Philharmonia Chamber Players: Spotlight on the Clarinet
The spotlight is on the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Joint Principal Clarinet Mark van de Wiel in this free early evening concert.
Two lifelong relationships gave rise to the music in this evening’s programme.
Ruth Gipps dedicated her Rhapsody to clarinettist Robert Baker, her future husband. She wrote it while both she and Baker were still students at the Royal College of Music.
The influence of her composition tutor Ralph Vaughan Williams can be heard in some of its pastoral melodies, but her own creativity and ‘rich, warm-hearted idiom’ (Gramophone) shine through.
Weber’s Clarinet Quintet arose from his longstanding friendship with virtuoso clarinettist Heinrich Baermann. In his concerto-like quintet, he shows off different facets of the soloist’s skill, from technical challenges like rapid chromatic runs spanning almost three octaves, to the clarinet’s expressive, singing tone.
This performance celebrates another set of relationships too – that of clarinettist Mark van de Wiel with his Philharmonia colleagues, and with the listeners who’ve been enjoying his peerless playing since he joined the orchestra 25 years ago.
Performers
Philharmonia Chamber Players
Eugene Lee violin, *
Fiona Cornall violin
Scott Dickinson viola
Karen Stephenson cello
Mark van de Wiel clarinet
Repertoire
Gipps: Rhapsody in E flat for clarinet & string quartet, Op.23
Weber: Clarinet Quintet in B flat, Op.34
Need to know
* Please note change of artist from originally advertised
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.