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Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: Online Concert Programme | Fri 6 June 2025

Bristol Beacon presents 

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with Gergely Madaras & Louis Schwizgebel

Fri 6 June 2025, 7.30pm

This evening’s performance:

Gergely Madaras Conductor
Louis Schwizgebel Piano
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Grieg Piano Concerto
Interval
Franck Symphony in D minor

Pre-concert talk hosted by music educator Jonathan James

 

Welcome

Tonight is the final concert in our 2024/25 Orchestral Season, during which we have presented 14 concerts here in Beacon Hall. This has been my first season as Chief Executive of Bristol Beacon and it’s hard to describe how much I have enjoyed every one of these performances!

Thank you again to our Orchestra in Residence, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, who opened our season and tonight will close it with a very attractive programme of Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Franck.

Looking ahead, we hope to see you for the BBC Proms Weekend (Fri 22 – Sun 24 August) and then for our new season starting in October. All concerts are now on sale via our website, or you might like to pick up the season guide from our Box Office this evening.

Thank you for your support and for buying tickets to our orchestral concerts, and I do hope that you enjoy the concert.

With best wishes,

Simon Wales
Chief Executive, Bristol Beacon

 

YTL UK Group is pleased to support tonight’s concert. We believe in the transformative power of music and embraced the opportunity to support orchestral music in our city. We hope you enjoy what promises to be a spectacular season finale!

Colin Skellett
Group Chief Executive

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

The remarkable Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) was a fine composer in his own right as well as one of the most important figures in nineteenth century Russian music, especially in terms of giving encouragement to his fellow artists. The leader of the nationalist group known as ‘The Five’, he also enjoyed the confidence of Tchaikovsky, to whom he made several suggestions which resulted in significant projects. Among these were the Manfred Symphony and the Fantasy Overture after Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

In 1869, following the completion of his own King Lear overture, Balakirev recommended to Tchaikovsky that he should compose a concert piece on the subject of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, even going so far as to write down a few bars of music which could be used in relation to the feuding Montagues and Capulets. Tchaikovsky undertook the project readily enough, but decided to create his own musical material. However, after the first performance in 1870, he was dissatisfied with the results. It was only when he returned to revise the score, a full ten years later, after he had composed the Fourth Symphony, Swan Lake and Eugene Onegin, that Romeo and Juliet became known in the version which is familiar today. In this final form it soon made such a strong impression that when the composer went on his various conducting tours of Europe and America, its popularity compelled him to feature it on practically every programme.

That the music is constructed in sonata form is less important than the sequence of characters and events it contains. For Tchaikovsky’s plan was to capture the essential moods and characters of the drama rather than attempt to retell the story in music. The opening music is a character-study of Friar Laurence, while the other themes clearly outline their relationship to the strife between the Montagues and the Capulets, the love of Romeo and Juliet, the resumption of inter-family hostilities, the poignancy of the tragic final scene. In 1893, the last year of his life, Tchaikovsky drew upon material from the work to compose a further setting of the love scene, now in the form of a duet for tenor and soprano. In the event this scene had to be completed by Sergei Taneyev. Had Tchaikovsky lived longer, he might have turned his Romeo and Juliet into a full-scale opera.

© Terry Barfoot

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907): Piano Concerto

1. Allegro molto moderato
2. Adagio
3. Allegro moderato molto e marcato

The majority of Grieg’s orchestral works are arrangements of existing songs or piano pieces, and the Piano Concerto is his most successful essay on the larger scale. He wrote it in 1868 at the age of twenty-five, though he made revisions at various times: the definitive edition heard today was made only towards the end of his life. Its premiere took place in Copenhagen on 3 April 1869 with Edmund Neupert as soloist, and the orchestra of the Royal Theatre, conducted by Holger Simon Paulli.

The music is to some extent modelled on Schumann. As a student in Leipzig, one of the great German musical centres, the young Grieg naturally developed an interest in the Classical musical forms, writing a symphony and in due course this concerto, which has justly become one of the most popular works in the concert repertory.

