In this programme
Download the complete programme on this week's Music Matters podcast.*
Nigel Kennedy
At 51, British violinist Nigel Kennedy still has his spiky quiff, stubble, and his "mockney" accent, but he has also become part of the musical establishment. He now has homes in England and in Poland, where Krakow is the centre of
his musical life, with his jazz quintet and directing the Polish Chamber Orchestra. This year he will be playing two concerts in the opening weekend of the Proms - The Elgar Violin Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra followed by a late night Prom with his Quintet. It is this all-round musicianship which marks Kennedy out as distinctive amongst his peers and explains his view of himself "as a musician who plays music and not just a certain part of it". Tom talks with Nigel, and finds him to be a serious, thoughtful musician, driven by a real musical need.
Nigel Kennedy plays Beethoven and Mozart violin concertos on his new EMI CD.
You can hear Nigel play at this year's BBC Proms and live on BBC Radio 3, on Saturday 19th July in Prom 2 at 6.30pm and in Prom 3 at 10pm, and on BBC2 on 26th July.
King's Singers - 40th Anniversary
The six King's Singers made their debut concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 1st May 1968, and will be marking the 40th Anniversary with another performance at King's College Chapel this year on the same date. They have an unmistakable, polished sound, and an eclectic repertoire which ranges from arrangements of Beatles classics to Iberian polyphony to commissions from Ligeti and Penderecki. Four of the singers, past and present, tell Tom what it is that has made the sound of the Singers so enduring.
You can hear the King's Singers 1st May Cambridge concert on BBC Radio 3's Performance on 3 on 6th May at 7pm.
The King's Singers are also performing at this year's BBC Proms on 5th August in a programme of French Renaissance madrigals; Victorian part-songs and English folk songs, which will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
Prometeo
Italian composer Luigi Nono's Prometeo was given its premiere in 1984 at the Venice Biennale, but will receive its first British performances at the Royal Festival Hall next month. For the original production, architect Renzo Piano created a vast ark-like structure which allowed the audience to be surrounded by the performers: four orchestras, choirs, soloists, musical glasses, and loudspeakers. It is a 360 degree musical experience, and the grandest of Nono's late works.
Nono describes it as a "tragedy of listening" and the whole piece is a kind of musical and poetic labyrinth, with extreme dynamics and incomprehensible words. Tom finds out more from Renzo Piano, the sound-designer Andre Richard, Nono's widow, Nuria Schoenberg-Nono and composer Simon Bainbridge.
There will be two performances of Prometeo at the Royal Festival Hall on 9th / 10th May 2008.
