Friday 21 May, Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton
7.45pm (finishes approx 9.45pm)
£21 £19
Licensed cash bar (weather permitting)
| Hans-Peter Hofmann | director |
| Alexander Sitkovetsky | violin |
| Vivaldi | The Four Seasons Al Santo Sepulcro |
| Bach | Brandenburg Concerto No.3 |
| Handel | Concerto Grosso Op.6 |
The Festival is delighted to welcome back Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate from 1999 until 2009, who will join with the orchestra to read the new set of sonnets he has written to accompany Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons “This commission is exciting and challenging for me ... I decided to write four unrhymed sonnets (each of them one complete sentence, to try and match the mixture of intricacy and directness in the music) which would do as Vivaldi does: commemorate and celebrate the seasons.” The concert also includes Vivaldi’s moving Al Santo Sepulcro and significant orchestral works by Bach and Handel, both of which are regarded as amongst the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era.
The EUCO, whose Patron is HM Queen Sofia of Spain, gave its first concerts in 1981 and has since performed in 72 countries, gaining a worldwide reputation as a musical ambassador for the European Union.