The Piano Concerto, Grieg’s op 16, is in the key of A minor, and opens with a bold introductory gesture which makes an immediate impression. This contrasts strongly against the tender lyricism of the second subject, allowing Grieg to generate a substantial musical construction that finds room both for Lisztian virtuosity and tender poetic feeling. The soloist is given a striking cadenza, releasing in turn an energetic coda to bring the movement to its close.

Grieg’s special qualities as a composer of intimate miniatures are reflected in the beautiful Adagio, whose tone is set by the initial theme on muted strings. The piano writing is at once delicate and decorative, until a new theme is introduced in the central section. Thereafter the mood changes, while the first theme becomes more emotionally intense upon its return.

The finale adopts the halling, a Norwegian dance-rhythm (a fast dance, originating from the town of Hallingdal), and the themes too reflect a nationalist style. At the heart of the movement, surrounded by all this activity, there lies a magically poetic episode featuring a solo flute and the piano too. And it is to this wonderful tune that Grieg turns in order to build the concerto’s expansive and exultant conclusion.

© Terry Barfoot

César Franck (1822-1890): Symphony in D minor

1. Lento — Allegro non troppo
2. Allegretto
3. Allegro non troppo

In common with many other composers, Franck was deeply influenced by Liszt’s use of cyclic form and his equally important development of the symphonic poem genre. Cyclic form, a strong unifying device involving the reappearance or metamorphosis of a theme or themes throughout an extended work, had been thoroughly exploited by Liszt in his thirteen symphonic poems, piano sonata and other works. An even more profound influence upon Franck was the music of Wagner, whose highly developed harmonic language intoxicated many composers, especially those of the French school.

Although Belgian-born, Franck settled permanently in Paris in 1844 and thus is usually grouped with the late nineteenth-century French composers. In Paris he worked as a church organist at St. Clotilde and a revered teacher who did not try to mould his students in his own image, but encouraged their individual strengths. Franck’s circle of pupils and champions included Ernest Chausson, Henri Duparc and Vincent d’Indy.

As a composer Franck was a late developer. His finest works, including the Violin Sonata, the Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra, the Piano Quintet and the Symphony, date from the last fifteen years of his life. In earlier life he was a child prodigy, blossoming first as youthful piano virtuoso and subsequently as organist-teacher.

Franck’s Symphony in the key of D minor, composed between 1886-8, is an important contribution to the repertoire of French orchestral music. It blazes with fervent sincerity and conviction, and is genuinely uplifting, while also a particularly successful example of cyclic form. The symphony was first performed on 17 February 1889, by the orchestra of the Société des concerts of the Paris Conservatoire, conducted by Jules Garcin.

The symphony begins with a sombre theme on lower strings. This opening Lento section is not simply an introduction but an integral part of the work in two ways. Firstly, the slower tempo and its material return at strategic points later in the movement and, secondly, the actual opening theme proves to be an all-important motto, recurring not just in this movement but also in the finale. The ensuing Allegro non troppo begins with a faster version of this same motto theme. After a return to the Lento, now in F minor, the faster tempo breaks out again, and the main section of the movement is under way. A sweetly lyrical second subject on first violins is followed by a further theme of jubilant character. A succession of pauses leads to the vigorous development section. The recapitulation confirms the importance of the opening Lento, now heard with close imitation by trumpets and cornets. The impressive coda, apparently inspired by the equivalent section in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, is built upon repetitions of a ground bass, and the movement ends with a further reference to the motto theme.

The delightful central Allegretto combines something of the character of a stately minuet with a gentle, dance-like scherzo. After sixteen bars of pizzicato strings and harp have established the harmonic framework, the cor anglais introduces the first theme. First violins begin the scherzo section with a mysterious fluttering theme which is actually a subtle variant of the cor anglais melody. Franck subsequently uses this theme as accompaniment, firstly beneath a new clarinet melody, then combined with the return of the cor anglais theme.

