One of Britain’s finest classical music festivals - The Gregynog Festival - will hold its traditional early year curtain raiser on January 17, featuring a world-class quartet.
The Gregynog Festival, which takes place between June 13-29, whets our appetites with a concert next week featuring the renowned Alberni String Quartet from at 8pm.
The concert takes place in the Music Room at Gregynog Hall, near Newtown, which is an intimate setting with excellent acoustic for chamber music-making, an ideal environment in which to enjoy the Alberni’s programme of Quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
The Alberni Quartet is regarded as one of the outstanding ensembles of our time and has toured to all parts of the globe, including the Americas, Australasia and China.
The advice is to book early as it will sell quickly through the week.
The concert also marks the retirement of the Quartet’s second violinist Peter Pople whose introductions to the repertoire are always enjoyed.
Audience members can now choose their seats via the Festival website www.gregynogfestival.org or call the enquiry line on 01686 207100. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door on the night, subject to availability. Admission is £10 for adults and free to young people aged 18 and under.
This year’s Gregynog Festival has been curated on the theme of War to explore the experience of musicians in Wales and the Borders during the English Civil War and First World War. In particular, the programme examines the lost narrative of the distinguished Belgian refugee musicians who came to live in Mid Wales during the early weeks of World War I thanks to the philanthropy of the founders of the Festival, Gwendoline and Margaret Davies. Several concerts revive the compositions which they wrote whilst here.