Music

Dyne House

Lauderdale House

Hampstead Parish Church

Simon Crawford-Phillips, Philip Moore, pianos

This remarkable duo presents three Ballets Russes works crowned by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring which caused a riot at its 1913 première. Eugene Goossens, born in Camden Town, conducted the British première of this notorious work and is celebrated with his energetic Rhythmic Dance.

The Revd Stephen Tucker gives a general introduction to the extraordinary character and career of Sergey Diaghilev and discusses the tumultuous première of The Rite of Spring in Paris.

Eight bells were installed at Christ Church Hampstead in 2005 to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary and re-establish the tradition of English change ringing in Hampstead. One of the bells is dedicated to the memory of Sir John Betjeman and another to his publisher, John Murray, former churchwarden. The musical peal is tuned to the key of E-flat, and the tenor (largest) weighs 1¼ tons. Rarely possible, the bellringers may be observed performing on the ringing gallery. Those wishing to learn the art of change ringing are warmly encouraged to get in touch with the Tower Captain, as new recruits are very welcome.

After the peal, St Anne’s, Highgate West Hill offers the opportunity to learn about the 500-year-old tradition of ’change ringing’, in which the ability to swing the bells full-circle enables the ringers to ring them in continuously changing mathematical patterns. Captain of St Anne’s Ringers, John Thorp, writes, ‘a paradox of the British art of change-ringing is that bells are intended to be widely heard, and indeed the spread of ringing in the 16th century led to Great Britain being referred to as ‘the ringing isle’. Yet, because the ringers are hidden away at the back of the church, or even up the tower in a secluded ringing-chamber, those who hear the bells know little about the art behind the sound.’ Make this the day you learn more!

The Linden Piano Trio: Danny Driver, piano; Thomas Gould, violin; Oliver Coates, cello

The Suite Italienne is taken from Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella, where Stravinsky borrows extensively from Italian baroque music. Like Prokofiev’s opera The Love of Three Oranges, Pulcinella is based on the Commedia dell’Arte. The concert closes with Tchaikovsky, Diaghilev’s ‘Uncle Petya’, and his glorious piano trio, composed in Rome in memory of his friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein.

Concert ends approx. 7.25 pm

Amy Freston, soprano; Louise Mott, mezzo-soprano; The International Baroque Players; Christopher Bucknall, organ & director

In the second of tonight’s concerts we celebrate the 300th birthday of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi with a performance of his Stabat Mater. An important figure in the Italian baroque, works attributed to him influenced Stravinsky, whose Suite Italienne was heard earlier this evening. Ottorino Respighi’s link to our Festival theme lies in the fact that he orchestrated music by Rossini for Diaghilev and Massine’s ballet Le Boutique Fantasque. Tonight we hear his Il Tramonto (Sunset), a mellifluous setting of Percy Bysshe Shelley for mezzo-soprano and string quartet.

Concert ends approx. 10.30 pm.

Shireen Francis, singer, with Barry Green, piano; Neville Malcolm, bass guitar; Kenrick Rowe, drums; Lenny Lawrence, percussion and Anise Hadid, steel pans

Relax on the terrace by Waterlow Park and enjoy this wonderful mix of Caribbean Jazz, Rhythm and Blues plus Todd Oliver and Friends from the Royal Academy Jazz Course including Emma Smith, a star of tomorrow who is already appearing in London’s professional clubs with rave reviews.

Laura Lucas, flute, and Daniel Swain, piano

The nymph, Syrinx, frightened and pursued by Pan, asked the river nymphs for help and was transformed into hollow reeds that made a haunting sound when Pan, in his frustration, blew across them. Debussy captures the mood perfectly in his work for solo flute. Toru Takemitsu explores a different sound-world in his Voice for solo flute written in 1971, and the programme ends with Poulenc’s ever-popular Sonata for flute and piano.

Brodowski Quartet : David Brodowski, violin; Catrin Win Morgan, violin; Felix Tanner, viola; Vanessa Lucas-Smith, cello

Shostakovich’s extraordinary eighth string quartet was composed in Dresden over just three days in 1960. It is dedicated ‘to the victims of fascism and war’ but is also strongly autobiographical, speaking deeply of Shostakovich’s own private struggle within the cruel constraints of Soviet artistic life, and peppered with musical quotations from previous works.

Amy Dickson, saxophone, and Martin Cousin, piano

Two Royal Over-Seas League Competition Gold Medal winners team up to perform a beautiful and highly contrasting selection of music from France, Estonia, Spain and Russia. The tender lyricism of Rachmaninoff and hypnotic calm of Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel are set against Milhaud’s vibrant and jazzy Scaramouche and Pedro Iturralde’s fiery Pequeña Czarda.

Cappa Ensemble (String Trio)

Join the award-winning Cappa Ensemble for an eclectic programme that opens refreshingly with Boccherini’s Rococo charm, lightness and optimism, continues with five short pieces based on Polish folk melodies by Witold Lutoslawski, and ends with Dohnanyi’s most popular chamber work.

Ben Schoeman, piano

One of South Africa’s foremost and celebrated pianists performs a glittering tribute to Sergey Diaghilev, including two Scarlatti Sonatas used in the 1917 ballet The Good-humoured Ladies, Chopin’s Military Polonaise featured in Les Sylphides, and the spectacularly virtuosic Sonata in A minor by Prokofiev to finish.

Fresh from recent appearances at the Berlin Philharmonie and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Fauré Quartett make their only 2010 appearance in England at the Hampstead & Highgate Festival, celebrating Schumann in his 200th birthday year.

Tucker Finlayson cut his jazz teeth on rock’n’roll, jazz and the New Orleans style as played by Lonnie Donegan in the skiffle boom before joining Mr Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band. Now music consultant for Pizza Express, Tucker has also worked with George Melly, Humphrey Lyttelton, Sir John Dankworth, Kenny Ball, Ray Davies and Jamie Cullum among others.

Ends approx. 5 pm.

Dame Felicity Lott, soprano, and Graham Johnson, piano

A programme celebrating composers who were commissioned by Diaghilev, performed by one of the world’s leading vocal recital partnerships.

Join Channel 5’s Milkshake presenter Naomi Wilkinson and composer, writer and cabaret artist Richard Sisson for an hour of music, poetry and fun, with the vibrant sounds of the New Professionals under the baton of Rebecca Miller.

Ends approx. 4 pm

The Festival ends, in Hampstead, in the magnificent setting of Hampstead Parish Church with a celebration of Evensong led by The Revd Stephen Tucker. Guest preacher: The Very Revd Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral. The Hampstead Parish Church Choir under Music Director Lee Ward will sing Walton’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, Stravinsky’s Psalm 39 from Symphony of Psalms and Rachmaninoff’s Ave Maria.