Wiltons Music Hall

and other songs by

Benjamin Britten


Transition mark the end of another British summer with a staged performance of some of Britten's most stunning songs, including his first collection for voice and piano, On This Island, set to poems by WH Auden. Performed by the sought-after young tenor Andrew Staples, with Transition's signature live video and film by Netia Jones.

"Staples is already a class act" The Times

"startlingly original...bright, imaginative...a fresh and fascinating night out" The Independent

Tickets: £15

Box Office: 020 7702 2789 or CLICK HERE to book online

To mark the end of the summer, Wilton's presents a week of major chamber works by Mozart. This offers the unique chance to hear the three ‘Prussian’ Quartets, played as a set, as they were intended, as well as Mozart’s last major chamber work, the E flat Major Quintet. The central concert focuses on the brilliant piano quartets, concerti in all but name, which Mozart wrote in the mid-1780s.

Each evening concert will be preceded by a free pre-concert presentation, exploring aspects of the programme in greater depth.

Concert 1 

3 Last Quartets - 7 September at 6pm

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Kreutzer Quartet

• K 575 D major String Quartet
• K 589 B flat major String Quartet
• K 590 F major String Quartet
• Michael Alec Rose (Dedicated to Wilton's)

Pre-concert event at 5pm

‘Musicians and Money: The end of patronage.’

In 1790, Mozart wrote three quartets for the King of Prussia. This was inspired by the fact that Luigi Boccherini had a lucrative position at the Prussian court, held in absentia. The King was a keen amateur cellist, and the greatest cellists of the day, the Duport brothers, performed at the court, so Mozart wrote concertante quartets. Typically, the late 18^th century quartet focussed on the first violin, and are often violin concertos or sonatas in all but name. The concertante SPAN quartet typically shows of more of the players, although not necessarily all of them. Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ quartets give all of the players brilliant roles, with an especial focus on the cello part, to humour the King and his visiting virtuosi.

• Tickets: £15, book for a second concert and get the second ticket for half price! The code is salzburg for online bookings.
  
• Box Office: 020 7702 2789 or CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE
• Time: 5pm free pre-show talk, 6pm concert. Bar open from 5pm.
• Date: Sunday 7 September

To mark the end of the summer, Wilton's presents a week of major chamber works by Mozart. This offers a unique chance to hear the three 'Prussian' Quartets, played as a set, as they were intended, as well as Mozart's last major chamber work, the E flat Major Quintet. The central concert focuses on hte brilliant piano quartets, concerti in all but name, which Mozart wrote in the mid 1780s.

Each evening concert will be preceded by a free pre-concert presentation, exploring aspects of the programme in gerater depth.

CONCERT 1

2 Piano Quartets - 10 September 7.30pm

Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Morgan Goff, Neil Heyde, Aaron Shorr

• K 404a and 405 Bach / Mozart Preludes and Fugues
• K 302 Mozart - G major Sonata
• K 478 Piano Quartet in G minor
• K 493 Piano Quartet in E flat Major
• Plus: Paul Pellay - New work for Wilton's

Pre Concert Event at 6.30pm: "Accompanied chamber music - who's accompanying who?"

Mozart was commissioned to compose three piano quartets in 1785. However, amatuers found the first of these too difficult to play. So the publishers, Hoffmeister, paid Mozart in advance, on condition that he not write any more works in this adventurous medium.  Fortunately for us, he seeems to have forgotten his undertaking within a year! Mozart made the arrangements of Bach preludes and fugues for the very idealistic evenings of contrapuntal music organised by the Baron von Sweiten.

• Date: Wednesday 10 September
• Time: 6.30pm pre concert event, 7.30pm concert. Bar open from 6.30pm
• Box Office: 020 7702 2789 or ONLINE
• Tickets: £15 - buy for a second concert and get the second concert half price! The code is salzburg if you book online.

The Rollin' Stoned & David Sinclair Trio

The greatest rock'n'roll tribute band in the world just keeps rolling on. Now in their ninth year, the Stones clones are playing and looking more authentic than ever as they shine a light on the most magnificent repertoire in the history of rock performance. The detail is perfect in every respect - from the magnificently wasted, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones to the preening, gurning, glistening Sir Mick - while wall-to-wall hits from Jumping Jack Flash to She's A Rainbow are belted out with loving, obsessive attention to detail. Satisfaction guaranteed.

A songwriter and music journalist who fronts his own alternative rock/blues trio, David Sinclair looks like a taller version of Johnny Dowd. He sings and plays a mean Telecaster but - with apologies to Tom Waits - his main instrument is really vocabulary. Sinclair can tell you stories in songs that stick around like flypaper inside your head. And he rocks. Recently signed to the NovaTunes label in America, the David Sinclair Trio featuring George Andrew (bass/BVs/shades) and the mighty Drew Farmer (drums) has become a regular attraction on the London and South East live circuit.

Date: 12th September at 8pm
Tickets: £17.50
Box Office: 020 7702 2789 or CLICK HERE to book online

To mark the end of the summer, Wilton's presents a week of major chamber works by Mozart. This offers the unique chance to hear the three 'Prussian' Quartets, played as a set, as they were intended, as well as Mozart's last major chamber work, the E flat Major Quintet. The central concert focuses on the brilliant piano quartets, concerti in all but name, which Mozart wrote in the mid 1780s.

Each evening concert will be preceded by a free pre-concert presentation, exploring aspects of the programme in greater depth.

Concert 3

2 Last Quintets - 14 September at 6pm

Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Philippa Mo, Morgan Goff, Pedro Mereiles, Ian Burdge

• K 593 D Major String Quintet
• K 614 E flat major String Quintet
• K 411 Adagio
• Plus: David Gorton - 4 Inventions (Dedicated to Wilton's)

Pre-concert event at 5pm: "How many violas? The carpet-bagging string quartet."

The nascent industrial age, heralded and accelerated by revolution and war, co-existed with the mores and habits of the ancien regime, expressed by the galant style. Neither of these was more or less modern. Artists and composers shuttled back and forth from the impassioned, militaristic style of early romanticism, the late 'age of feeling', to the sureties of fetes galantes. Mozart, like many of his age, clearly needed both of these worlds.

So it is Mozart's two last quintets, which explore musical landscapes which are still revolutionary today; the D major, is essentially courtly, whilst the E flat major, is warlike, and heralding Beethoven's work ten years later.

• Tickets: £15 - buy a ticket for a second concert and get the second HALF PRICE! The code is salzburg when booking online.
  
• Box Office: 020 7702 2789 or ONLINE
  Time: Pre concert event at 5pm, concert at 6pm. Bar open from 5pm.
• Date: Sunday 14 September