Benedetti & Denève- Usher Hall Edinburgh 13/10/06

[Andrew]

Benedetti & Denève

Usher Hall: Edinburgh
FRI, OCTOBER 13TH 2006: 7:30 PM

An RSNO sell-out sensation last March, Scotland’s very own classical superstar returns! With a second half of seductive French music conducted by Stéphane Denève, early booking is a must!

Prokofiev
Glazunov
Roussel
Ravel

Lieutenant Kijé Suite
Violin Concerto
Symphony No3
La Valse
Stéphane Denève (CONDUCTOR)
Nicola Benedetti (VIOLIN)

BOOK ONLINE

BOX OFFICE
0131 228 1155

VENUE DETAILS
Usher Hall
Lothian Road
Edinburgh
EH1 2EA Map Link: Click here
Website: www.usherhall.co.uk

VENUE INFO
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s home in Edinburgh is the Usher Hall, a world-renowned venue. Tea, coffee and bar facilities are available before concerts and during intervals. Limited on-street parking is available in Cambridge Street and Grindlay Street. There is also a multi-storey car park in Castle Terrace, directly behind the Usher Hall.

PRE AND POST CONCERT EVENTS
As with previous Seasons, all RSNO concerts will begin with a Pre-Concert Talk (or occasionally Pre-Concert Music) in the Grindlay Suite (unless otherwise advertised)at 6.45pm. Subscribers will be mailed further information towards the beginning of the Season and details will be available on the RSNO website. Selected concerts will feature a Post-Concert Discussion in the auditorium. Please note that these events may be affected by the Usher Hall Phase II Building Project but we will endeavour to keep audiences informed of any changes to the schedule.

PURCHASING YOUR RSNO FLEXIBLE SUBSCRIPTION
Please complete both sides of the perforated booking form page. Please note that bookings need to be processed carefully so cannot be completed by phone or ‘while you wait’. Booking Forms should be sent to the Usher Hall Box Office, address below.

BOX OFFICE
Usher Hall Box Office
FREEPOST SCO 5483
Edinburgh EH1 0BR
0131 228 1155
Open:
Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5.30pm

PATRONS WITH DISABILITIES
New for 06:07 Season, RSNO patrons with disabilities can obtain 50% off any single-ticket price. Official carers now accompany patrons with disabilities for free. Please reserve tickets in advance. Disabled concessions are not applicableto subscription prices.) Limited parking is available for the disabled at the Usher Hall and there is ramp access from the box office entrance on Lothian Road. Wheelchair access is available in the Stalls, as are refreshment facilities and disabled toilets.

OTHER CONCESSIONS
Under-16s go free to the 19 Subscription Concerts or Symphonies at Six. Children must be accompanied by a paying adult – maximum 2 free children’s tickets per adult ticket. For Festive Concerts, Under-16s pay 50% of the full single-ticket price. School or Youth Groups should contact the box office for similarly generous discounts. Under-26/Unwaged should sign-up online at www.rsno.org.uk for the RSNO’s £5 Card. All concerts, except for Festive, are only £5 on production of this card. If you don’t have internet access, please call 0141 225 3562.

GROUP SALES
Group discounts are available. Please contact the box office for details. Discounts are subject to availability.

SINGLE TICKETS
Single concert tickets for 06:07 Season concerts will be on sale from Tuesday 6 June 2006. RSNO Friends and Patrons can priority book single concert tickets from Tuesday 23 May 2006.

The Usher Hall
Please note, the RSNO no longer operates ‘Standby’ concession tickets. Instead we encourage our loyal patrons to access our lowest ever ticket prices by subscribing to 4 or more concerts. We regret no refunds can be made. We will endeavour to exchange your tickets if you return them at least 24 hours before the concert (administrative charge of 50p per ticket for exchanges).

All details were correct at the time of going to print. The RSNO reserves the right to change performance details without prior notice. Patrons should be aware that when you book your details will be held on the box office computer system. If your consent is given at time of purchase, this information will be passed to the RSNO. From time to time, we may use these details to contact you with information from the RSNO – we do not pass your details to any third party organisations. If you feel your consent has been wrongly applied, your details are incorrect or you would like to withdraw from the RSNO marketing list, please write to: The Database Manager, RSNO, 73 Claremont Street, Glasgow G3 7JB.

[Andrew]

Hi All,

I'm really looking forward to seeing Nicola Benedetti in concert once again at the Edinburgh Usher Hall with the RSNO this Friday (13th October).

I'm looking forward to hearing the RSNO perform the 'Lieutenant Kijé Suite' too, as I've never witnessed that piece performed live before! The concert will no doubt be quite spectacular!
I look forward to sharing some of the highlights with you!

