Royal Northern Sinfonia Winter Tour directed by Eva Thorarinsdottir
“Everything is crazy!” wrote the French philosopher Charles de Brosses in 1740, gazing ruefully at the state of modern music. Audiences, he lamented, loved “myth, enchantments and magic…the full range of festivities, dances and spectacle”. And if that actually sounds like a lot of fun, you’re in for a treat. Tonight’s concert is an all-expenses-paid Grand Tour of the most fashionable centres of musical Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: a time of dazzling virtuosos, mythological wonders and eye-popping spectacle.
We begin close to home in reign of William and Mary, when the young Henry Purcell was hailed as “the English Orpheus”. His striking Rondo from Aphra Behn’s Moorish tragedy Abdelazer (1695) would prove a powerful inspiration to Benjamin Britten, two and a half centuries later – as would the subtle, heart-rending music of the Tudor lutenist John Dowland. “Semper Dowland, semper dolans” was his personal motto – “Ever Dowland, ever sorrowful – and his Lachrimae antiquae (1604) shows why.
The 18th century had more vigorous tastes. George Frideric Handel became even more popular than Purcell in his adopted homeland of England, and this second of his “Twelve Grand Concertos” of 1739 still thrills the ear today. But he was far from the only game in town – and with his Concerto Grosso No.5 (1744), the Newcastle-upon-Tyne – born Charles Avison brought the spirit of the Italian baroque to the North East.
In France, meanwhile, fantasy ruled, and composers were expected to express the grandeur and mythological pretensions of Europe’s most spectacular court, that of Louis XIV at Versailles. Music at the Bourbon court could be as spicy as Jean-Baptiste Lully’s suitably oriental march for the “Turkish Ceremony” in Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670) and as extrovert as the opera-ballets of Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose Dardanus (1739) features a hero in a flying chariot defeating a sea-monster. Platée (1745) tells the story of a frog princess, Naïs (1749) ends in the undersea palace of the god Neptune himself, and the main characters in Les Boréades (1763) are literally gods and elements.
Or it could be as intimate as the music of the great viol player Marin Marais – personal musician to the Sun King himself, an artist (according to one contemporary) whose “expertise and beautiful playing make him justly admired by all who hear him”. But wherever they were in Europe, composers looked to Italy for inspiration – the birthplace of the violin, where composers such as the “red priest” Antonio Vivaldi were breaking new frontiers of musical daring and invention. The title of the violin concertos that Vivaldi called La Stravaganza (1716) says it all; written for a Venetian nobleman, the very notes seem to reflect the opulence and glittering, dancing waters of La Serenissima.
Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) came from Bologna, but his career took him to Germany and Austria. Like many of his Italian contemporaries he composed a “Christmas” concerto grosso, in which nocturnal melancholy gives way to the gentle sway of a pastorale; a musical evocation of the infant Christ in his cradle, and the shepherds who were the first to adore him. But the Sinfonia from Vivaldi’s 1734 Olympic opera L’Olimpiade is a bolt of pure, headlong energy – very much a gold medal sprint, from this most energising of baroque masters
Eva Thorarinsdottir
Icelandic violinist Eva Thorarinsdottir is a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Maciej Rakowski, being awarded an International Artist Diploma in Solo Performance in 2010.
Recently a Nordic Soloist Prize finalist, Eva is also a prize winner in numerous competitions including 3rd Prize and Audience Prize in the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in 2012.
Eva has appeared as a soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican performing Max Richter’s Memoryhouse and has also performed numerous concertos with other acclaimed orchestras and ensembles such as the Manchester Camerata, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic & Sinfonia Cymru. She also has a special collaboration with the Wycombe Sinfonia where she has performed the Max Bruch, Felix Mendelssohn, Jean Sibelius, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Concertos over the last few years.
Since 2019 Eva has held the Associate Leader position with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and is regularly invited to guest lead orchestras around Europe.
Currently Eva is focusing on a project which will see her record the complete ‘Bach Solo Sonatas and Partitas’ whilst also exploring contemporary music and folk tunes from her native Iceland.
Eva plays on an 1845 Joseph Rocca violin, previously owned by the great Alfredo Campoli.
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Internationally renowned, calling Gateshead home.
37 musicians at the top of their game. Electrifying music, old and new. All the talent, determination, and creativity of the North East on a worldwide stage. From their home at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia share the joy and wonder of orchestral music with thousands of people across the North of England – and beyond – every year.
From symphonies to string quartets, film soundtracks to choral masses, and original performances with awesome artists from Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Self Esteem, the orchestra’s members have got one of the most varied jobs there is. They’re always looking for fresh new sounds from up-and-coming composers, inviting local communities to share a stage, and doing everything they can to inspire and prepare the musicians of tomorrow to one day take their place.
They’re also working hard to smash the barriers that can stop brilliant people getting into classical music. They’ve teamed up with national partners to support women conductors to develop their careers, to help global majority musicians get vital experience in the orchestra world, and to celebrate disabled and non-disabled musicians breaking new ground together in inclusive ensemble RNS Moves. And they bring new musical opportunities to the region, headlining the first-ever BBC Proms weekend outside London.
Because they whole-heartedly believe orchestral music is for anyone – big cities and rural villages, tiny babies and life-long listeners, die-hard fans and curious minds – they travel far and wide to make sure there’s top-notch classical music on offer for anyone ready to say, “I’ll give that a go”. You’ll find them in churches, castles, and community venues across the North, as well as leading the charge in Carlisle, Kendal, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.
With 65 years of success to build on, they’ve signed a dynamic artistic leadership – Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach – to lead the way into a bold, bright future. Wherever the orchestra play and whoever they share a stage with, every performance is a chance to see, hear and feel the music.
