Edinburgh International Festival 2005
14 August - 4 September 2005
Supported by the Scottish Arts Council, the Edinburgh International Festival 2005 programme offers quality, excitement and informality.
Founded in 1947, it is now recognised as one of the most important celebrations of the arts in the world. The founders of the Festival believed that the Festival programmes should be of the highest possible artistic standard presented by the best artists in the world, that the Festival should enliven and enrich the cultural life of Europe, Britain and Scotland and that it should provide a period of flowering of the human spirit. The Edinburgh International Festival has developed significantly over the years, yet the founders' original intentions are closely reflected in the current aims and objectives.
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This year’s highlights include six productions created especially for the Festival, three of which are world premieres, and several unique collaborations between major companies and artists. Highlights:
Drama and theatre
Opera
Dance
Music |
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‘The Festival exists to provide unique and world class experiences for audiences from Scotland and around the world. Commissioning and creating own work, and bringing together international artists and companies to work in new ways, ensures that the Festival remains the essential destination for everyone interested in the arts, whether from Tokyo, Los Angeles, or around the corner. At the same time, the quality, sense of excitement and informality of the Festival experience make it an ideal event for new audiences.’
Brian McMaster, Chief Executive Edinburgh International Festival. |
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The 2005 festival features world premieres of three plays commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and written by Scottish writers:
- David Harrower’s Blackbird, directed by Peter Stein,
- Shan Khan’s Prayer Room and
- Chiew Siah Tei’s Three Thousand Troubled Threads (by Scotland's Stellar Quines).
Also created especially for the Festival is Nuts CocoNuts, directed by Jordi Milán, who brought the smash hit show Blinded by Love to the Festival in 1997. Nuts CocoNuts is a new English language version of an original show by Milán’s company, La Cubana, which played to over one million people in Spain and South America. |
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Another highlight of the theatre programme is the presentation of the complete stage works of Irish playwright JM Synge. Druid Theatre Company presents all six plays at the King’s Theatre, including three opportunities to see a complete cycle of all six plays in one day.
Two theatre directors from the 2004 Festival, Anthony Neilson (The Wonderful World of Dissocia) and Olivier Py (Le Soulier de Satin), return to direct new opera productions. Anthony Neilson directs the British staged premiere of John Adams’s opera 'The Death of Klinghoffer', which the Festival presents in collaboration with Scottish Opera. Olivier Py directs an EIF production of Benjamin Britten’s 'Curlew River', which is based on a piece of Noh Theatre he saw on a visit to Tokyo in 1956. Sumidagawa the play which inspired Curlew River, will be performed by the Association of Japanese Noh Theatre to coincide with the performances of the opera.
Scottish Chamber Orchestra will also perform Rossini’s opera Adelaide de Borgogna, conducted by Giuliano Carella and La Clemeza di Tito, one of Mozart’s most popular operas, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
| In a unique Festival collaboration, Christopher Wheeldon’s acclaimed new production of Swan Lake brings together the American Pennsylvania Ballet with the Russian Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio conducted by Vladimir Fedoseyev. |
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| Scottish Ballet dances Balanchine - this year sees the return of Scottish Ballet to Edinburgh International Festival after 20 years. The company will be performing three superb ballets by George Balanchine - Apollo, Episodes and Rubies, each set to a brilliant score performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Kwamé Ryan. Kwamé Ryan made his Festival debut conducting the massive Opening Concert of 2004 to great critical and audience acclaim |
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Scottish Ballet’s recent performances of Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments had everyone reaching for superlatives, with the company on top form, performing with the speed, energy and technical clarity demanded by Balanchine’s exacting tradition. (Edinburgh Playhouse Friday 26, Saturday 26 and Sunday 28 August)
Kwamé Ryan is one of several conductors marking out a generation of major new talent; others appearing in Festival 2005 are Philippe Jordan, Ingo Metzmacher, Edward Gardner, Garry Walker, and Jonathan Nott.
Jonathan Nott conducts a five concert residency in the Usher Hall in the final week of the Festival with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, whose Festival debut in 2003 was highly acclaimed. The residency includes a concert performance of Tristan und Isolde, and four startlingly original concert programmes which combine established masterpieces with more contemporary works. Jörg Widmann, composer and clarinettist, appears in both roles with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in the final Usher Hall concert this year.
Widmann also appears as a soloist and composer in the Bank of Scotland Queen’s Hall Series featuring intimate morning chamber concerts which continue to give a platform to established stars and major emerging talents.
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Royal Scottish National Orchestra - The first of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s two concerts at this year’s festival see them work with conductor Jiři Bělohlávek in a performance of Malher’s Symphony No 9. |
This work, being played at the Usher Hall on 17 August, was described by the composer Alban Berg as ‘the most heavenly thing Mahler ever wrote. Their second concert features the music of Beethoven. Along with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, conductor David Robertson, chorus master David Jones and a host of fantastic soloists, they will perform Beethoven’s Mass in C and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives.
Scottish Chamber Orchestra - perform a huge variety of music at this year’s festival. Their performances include:
• A concert of music by Georg Benda and Mozart at the Usher Hall, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
• Rossini’s opera Adelaide de Borgogna, conducted by Giuliano Carella
• La Clemeza di Tito, one of Mozart’s most popular operas, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
The SCO will be also be taking part in the final performance of the festival, the Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert. Held in Princes Street Gardens, this fantastic concert is conducted by Garry Walker. The orchestra will be playing Beethoven’s Symphony No 7.
For more information:
For more information on ticket prices and the Edinburgh International Festival programme, please visit the EIF website or phone 0131 473 2000 for more.
(ticket prices start at between £6 and £7.50 and various concessions are available)
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Education events to look out for:
A programme of workshops and events offered for Edinburgh and Lothian children and adults including visits by companies to local schools.
Contact Sally Hobson at Edinburgh International Festival |
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