto in 1869 with himself as soloist. It is considered to be one of the great works of the Romantic period richly evoking a beautiful landscape of the composer’s homeland’s fjords and mountains.
These associations of music, landscape and nature are central to Grieg’s Norwegian identity and place him on a similar international stage as Sibelius in Finland and Dvořák in Bohemia.
From the New World Sunday 13 March 2022, 6pm St John the Evangelist Church, Iffley Rd, Oxford OX4 1EH
Arvo Pärt Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’
Marc Corbett-Weaver will perform Grieg’s magnificent work with conductor Michael Thrift as the highlight of the next Firebird concert in Oxford.
The 1970 sugary biopic Song of Norway featuring Edvard Grieg’s early life was not a commercial success. However, it raised the awareness of the fabulous music of this previously neglected composer outside his native Norway. As a result, his Piano Concertois now one of the most often performed concertos in the classical repertoire.
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