Discover Baroque - Experience the Magic of the Recorder with teen
prodigy recorder player Lucie Horsch (9 & 10 November 2018)
29 OCT 2018
Hong Kong
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Meggy Cheng
Director of Marketing
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: meggy.cheng@hkphil.org
Flora Fung
Media Relations and Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Email: flora.fung@hkphil.org
[29 October 2018, Hong Kong]The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is thrilled to welcome recorder virtuoso - the first recorder player to be signed to the Decca Classics label and the prestigious Concertgebouw Young Talent Award winner - Lucie Horsch, still in her teens but already in demand internationally. She will be sharing the stage with conductor Benjamin Bayl and the HK Phil to reveal the full range of the recorder in a delightful evening of 18th century music. The magic begins at 8pm on 9 & 10 November 2018 in the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium.
“fearsome virtuosity and superb technique”
--- BBC Music Magazine
Most of us learnt to play the recorder in the regular music curriculum at school. From the Netherlands, however, one young player has taken this instrument to an altogether higher level in a bid to change perceptions of the recorder. In an interview with The Guardian, Lucie said, “I fell in love with the sound… My parents are both professional cellists. They thought the recorder would be a step-up instrument to a ‘real’ one, probably a string instrument. But in the end, it turned out that the recorder is a real instrument, and you can continue with it.”
The recorder was in common use in the time of Vivaldi and Bach, and a number of concertos were written for it which are seldom heard in concerts today. In this all-18th century concert, Lucie will show the audiences the beauty of music from composers including Bach, Rebel, Sammartini, Telemann and Vivaldi (Lucie’s debut CD featured works by Vivaldi and won the prestigious Edison Klassiek Award in 2018). Her fluid playing and sweet sound will show that a recorder can be a professional instrument.
On the podium is Australian conductor Benjamin Bayl, who is noted for his mature understanding of both early and modern repertoire, After the successful “Swire Classic Insights: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas” concert with the orchestra back in 2017, Bayl returns for a stunning Baroque programme again with the orchestra.
Discover Series: Discover Baroque will be held on 9 & 10 November 2018 (Fri & Sat), 8PM in the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium. Tickets priced: HK$320, $280, $180, $120 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.
Note: Change of programme
As requested by the soloist, the previously advertised Blavet Concerto (in C minor) will be replaced by Sammartini Recorder Concerto in F, while the rest of the programme remains unchanged.
Artists
Benjamin Bayl [full biography]
Benjamin Bayl is the Associate Director of The Hanover Band and Co-Founder and Guest Director of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra. He was the first Australian Organ Scholar at King’s College Cambridge, he then studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. Bayl recently made his conducting debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Working extensively in the early music field (both as a conductor or directing from the keyboard), he is often invited to present the great oratorios of Bach, Handel, Mozart and Haydn.
Lucie Horsch [full biography]
Nineteen-year-old Lucie Horsch is in great demand as a solo recorder player both in her native Netherlands and internationally. She began her recorder studies at the age of five and only four years later, her televised performance of Brahms’ Hungarian Dance no. 5 created a national sensation. In 2011 she moved to the prestigious Sweelinck Academy at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. In 2014 she was chosen to represent The Netherlands in the Eurovision Young Musician contest. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Concertgebouw Young Talent Award. Her debut CD featured concertos and other works by Vivaldi and won her the prestigious Edison Klassiek Award in 2018.
DISCOVER Series: Discover Baroque
9 & 10 | 11 | 2018
FRI & SAT 8PM
Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium
HK$320 $280 $180 $120
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above
Artists
| Benjamin Bayl | conductor |
recorder |
Click the thumbnails to download press images
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Benjamin Bayl | Lucie Horsch | The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra |
Programme
TELEMANN | Concerto for recorder in F |
TELEMANN | Suite in Bb |
VIVALDI | Recorder Concerto in C |
BACH | Air on G String from Suite no. 3 |
SAMMARTINI^ | Recorder Concerto in F |
REBEL | Les Élémens |
^Change of programme
As requested by the soloist, the advertised Blavet Concerto (in C minor) will be replaced by Sammartini Recorder Concerto in F, while other advertised programmes remain unchanged.
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Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden
Principal Guest Conductor: Yu Long
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is recognised as Asia’s foremost classical orchestra. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually.
Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s most sought-after conductors, has been the orchestra’s Music Director since the 2012/13 concert season, a position he will continue to hold until at least 2022. Maestro van Zweden is the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from the 2018/19 season.
Yu Long has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor since the 2015/16 season.
Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the HK Phil has attained new heights of artistic excellence, garnering international critical acclaim.
Following on from the success of the European tour which included a filmed concert from Vienna’s Musikverein, the HK Phil has toured extensively within the mainland China. In 2017, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and with support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, the orchestra performed in Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and at the Sydney Opera House.
Jaap, the HK Phil, a superb cast of soloists and a chorus successfully completed an epic four-year journey through Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” in January 2018. The concert performances and live Naxos recordings have been enthusiastically received by audiences and praised by critics at home and abroad. The recording of Götterdämmerung will be released towards the end of 2018.
Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joshua Bell, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Stephen Hough, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Ning Feng and Yuja Wang.
The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions. Its acclaimed education and community engagement programmes in schools, hospital and outdoor space, bring music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year.
The Swire Group has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Through this sponsorship, which is the largest in the orchestra’s history, Swire endeavours to promote artistic excellence, foster access to classical music and stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong, and to enhance Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the great cities of the world.
Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Hong Kong Government and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with, among others, Opera Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Ballet.
Originally called the Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974. The HK Phil is a charitable organisation.
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.