Tag Archive for: edi subscription

Vienna and Beyond

Alive with musical exchange, 18th-century Vienna was known as a city where composers, performers and patrons moved within the same close-knit circles, sharing ideas as readily as they shared the stage.

Joseph Haydn Symphony No.6 “Le Matin”
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Keyboard Concerto Wq. 20 in C
Marianna Martines Sinfonia in C Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Keyboard Concerto No.14 K. 449 in E-flat 

Angela Hewitt director, fortepiano
Matthew Truscott director, violin

Alive with musical exchange, 18th-century Vienna was known as a city where composers, performers and patrons moved within the same close-knit circles, sharing ideas as readily as they shared the stage. The line between soloist and ensemble blurred, and music unfolded as an intimate, evolving conversation. Within this world, composers such as Haydn, C.P.E. Bach and Martines each contributed to a shared musical language, testing its boundaries, refining its forms and shaping its future. A young Mozart, absorbing these influences, would carry them forward with extraordinary fluency and imagination. 

Alongside internationally renowned pianist Angela Hewitt we aim to shine a light on a culture of collaboration, where the keyboard and ensemble engage as equal partners, and where every musical idea feels part of a wider, living dialogue. 

 Tickets: £6 – £42 (+ box office fees)

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019

Print House Gems – relaxed performance

In the early 18th century, the Amsterdam printing house of Estienne Roger and his successor Michel de la Cène became a vital hub for the dissemination of music across Europe.

Giuseppe Torelli Sinfonia a3 Op.5 No.2 in C
Arcangelo Corelli Sonata da Chiesa Op.3 No.1 in F
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger Canarios, Book 4
Pietro Antonio Locatelli Sonata a3 Op.5 No.5 in d
Tomaso Albinoni Balletto a3 No.7 in D
George Frideric Handel Trio Sonata Op.2 No.2 in g
Antonio Vivaldi Trio Sonata “La Follia” Op.1 No.12 in d

In the early 18th century, the Amsterdam printing house of Estienne Roger and his successor Michel de la Cène became a vital hub for the dissemination of music across Europe. Their editions enabled composers to reach audiences and musicians far beyond their places of origin, influencing style and performance practice as they went. Works by composers such as Corelli, Torelli, Locatelli and Vivaldi found their way into new homes and in front of new interpreters – the result was a repertoire defined not by geography, but unified by its approachability and popularity. 

These performances offer a welcoming and flexible way to enjoy live music. Created with accessibility in mind, they are ideal for people with additional support needs, caring responsibilities, or anyone who prefers a more casual concert environment. For those familiar with Dunedin Consort performances, the experience will feel much the same, with just a few simple additions to support accessibility.

If you have access requirements, please email info@dunedin-consort.org.uk and we can reserve seating for you.

Further information on our relaxed performances can be found here.

Tickets: £6 – £25

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019

Handel’s Leading Ladies

In 18th-century London, the operatic stage was as much a site of social spectacle as of musical innovation, shaped by star performers, fashionable audiences and the ambitions of a rapidly expanding cultural scene and at its centre stood Handel.

George Frideric Handel
Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.6
Torni omai la pace from Tolomeo
No, più soffrir non voglio from Alessandro 

Giovanni Bononcini
Prelude from Il Lamento d’Olimpia 

George Frideric Handel
False Imagine from Ottone 

Giovanni Bononcini
Difese mi giurasti from Astianatte 

John Butt director
Nardus Williams soprano

In 18th-century London, the operatic stage was as much a site of social spectacle as of musical innovation, shaped by star performers, fashionable audiences and the ambitions of a rapidly expanding cultural scene. At its centre stood Handel, whose works were brought vividly to life by leading international singers and musicians, two of whom were italian rivals, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni.

Fuelled by public intrigue and partisan audiences, their famed rivalry became part of London’s cultural fabric, as did the striking contrast between their voices: Cuzzoni’s pure, expressive lyricism set against Bordoni’s brilliance and virtuosity.

Tickets: £6 – £30 (+ booking fee)

If you have access requirements, please contact info@dunedin-consort.org.uk and we will reserve seating for you.

