Perth Concert Hall has paired up with Lammermuir Festival and BBC Radio 3 to create an exclusive mini-festival of classical music filmed live from the venue.

Perth Easter Festival of Classical Music opens on Saturday 27 March 2021 with a filmed performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion by Dunedin Consort in Perth Concert Hall broadcast to audiences via the online platform Vimeo. Dunedin Consort’s Matthew Passion performances are noted for their dramatic impact and sublime musicality.

The festival continues from Tuesday 6 until Friday 9 April with a series of Lunchtime Concerts from the hall which audiences can also view on Vimeo. Produced in association with BBC Radio 3, the Lunchtime Concerts which feature pianist Steven Osborne, Maxwell String Quartet and musicians from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra with clarinettist Maximiliano Martin and pianist Susan Tomes will also be available to listen to on BBC Radio 3. All concerts will be available to watch for 30 days after initial broadcast.

Introducing the festival which is supported by Creative Scotland, James Waters, creative director for classical music for Perth Concert Hall said:

“We are so pleased to be able to present some live performances of music filmed in our wonderful concert hall. No-one brings more intensity to Bach’s Easter masterpiece than John Butt and the Dunedin Consort and we are thrilled to be working in partnership with BBC Radio 3 to present a series of Lunchtime Concerts which include soloists from 2 of our close orchestral partners.”

Jo Buckley, chief executive of Dunedin Consort said:

“Over the years, our celebrated interpretation of Bach’s Matthew Passion has earned us five-star reviews, coveted awards and taken us around the world. It has become one of the cornerstones of our season. But in 2020, for the first time in our history, the concert halls fell silent and our annual performances were cancelled. It was a strange and sombre Easter without Bach’s music for comfort, and we were devastated that our planned performance in Perth could not go ahead.

So we are thrilled to be partnering with Perth Concert Hall to bring the Matthew Passion back to audiences with our streamed performance this Easter. This is a work that feels more powerful now than ever, and with that silent Easter behind us, we look forward to rejoicing once more in Bach’s glorious music, and its message of hope, togetherness and salvation.”  

Lindsay Pell senior producer at BBC Scotland said:

“Radio 3 are delighted to be working in partnership with Perth Concert Hall to present some of Scotland’s finest musicians in 4 terrific programmes.’’

Steven Osborne will be joined by soloists of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to perform Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time on Tuesday 6 April at 1pm. Composed during WW2 amid the privations of a German prison camp, this 20th Century classic it is work of deep spirituality and boundless, cathartic energy. Along with Scott Mitchell on piano, SCO principal clarinet Maximiliano Martin will perform Chausson’s virtuosic Andante and Allegro and Clarinet Sonatas by Saint-Saëns, Poulenc and Bernstein on Wednesday 7 April. On Thursday 8 April, Maxwell String Quartet will perform two masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire Haydn’s galloping Rider Quartet and Beethoven’s Harp Quartet with its frequent string plucking effects. The festival concludes with members of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and pianist Susan Tomes performing Mozart and Beethoven’s celebrated Quintets for Piano and Wind

Click here to buy tickets for Perth Easter Festival of Classical Music.

Friday 5 March 2021