The Allegro non troppo finale begins exuberantly with a joyful and extrovert melody, which eventually gives way to a contrasting second theme in the form of a dialogue between brass and a combination of strings and woodwind. A quiet string passage now leads to a reprise of the cor anglais melody from the second movement, then development of the finale’s own themes. Further tentative recollections of the second movement are heard before the recapitulation triumphantly arrives. Now other themes are recalled, including a grandiose treatment of the cor anglais theme. Eventually the original motto is heard softly with harp arpeggios, before repetitions of a strong bass line lead inexorably to the gloriously affirmative culmination of the symphony.

© Philip Borg-Wheeler

Gergely Madaras
Conductor

Gergely Madaras has been Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège since 2019. Together they have performed across Belgium and toured to Europe and South America, regularly featured on Mezzo and Medici.tv and have been building an extensive discography ranging from César Franck through Liszt and Dohnányi for Alpha, BIS, Fuga Libera and Palazzetto Bru Zane labels. Gergely was previously Music Director of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne and Chief Conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, NHK Symphony Tokyo, Philharmonia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony and Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Hallé, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.

The 2024-25 season sees Gergely return to the WDR Sinfonieorchester, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and BBC NOW, Hamburger Symphoniker, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Hungarian Radio and the Norwegian Radio Orchestras.

Whilst grounded in the core classical and romantic repertoire, Gergely maintains a close relationship with new music. He has collaborated with composers George Benjamin, Péter Eötvös, György Kurtág, Tristan Murail, Luca Francesconi, Philippe Boesmans and Pierre Boulez, for whom he served as assistant conductor at the Lucerne Festival Academy between 2011-2013.

Gergely has appeared as a regular guest at the Lucerne, Gstaad, Milano Musica, Bucharest Enescu, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Murten Classics, Septembre Musical Montreux, MiTo Settembre Musica, Budapest Spring and the Tokyo Stradivarius music festivals. He has made highly praised recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Bamberger Symphoniker and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Budapest in 1984, Gergely first began studying folk music with the last generation of authentic Hungarian gipsy and peasant musicians at the age of five. He went on to study classical flute, violin and composition, graduating from the flute faculty of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, as well as the conducting faculty of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he studied with Mark Stringer.

Louis Schwizgebel
Piano

Louis Schwizgebel performs regularly in recital and with the finest orchestras across the globe and has received critical acclaim for his recordings.

In recent seasons, highlights have included performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony, all BBC Orchestras, Royal Scottish National Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Vienna Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, Oregon Symphony and Auckland Philharmonia.

In solo recital and chamber music, Schwizgebel performs regularly at the major festivals and halls. He has performed chamber music with the likes of Benjamin Beilman, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Renaud Capuçon and Alina Ibragimova, and has worked with a wide range of conductors including Edward Gardner, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Emmanuel Krivine, Nicholas Collon, Thierry Fischer, Charles Dutoit, Marek Janowski, Fabio Luisi, Lahav Shani, Robin Ticciati, Louis Langrée, John Wilson, James Gaffigan, Santtu Matias Rouvali, Ben Gernon, Elim Chan, Allondra della Parra, Michael Sanderling, Vasily Petrenko and Fabien Gabel.

Schwizgebel performs frequently in his native Switzerland; he has played in the major festivals such as Verbier, Lucerne and Gstaad and Meisterinterpreten series at Zurich Tonhalle. In 2014 he made his BBC Proms debut with an electrifying televised performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and in 2018 at the Festival de Radio France in a televised performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Schwizgebel records for Aparté and his latest recording of Schubert Sonatas D845 and D958 was described as an “album of extraordinary precision” by Le Figaro. Previous releases include Saint-Saens Piano Concertos No. 2 and 5 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, described as “gorgeously singing and wonderfully delicate” by BBC Music Magazine, and Beethoven Piano Concertos No. 1 and 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra hailed as a “beautifully nuanced account” by Gramophone.