Regards,

Andrew

[postscript]

Nicola is a must I have yet to activate so i wish you well Andrew and hope you have a great evening. If you see Steve A around, just possibly, if he knows you are there, he might arrange for Nicola to be available, but perhaps you have your own initiatives in hand already?

Peter S.

[Andrew]

Dear All,

I enjoyed a fantastic evening on Friday at the Edinburgh Usher Hall. There was a slight change to the advertised programme, in that Nicola performed 'Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto' rather than the 'Glazunov Violin Concerto'.

I will include my comments with regard to the Concert performance in my next post.

Here are some scanned images from the Benedetti & Denève Concert programme, from 13th October, 2006 at the Usher Hall:

Regards,

Andrew

[Andrew]

Benedetti & Denève, Usher Hall, Edinburgh 13th October, 2006

Concert Review:
by Andrew Fenning

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Friday evening's Concert was sold out after the last few remaining tickets available for the event were sold within the last hour preceding the Concert. My sister and brother-in-law who accompanied me, were full of excitement as they anticipated witnessing Nicola performing live for the very first time in the very same venue where she won the title of, "BBC's Young Musician of the Year", in 2004. Our seats were located in the second row of the upper circle, so we benefitted from quite a vantage point view of the stage being seated so high up. It was encouraging to see that the age range of audience members was wide, with quite a number of families and young couples attending the Concert.

The house lights were dimmed and the concert began "bang on" at the scheduled time of 7.30pm. The RSNO tuned their instruments in preparation for their performance of the 'Lieutenant Kijé Suite' by Prokofiev. To me this piece seemed to evoke the "magic and wonder" of Christmas time. The mood is similar to that of the musical piece entitled, 'Sleighride' . My mind was immediately cast back to the year 1980, when I quite distinctly remember hearing Prokifiev's 'Lieutenant Kijé Suite' being played for the first time, whilst I was in primary school during a music appreciation class. It's amazing how memories can be so strongly associated with a piece of music! Huge applause followed from the audience as Nicola was welcomed onto the stage for the performance of the next piece, 'Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto'. Nicola looked very sleek in a beautiful sleeveless ivory coloured dress, which trailed on the floor behind her. She looked so natural as she took the front centre stage position beside Stéphane Denève and paused for a few seconds to compose herself to play. Hearing Nicola play her very first note in a concert performance can be quite an "emotionally charged" moment! The audience sat in complete silence and awe as Nicola really let that 255 year old Stradivarius sing! I was struck by the "pin-point accuracy" of Nicola's playing. My sister and brother-in-law later commented that it was extraordinary that Nicola was able to play a piece such as, 'Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto' completely from memory! My sister also remarked that Nicola's live playing sounded consistent with the studio recording of the piece on her CD. I retorted "You wouldn't play a violin for 9 hours a day if it wasn't a passion!". What I find overwhelming is the fact that Nicola only started playing the violin in 1991, which to me doesn't seem that long ago at all. That was the year when I left school! Nicola finished reciting 'Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto' to rapturous applause from a thrilled audience. She was presented with a bouquet of white lillies and thistles by Stéphane Denève and returned to the stage 4 times before the applause finally subsided! Her 3rd entrance back onto the stage was very endearing, in that she actually jogged back on- it was as though she couldn't get back to return her thanks to the audience quickly enough!

Nicola's latest CD was available for sale in the foyer during the interval. A lot of people seemed to be talking either about buying it, or recommending it to others who had not previously bought the CD. The second half of the concert resumed at approximately 8.45pm with Stéphane Denève introducing himself to the audience and then explaining a little bit about Roussel's 'Symphony No. 3' before it was performed by the RSNO. Stéphane described the piece as one that he loved to conduct and one which was quite sporadic in nature. The RSNO then concluded the evening concert with a recital of 'La Valse' by Ravel.

