Magginis in Breckland
The Maggini Quartet’s new festival, ‘Magginis in Breckland’, had an inspiring launch in May 2012, with concerts at beautiful Clermont House Gardens, Swaffham Assembly Rooms and historic Oxburgh Hall.
The festival celebrates the Quartet’s special connection with local audiences and brings music of the highest calibre to the local community where they have been performing for more than 20 years.
In this, our second Festival, we return to Swaffham’s Regency Assembly Rooms on the 25th for a concert which includes one of the greatest chamber works ever composed: Schubert’s Cello Quintet in which we will be joined by the wonderful cellist and very old friend Pal Banda, formally of the Allegri Quartet. We will also return to that very special venue, the Oxburgh Hall Chapel for the concert on the 26th, while for the 24th, the concert will be in a new venue: the Barn Theatre, Swaffham.
The concert programmes for ‘Magginis in Breckland’ in May 2013 are given below.
Friday, The Barn Theatre Swaffham Sacred Heart Convent School (*best to use the School entrance on Sporle Road – PE37 7HL*), 24th May 2013, 7.30pm, £20/£16
Mozart String Quartet in D major K499 ‘Hoffmeister’
Rawsthorne String Quartet No.3 (with generous support from The Radcliffe Trust)
Schubert String Quartet in G major D887
The concert opens with Mozart’s eloquent and much loved ‘Hoffmeister’ quartet. At the centre is a
typically compact and terse statement by the 20th century English composer Alan Rawsthorne; his third quartet combines intensity with delightful contrasts. After the interval is Schubert’s last
quartet, his magnificent G major. Composed in just ten days in June 1826, it took another twenty
four years for the work finally to receive its first performance.
Saturday, Assembly Rooms, 25th May 2013, 7.30pm, £20/£16
Mozart String Quartet in G major K387
Mendelssohn String Quartet in D major Op.44 No.1
Schubert String Quintet in C major D956m with special guest Pal Banda
Mendelssohn’s vivacious D major quartet op.44 no.1 was actually the final one of the set of three to
be written, and the composer’s favourite. It forms the centrepiece to this concert, which opens with
the first of the six quartets which Mozart dedicated to his friend and mentor Joseph Haydn. The
evening finishes with Schubert’s extraordinary ‘cello quintet, which many music lovers claim as the
most profound musical experience of their lives.
A free art exhibition curated by the West Norfolk Artists Association titled “Breckland: The Place and the People” will be available to view in the Assembly Rooms from midday on Saturday.
Sunday, Oxburgh Chapel in the grounds of Oxburgh Hall, 26th May 2013, midday with Friends’ Reception to follow, £16/£13, to include entry to the private gardens
Beethoven String Quartet in G major Op.18 No.2
Mendelssohn String Quartet in Eb major Op.44 No.3
The most effervescent of Beethoven’s early quartets opens this concert and is followed by another
of Mendelssohn’s op.44 quartets, number three in E flat, which was actually the second of the set to
be composed. The outer movements are brilliant and bold, while the scherzo surprises with its
nimble rustle and scurry and the slow movement is one of Mendelssohn’s most heartfelt adagios.
A Magginis in Breckland Festival Pass, which includes entry to all three concerts, is priced at £50/£40 and is available directly from mqfundmanager@gmail.com
The Maggini Quartet are delighted to be supporting the Swaffham and Litcham Home Hospice Support in their 25th anniversary year.
