Book the whole season for a 20% discount
Portsmouth Chamber Music is back with a brand new season for 2021. Ranging from famed pianists to enchanting ensembles, you can bag your tickets to a wonderful and serene night out of music at the Guildhall.
Book the full Portsmouth Chamber Music Series of five concerts and enjoy a 20% discount!
£72 for the full season (£64 concessions) – click here to buy it.
Ensemble 360
14th June 2021, starts 7pm
(Rescheduled from 25th January 2021)
LUTOSLAWSKI Dance Preludes
DVOŘÁK String Quintet in G, Op. 77
MARTINŮ Nonet
BRITTEN Sinfonietta
A fascinating programme including music by three giants of the 20th century, and two giants, old and new, of Czech music. Dvořák needs no introduction, and this quintet in the unusual combination including double bass is one of his finest works. Martinů, by comparison, is lesser known, but a no less individual voice. This nonet dates from 1959 which is the same year that Lutoslawski produced a third version of one of his most popular and tuneful works, the Dance Preludes, originally for clarinet and piano, but here also for nonet. Britten’s Sinfonietta is an early work, but one which shows a full mastery of his ideas and the ten instruments involved.
Buy tickets here
The Doric String Quartet
12th May 2021, start 7pm
(Rescheduled from 22nd February 2021)
MOZART Quartet in D,
K. 575 BARTÓK Quartet No. 3
BEETHOVEN Quartet in B‐flat, Op. 18 No. 6
Mozart’s quartet is the first of the so‐called ‘Prussian’ set, composed at the end of his short life, which was to have been dedicated to the King of Prussia. In quartet terms, Bartók is regarded as the successor to Beethoven, and this third work is in a single concentrated movement.
The internationally renowned Doric Quartet last played in Portsmouth in October 2015. Since then, they have had a change of second violin, and so we look forward to welcoming Chinese violinist Ying Xue.
Buy tickets here
Arcadia Quartet
22nd March 2021, starts 7pm
WEINBERG Quartet No. 8
SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet No. 8
SCHUBERT Quartet in D minor ‘Death and the Maiden’
The Arcadia Quartet came to prominence when they won the Wigmore Hall competition in 2012. Five years later they produced a remarkable set of recordings of the Bartók quartets which led to their invitation to Portsmouth. One of their current recording projects is the complete cycle of 17 quartets by Mieczysław Weinberg, a name which deserves to be far better known. He was a close friend of Shostakovich and produced a series of string quartets which were both influenced by and an influence on the older composer’s works.
Buy tickets here
Martin Roscoe
12th April 2021, starts 7pm
HAYDN Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII/6
MOZART Rondo in A minor, K. 511
BEETHOVEN Sonata in A‐flat, Op. 110
SCHUBERT Sonata in C minor, D. 958
This is one of the concerts first programmed last season which had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, and so we are delighted that Martin Roscoe is able to join us a year later. The programme includes four composers who really cemented Vienna’s reputation as the musical capital of the world. All are ‘late’ works representing the composers at their finest.
Buy tickets here
Ensemble Perpetuo
26th April 2021, starts 7pm
SCHUBERT String Trio in B‐flat, D. 471
ADRIAN SUTTON Spring Masque for violin and viola
SIBELIUS String Trio in G minor
MARTINŮ Duo No. 1 for Violin & Cello, H. 157
MOZART Divertimento in E‐flat, K. 563
The word Divertimento usually implies something light‐hearted, even frivolous, but this Mozart work is perhaps the most sublime of all his chamber pieces. Leading up to this we have an intriguing mixture of lesser known trios by famous composers, and two duo rarities. Adrian Sutton is better known for a string of commissions for the National Theatre, including War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night‐time, and, most recently, Angels in America.
Buy tickets here
Book the full Portsmouth Chamber Music Series of five concerts and enjoy a 20% discount!
£72 for the full season (£64 concessions) – click here to buy it.