Unlike Nicola's previous concert at the Usher Hall in March, an open "questions and answers" session with the audience had not been scheduled. My sister and brother-in-law left me at the point immediately after the concert, since they had left my young nephew and niece at their home with babysitters! By this time it was about 9.30pm, so they felt it was a wise time to leave after having enjoyed a thrilling evening of live entertainment. I decided to stay for a while and set off to explore for a bit, with a view to spotting Nicola and Steve Abbott (Nicola's Manager). I asked a member of the Usher Hall staff if Nicola was going to be available for a "signing session" since there hadn't been any public announcements with regard to this and I hadn't seen any notices/ posters either. I was delighted to hear that Nicola was indeed signing CDs in the foyer round towards the front of the house. I walked round to find Nicola sitting at a long table with a white table cloth, signing CDs which Steve Abbott was selling to the public. There was a short queue of about 10 people by the time I arrived there. Nicola was full of smiles and looked quite tanned as Steve who stood at her left-hand side, dressed in a grey chalkline suit also chatted to the public. Steve spotted me at the back of the queue and greeted me with a "Hello!" and a reassuring nod. I waited for everyone who was in the queue to buy their CD and meet Nicola before greeting her myself and I asked her how she felt. "I'm fine- I'm not tired at all!" she said, before signing my CD booklet in black marker. I reminded her that it was 2 years since she had received her 'BBC Young Musician of the Year Award, 2004' in that very venue, before presenting her with a book full of colour photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles which I had collected since 2004. Nicola seemed delighted as she flicked through some of the pages and said, "My goodness- I haven't seen some of these!" Steve then introduced me to a tall smart looking gentleman, Mr. Giovanni Benedetti, or as he likes to be called, "Gio" yes- Nicola's father! We had quite a long conversation about music and Nicola's Dad seemed quite impressed with the book of magazine/ newspaper articles which I had presented to Nicola. He picked it up and looked through it quite slowly and was very amused to find a picture of the Benedetti family sitting at home around their family pool raising champaigne glasses in celebration of Nicola's BBC Young Person of the Year Award win, in 2004. Mr. "Gio" Benedetti then handed a newspaper to me and said, "This is for you, it's the report in tonight's paper". He had handed me his copy of the Edinburgh Evening News which included a lengthy interview with Nicola within it. I was thrilled and thanked him, before I asked if Nicola would sign this for me too- which she did (please see scanned image below):

Eventually it was time to leave so I followed Steve, Nicola and Mr. Benedetti outside. Steve had to go and pick up Nicola's dresses in order to take them to the car for her, so he put me in charge to carry the box of remaining CDs out to the car. Nicola was talking to a lady outside and she then introduced the lady to me as her Mum, yes- this was Mrs. Francesca Benedetti! She was really lovely and chatted to me for quite a while as Steve spoke with Nicola's Dad.

What a spectacular evening!

Andrew

[Steve H]

Hi Andrew,

Just a quick note to say 'Thanks' for your superb coverage as always, you are a credit to the team

Your Promo Buddy

Steve.

[Joe]

Hello Andrew

Thanks very much for the report! A delight to read. Oh, I see you've met the parents...how wonderful for you to meet Mr and Mrs Benedetti!

I must say that you never disappoint your fellow members here. You've shown, with consistency, devotion and support to our several outstanding talents featured on this forum.

What can I say but...thanks buddy

Joe

[Richard]

Fabulous review Andrew!

I'm sure Steve Abbott would agree that you make a great roadie! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

[Andrew]

richnorri said:

Fabulous review Andrew!

I'm sure Steve Abbott would agree that you make a great roadie! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

Hi Richard,

How very kind of you to say so! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Perhaps Steve will put you in charge of the box of 'All Angels' CDs at the CD launch and signing session today in London?

No doubt you will have been up with 'The Lark Ascending' this morning! You probably had your morning coffee at 6am today?
Were the squirrels in Holland Park up and waiting to be fed at that time? I look forward to hearing all about the 'All Angels' HMV signing session from you later Richard.

Who will arrive first? You or Roger? Hmm...

Enjoy yourself!

Andrew

[Andrew]

joe said:

Hello Andrew

Thanks very much for the report! A delight to read. Oh, I see you've met the parents...how wonderful for you to meet Mr and Mrs Benedetti!

I must say that you never fail to disappoint your fellow members here. You've shown, with consistency, devotion and support to our several outstanding talents featured on this forum.

What can I say but...thanks buddy

Joe

Hi Joe,

Great to hear from you Sir!

Thank you for your very kind words!
What can I say? Well for a start- it takes one good team member to be able to recognise another one!

All the very best to you Joe!

Thank You!

Andrew

[Steve H]

joe said:

Hello Andrew

I must say that you never fail to disappoint your fellow members here. Joe

Hi Joe, I am not sure that is what you meant to say, is there one too many negatives in there somewhere?

He never dissapoints me!

Steve H

[Andrew]

stevehome said:

joe said:

Hello Andrew

I must say that you never fail to disappoint your fellow members here. Joe

Hi Joe, I am not sure that is what you meant to say, is there one too many negatives in there somewhere?

He never dissapoints me!

Steve H

Heh-heh!

Hi Steve- you're a sharp one... Nothing gets past you!
Thank you for your vote of confidence and support! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Your "promo buddy"

Andrew

[Joe]

andrew said:

stevehome said:

Hi Joe, I am not sure that is what you meant to say, is there one too many negatives in there somewhere?

He never dissapoints me!

Steve H

Heh-heh!

Hi Steve- you're a sharp one... Nothing gets past you!
Thank you for your vote of confidence and support! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Your "promo buddy"

Andrew

Hi Andrew

My apologies for my little mistake...I'm sure you know what I meant to say.

I'll try again...

I must say that you never disappoint your fellow members here.

[/b]

Howzat?

Joe