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019

Handel: Messiah

George Frideric Handel Messiah, HWV 56 

Matthew Truscott violin & director
Rowan Pierce soprano
Anita Monserrat mezzo-soprano
Ed Lyon tenor
Marcus Farnsworth baritone

It’s no surprise that Handel’s Messiah continues to draw audiences back year after year. There is nothing quite like it. Although the Hallelujah chorus has become the work’s calling card, Handel wrote every note to impress and astound his listeners. 

Its choruses are as grand as anything Handel ever composed, the solo writing profoundly moving, the drama powerful and compelling. Performed ‘the Dunedin way’ as Handel would have first heard it, with a small orchestra, a team of twelve singers and soloists who step out from the chorus, there are few more uplifting ways to celebrate the festive season 

Tickets: £6 – £42 

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019

Bach: Matthew Passion 300

Bach’s Matthew Passion was first performed on Good Friday 1727. Amidst the drama of betrayal, trial, judgement, and crucifixion, there runs a thread of love, both human and divine.

Johann Sebastian Bach Matthew Passion, BWV 244 

John Butt director & harpsichord
Anna Dennis soprano
James Hall countertenor
Nicholas Mulroy Evangelist
Matthew Brook Christus
RSNO youth chorus 

Bach’s Matthew Passion was first performed on Good Friday 1727. Amidst the drama of betrayal, trial, judgement, and crucifixion, there runs a thread of love, both human and divine. 

Eight singers and two orchestras work together and apart to narrate, comment, and reflect on the last days of Jesus’ life. 

Join us this Eastertide to celebrate 300 years of this extraordinary work. 

Tickets: £6 – £42 (+ booking fee)

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019

Strings of Italy

Throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, Italian composers transformed string writing into one of Europe’s most influential musical languages.

Alessandro Stradella Sinfonia in D
Johann Rosenmüller Sinfonia Prima in F
Giovanni Legrenzi Sonata “La Cremona” Op.8 No.10 in C
Antonio Vivaldi Concerto for 4 violins RV 550
Arcangelo Corelli Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.2 in F
Giovanni Legrenzi Sonata a4 Op.11 No.13 in a
Francesco Cavalli Canzon a4 in C from Music Sacre
Tomaso Albinoni Sinfonia Op. 2 No.3 in C
Antonio Vivaldi Concerto for 2 violins RV 522 

John Butt director
Dunedin Consort 

Throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, Italian composers transformed string writing into one of Europe’s most influential musical languages. Figures such as Stradella, Legrenzi and Corelli developed styles of increasing brilliance, clarity and expressive power, balancing contrapuntal richness with virtuosic flair. 

From the elegant sonatas and sinfonias of Cavalli, Rosenmüller and Albinoni to Vivaldi’s electrifying concertos for multiple violins, this programme traces the evolution of the Italian string tradition at a moment of extraordinary creativity and invention. 

Tickets: £6 – £42 

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019

Handel: Dixit Dominus

A young Handel travelled to Italy, immersing himself in a musical world shaped by composers such as Caldara and Lotti.

Antonio Caldara Introduzione from L’olimpiade
Antonio Lotti Missa Sancti Christophori
George Frideric Handel Dixit Dominus HWV 232

John Butt director & harpsichord
Hilary Cronin soprano
Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano
Dunedin Consort side by side with students from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 

A young Handel travelled to Italy, immersing himself in a musical world shaped by composers such as Caldara and Lotti. There he absorbed a rich and expressive style marked by clarity, balance and vitality – qualities that would continue shape his own musical language. 

Lotti’s Missa Sancti Christophori, later compiled by his student Jan Dismas Zelenka, represents Italian sacred polyphony at its finest, combining expressive depth with structural refinement, especially in the breathtaking Crucifixus. Meanwhile, Handel’s Dixit Dominus transforms these Italian roots into a work of choral brilliance and rhythmic energy, where voices and instruments combine with striking power. 

Pre-concert talk with John Butt at 6.30pm

Tickets: £6 – £42 

  • Included in Edinburgh subscription season, save up to 20% when buying 2+ concerts at the same time – book online at www.thequeenshall.net, in person at The Queen’s Hall box office, or call 0131 668 2019