Press Releases

Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra joins two other outstanding young musicians, violinist Daniel Hope and violist Philip Dukes, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis for a programme of English works that were all originally premiered at the Proms (Prom 18, 26 July) by Delius, Tippett and Vaughan Williams. Poltéra’s recording project with BIS, supported by his BBT award, features cello works by three Swiss composers. The first, Christian Poltera Plays Othmar Schoeck, has just been released this month.

2003 BBT Award winner, English soprano Emma Bell also features early in the Proms season (Prom 4, 16 July) in an eclectic Italian programme conducted by Antonio Pappano featuring his Rome Chorus and Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia.

Swiss pianist Martin Helmchen and fellow BBC New Generation Artist cellist Danjulo Ishizaka play the world premiere on 11 July of a new work by Stuart MacRae commissioned for the City of London Festival by the BBC and Royal Philharmonic Society, alongside a programme of rare Franck and Messiaen.

Acclaimed German violinist, Viviane Hagner, is the ‘poster girl’ for this year’s Mostly Mozart Festival at The Barbican and plays Bruch’s warmly romantic first Violin Concerto on 21 July with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Edward Gardner. She is using her BBT award to support three recordings with Altara Music. Her first solo CD, Ciaccona (Bach, Hartmann, Bartok) released at the beginning of 2007 has been highly praised: “Technically faultless and consistently interesting, this is an extraordinary recital.”
(Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday 18.3.07)

A special late night Prom on 16 August (Prom 44) dedicated to the memory of Sir John Drummond features British percussionist Colin Currie in a work he knows well – James MacMillan’s Veni Veni Emanuel: “…the vigorously wonderful Colin Currie…riding the score’s tumultuous journey from strife through joy to the ting-a-ling Easter coda. Exciting music, excitingly performed” (The Times 14.1.07).

Also out in late August is Currie’s CD Borrowed Time (Onyx) featuring the work of composer Dave Maric. His BBT award supports this recording and also funded the commissioning of one of the works on the CD – Lucid Intervals for percussion and trumpet/flügel played by Håkan Hardenberger.

Dutch trombonist Jorgen van Rijen plays a significant role in Mahler’s symphonic masterpiece, Symphony No 3 in D Minor performed by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the baton of Claudio Abbado (Prom 51, 22 August). As first trombonist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra he also plays in Prom 53 (24 August) in Bruckner’s Symphony No 8 in C minor conducted by Bernard Haitink. His BBT award is supporting the recording of two CDs of music personally chosen by van Rijen from a wide range of compositions for trombone across the centuries.

British baritone Ronan Collett and pianist Simon Lepper perform Schumann’s Liederkreis at the City of London Festival on 3 July.

British tenor Andrew Kennedy sings twice at the Proms, including the Last Night (Prom 72, 8
September). British music features prominently in Kennedy’s repertoire as reflected in his all-Britten Proms Saturday Matinee performance on 1 September (PSM4). His BBT award is supporting a recording project of neglected works by early 20th century English composers including Ivor Gurney, Eugene Goossens and William Dennis Browne which will be released on Altara Music in 2008. He turns to the world of French and German songs, including Fauré and Wolf, for his City of London Festival recital on 5 July with pianist Roger Vignoles.

On 10 July the French string quartet performs the world premiere of a new work by Deirdre Gibbins, inspired by the folklore of the Scottish Herbridean Islands, commissioned for the City of London Festival by the BBC/Royal Philharmonic Society.

“Astonishing technique and breathtakingly beautiful tone” (Classic FM June 2007).
Russian oboist Alexei Ogrintchouk makes his Proms debut on 5 August (Prom 31) playing R. Strauss Oboe Concerto in D Major (a Proms UK premiere in 1946), one of the composer’s last works. Currently principal Oboist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he is much in demand as a soloist and chamber player and is currently planning a series of recordings and a commission with his 2007 BBT Award. The City of London Festival provides another significant opportunity to hear him on 9 July when he gives the world premiere of a new work, Succubus Moon, commissioned from composer Eleanor Alberga by the BBC/Royal Philharmonic Society.

The Borletti-Buitoni Trust proudly supports its current and past award winners at Mostly Mozart, City of London Festival and the BBC Proms this year: