Army of Generals & Charles Hazlewood
Army of Generals is an orchestra comprising some of Britain's finest period instrumentalists. Combining deep-tissue musical exploration and breakneck virtuosity, Army of Generals pride themselves on taking their audience right to the heart of great music. Using instruments authentic to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the soundworld of the orchestra is lithe and athletic, light on its feet and intensely dramatic.
The orchestra was formed by British conductor Charles Hazlewood to record with him all the music for his The Genius of Mozart films (BBC, 2003). They subsequently recorded the music for Hazlewood's Beethoven films (BBC 2005). Hazlewood and the orchestra have just finished The Birth of British Music, which airs on BBC2 for four successive Saturdays, from 9 May at 8pm.
The name comes from a comment by the great eighteenth century musicologist Charles Burney, on encountering the Mannheim Orchestra (the finest in Europe at the time).
Colston Hall Bristol
Up until 2009, the orchestra existed solely as a recording entity. They are now going live! Hazlewood and Army of Generals are beginning a new residency at Bristol's premium concert venue, Colston Hall, with concerts and projects on a regular basis. It will be the first time that Bristol has had an orchestra of this sort to call its own. Hazlewood and Army of Generals will perform at the opening of the new Colston Hall foyer spaces on 16 May at 6pm, as an appetite-whetter, but also as a way of marking the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death. Admission is free.
Play the Field 30 August 2009
On the August Bank Holiday this year Charles Hazlewood launches his latest venture: an orchestral festival on his Somerset Farm called Play the Field. An opportunity to engage with great music in exquisite rural surroundings: the feel is somewhere between Glyndebourne and Glastonbury! Hazlewood will conduct Army of Generals on 30 August in a programme including Vivaldi's Four Seasons (featuring young Russian virtuoso violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky) and Haydn's three symphonies Le Matin, Le Midi and Le Soir. An exploration of how to paint pictures in sound, as both composers describe in breathless detail the times of year and times of day respectively. For information, please go to www.playthefield.co.uk
Charles Hazlewood's website is at www.charleshazlewood.com