Schwizgebel was born in 1987 in Geneva. He studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne and Pascal Devoyon in Berlin, and then later at the Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald, and at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Pascal Nemirovski. At the age of seventeen he won the Geneva International Music Competition and, two years later, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In 2012 he won second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and in 2013 he became a BBC New Generation Artist.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

One of the UK’s best-loved orchestras, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is known for championing the role of culture in people’s lives. Based at Lighthouse, Poole, the Orchestra is resident in Bristol, Exeter, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Yeovil, and performs in towns and villages across the region. A leading arts charity, it is the largest cultural provider in the South West of England, serving one of the biggest and most diverse regions in the UK.

Celebrated globally for his outstanding musicianship, extraordinary interpretations, and breadth of repertoire, Mark Wigglesworth’s first season as Chief Conductor magnified the BSO’s reputation for the highest quality music-making. The Orchestra boasts an enviable list of named conductors, including Principal Guest Conductor Chloé Van Soeterstède, Marin Alsop, David Hill MBE, Kirill Karabits and Andrew Litton.

In 2025/26, the BSO welcomes baritone Roderick Williams OBE as Artist-in-Residence and introduces Dani Howard as its Celebrated Composer. Plus, its celebrated Digital Concert series continues into its sixth year, with 19 live performances broadcast globally.

Known for championing access to high-quality music for all, the BSO leads hundreds of community-based events each year, from award-winning work in health and care settings to partnerships with schools and music education hubs. In 2025/26, it deepens its reach into local communities, including an expansion of its work with Arts in Hospital and Dorset County Hospital.

bsolive.com

Orchestra Credits

Violin 1
Amyn Merchant (Leader)
Mark Derudder
Kate Turnbull §
Jennifer Curiel §
Isabella Fleming
Julie Gillett-Smith §
Kate Hawes §
Joan Martinez
Edward McCullagh
Tom Bott
Catriona Hepburn
Elena Abad
Debs White
Melisade Yavuz

Violin 2
June Lee
Savva Zverev
Catherine Alsey
Boglarka Gyorgy
Vicky Berry §
Eddy Betancourt
Hannah Renton
Matthew Elston
Aysen Ulucan
Janice Thorsilgon
Daniel Jung
Louise Bevan

Viola
Anna Bastow
Miguel Rodriguez
Carys Barnes
Ben Norris
Liam Buckley
Melissa Doody
Judith Preston §
Alison Kay
Stephanie Chambers
James Flannery

Cello
Jesper Svedberg *
Auriol Evans
Hannah Arnold
Philip Collingham Ω
Rebecca McNaught
Alba Merchant
Claire Constable
Kate Keats

Double Bass
David Daly * §
Nicole Carstairs §
Ben du Toit
Mike Chaffin
Jane Ferns §
Mark Thistlewood

Flute
Thomas Hancox
Susie Hodder-Williams

Piccolo
Owain Bailey *

Oboe
Polly Bartlett
Bryony Middleton

Cor Anglais
Rebecca Kozam

Clarinet
Barry Deacon *
Cara Doyle
Alison Hughes

Bass Clarinet
Cara Doyle

Bassoon
Emma Selby
Kim Murphy

Horn
Amadea Dazeley-Gaist
Ruth Spicer §
Rob Harris §
Kevin Pritchard §
Edward Lockwood §

Trumpet
Paul Bosworth *
Sam Pierce
Chris Evans
Peter Mankarious

Trombone
Robb Tooley
Guy Berry

Bass Trombone
Joe Arnold

Tuba
Callum Reid

Timpani
Jonathan Phillips

Percussion
Matt King * §
Ben Lewis

Harp
Gabriella Dall’Olio

* Section Principal
§ Long Service Award
Ω Diversity Champion