Program Features Performance by English Concert Principal Cellist Alison McGillivray

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2005, AT 8 PM

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association initiates its 2005/2006 Baroque Variations Series with a performance on Thursday, November 3, at 8 p.m. by The English Concert. Led by their director, violinist Andrew Manze, the ensemble specializes in early music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The program begins with Part III from Biber’s Mensa Sonora, Pachelbel’s Suite in F-sharp minor, Jenkins’ Pavan, Castello’s Sonata for Strings, and Purcell’s Fantasy. The first half closes with two sonatas from another Biber work, Fidicinium sacro-profanum (sacred and profane fiddle noise), portions of which The English Concert has recorded for Harmonia Mundi USA, for whom the ensemble now records exclusively.

English Concert principal cellist Alison McGillivray steps forward from the ensemble in the second half for Vivaldi’s Cello Sonata in B-flat, after which the concert concludes with a reconstruction of the original version of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068. Andrew Manze feels the evening’s performance “offers a suggestion as to how the original version of BWV 1068 might have sounded,” as Bach would not have had access to trumpets and timpani. He further writes that “simply removing these instruments does no structural, harmonic, or melodic damage to the suite… with the exception of a few non-essential held notes in the overture, the oboe parts contribute nothing that the violins are not already doing.”

Baroque Variations concerts continue on February 14, 2006 with Les Violons du Roy conducted by Bernard Labadie with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and on April 5 with pianist Richard Goode in an all-Bach program. The series concludes with performances by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on May 26 and May 28 featuring Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos with conductor Giovanni Antonini.

ANDREW MANZE is one of today’s most passionate and articulate advocates of early music. As a violinist he specializes in repertoire from 1610 to 1830. As a conductor, Manze is in great demand among period- and modern-instrument orchestras around the world. He also teaches, edits, and writes about music, as well as broadcasting regularly on radio and television. After reading Classics at Cambridge University, Manze studied the violin with Simon Standage and Marie Leonhardt. He was Associate Director of the Academy of Ancient Music from 1996 to 2003, and succeeded Trevor Pinnock as Artistic Director of The English Concert in July 2003. He is also Artist-in-residence at the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In their first recording together, Manze led The English Concert in a Mozart program, including Eine kleine Nachtmusik; their next recordings will feature violin concertos from Vivaldi`s little-known Viennese La cetra, and Mozart’s violin concertos. Manze is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music, and he has contributed to new editions of sonatas and concertos by Mozart and Bach published by Bärenreiter and Breitkopf & Härtel.

THE ENGLISH CONCERT was founded in 1973 and quickly earned a place among the world’s leading period instrument groups. With an exceptional combination of sheer enjoyment in music-making and technical brilliance both on concert platforms and in over 100 recordings – many of which still enjoy benchmark status – the orchestra became worldwide ambassadors for British performing arts. In 2003 violinist Andrew Manze succeeded Trevor Pinnock as only the second artistic director in the orchestra’s history. Under Manze, The English Concert will continue its successful concert series in London at various venues including Wigmore Hall. Harmonia Mundi USA – for whom the orchestra now records exclusively – has released a disc of Mozart serenades (Night Music), and a collection of Vivaldi concertos. Forthcoming releases include a set of the Mozart violin concertos. The English Concert remains in great demand abroad, performing regularly throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, and North and South America. In Fall 2004, they made a universally-praised North American tour (their first under Manze), and their Fall 2005 tour will bring them to (among others) New York (Carnegie’s Zankel Hall), Chicago, Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Los Angeles.

ALISON MCGILLIVRAY was born and brought up in Glasgow. She studied cello at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with William Conway and at the Royal Academy of Music with Jennifer Ward Clarke. Based in London since 1994, her career has focused on period instrument performance, with her time shared between the cello and the viola da gamba. She played principal cellist with the Academy of Ancient Music for 6 years, and has now been with The English Concert as principal for a year. She also works with The Early Opera Company and the viol consort Concordia and during 2000, played both instruments in John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. Her recordings include Mozart piano quartets with Sonnerie, Gibbons viol music with Concordia, Scottish baroque music with Concerto Caledonia, and most recently Geminiani’s Opus 5 Cello Sonatas (Linn Records). With the Academy of Ancient Music she has performed concertos by Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, and Vivaldi. McGillivray teaches baroque cello at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

THURSday, NOVEMBER 3, 2005, at 8 PM

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

Baroque Variations

The English Concert

Andrew Manze, director/violin

Alison McGillivray, cello



BIBER Part III from Mensa Sonora

PACHELBEL Suite in F-sharp minor

JENKINS Pavan

CASTELLO Sonata for Strings

PURCELL Fantasy

BIBER Two sonatas from Fidicinium sacro-profanum

VIVALDI Cello Sonata in B-flat major, RV 47

BACH Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068

Tickets ($15-$82) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15) will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For all information, please call 323.850.2000.

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