London for Christmas

Queen Elizabeth Hall
1-3 December 2011, 19.30
Sydney Dance Company
Choreography by Rafael Bonachela

Rafael Bonachela introduces a reinvented Sydney Dance Company to London, three years after his appointment as Artistic Director. During this limited season at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Sydney Dance Company's exceptional dancers perform two of Bonachela's most recent and acclaimed works. 6 Breaths is inspired by the act of breathing, while LANDforms is a stirring exploration of the effects of weather elements upon the landscape and humanity.

2 December, Post Show Talk - Rafael Bonachela discusses his work and Sydney Dance Company with Wendy Martin, Southbank Centre's Head of Performance and Dance.

£15.00-£25.00

Purcell Room
2 December 2011, 19.45
Ian Shaw and Claire Martin's Early Christmas Stocking

Christmas comes glamorously early this year, as two of the UK's finest jazz singers thrill you with their annual show, exclusive to Southbank Centre. From Ella to Steely Dan via Shirley Horn, Joni Mitchell and Nick Cave, this BBC Award-winning duo enthral in this intimate setting.

£18.50, Concessions: 50% off

Queen Elizabeth Hall
4 December 2011, 14.30
National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain
Under 13 Orchestra

Hector Berlioz: Overture, Le carnaval romain
Christmas Carol: O Come, All ye Faithful
Matthew Curtis: Christmas Rush
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien
Interval
John Williams: Harry Potter Symphonic Suite
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Bedrich Smetana: Vltava (from Má vlast)
Jacques Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld - Overture

National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain Under 13s Orchestra
Roger Clarkson conductor

No need to travel to Hogwarts this winter as the National Children's Orchestra will bring the magic of Harry Potter to you, thanks to John Williams' electrifying score.
Also on the programme - a celebration of carols, carnivals and even a can-can - perfect for ushering in the Christmas spirit. Fun and festive cheer for all the family from the UK's most talented young musicians.

£10.00-£18.00, Concessions: 50% off

Queen Elizabeth Hall
4 December 2011, 19.30
National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain
Main Orchestra

Richard Wagner: Overture, Der fliegende Holländer
Ottorino Respighi: Fountains of Rome
Interval
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5

National Children's Orchestra
Howard Williams guest conductor

With a typical Wagnerian theme of redemption through love The Flying Dutchman brings a rousing start to this winter programme.

Respighi's exquisite symphonic poem gives us a delightful insight into Roman life, before Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony thunders to a victorious climax.

What better way to start the festive season! And with over 100 of the UK's finest young musicians on stage, ready to dazzle you with their outstanding skill and exuberance, this is set to be an awesome evening.

£12.00-£20.00, Concessions: 50% off

Royal Festival Hall
5 December 2011, 19.30
A John Waters Christmas

Like a wayward Santa for the Christmas obsessed, John Waters cruises into town with his sleigh full of sticks and stones this December spreading yuletide cheer and lunacy with his critically acclaimed one-man show, A John Waters Christmas.

Come and hear the legendary raconteur, filmmaker of movies such as Pink Flamingos, Hairspray and A Dirty Shame and author of the bestselling book Role Models.

Torn between capitalism and anarchy, Waters feels 'Christmas crazy' this year, 'needy, greedy, horny for presents and filled with an unnatural desire to please'.

His rapid-fire monologue explores and explodes the traditional holiday rituals and traditions as he shares his religious fanaticism for Santa Claus and an unhealthy love of real life holiday horror stories.

Delving into his passion for lunatic exploitation Christmas movies and the unhealthy urge to remake all his own films into seasonal children's classics, 'The Pope of Trash' will give you a joyeaux Noel like no other.

£15.00-£25.00, Concessions: 50% off

Royal Festival Hall
6 December 2011, 19.00
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Messiah

George Frideric Handel: Messiah

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Laurence Cummings conductor
Elizabeth Watts soprano
Timothy Mead counter-tenor
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Lisandro Abadie bass
Choir of the Enlightenment

Handel's masterpiece Messiah is performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, joined by singers including soprano Elizabeth Watts.

We take it for granted now that we perform classical music from all ages - Monteverdi, Bach, right up to now. That wasn't always the case. In the past music was much more disposable (dare we say it, a little like some of today's pop music). Things were performed, became briefly popular and then disappeared. Sometimes forever.

In 1784, though, something revolutionary happened. London became one of the first places to look back at the history of music, when Handel's visionary, ecstatic Messiah was revived in a huge performance at Westminster Cathedral, an event which ensured the work's iconic status.

Royal Festival Hall at 5.45pm - OAE Extras. Hallelujah indeed! Join us for a special Christmas celebration - be prepared to sing!
Admission free

£6.00-£39.00, Premium £60.00, Premium box seats £70.00, Concessions:50% off

Queen Elizabeth Hall
8 December 2011, 7:30pm
Britten Sinfonia and Mark Elder
L'enfance du Christ

Hector Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ, Op.25
Interval
Britten Sinfonia
Sir Mark Elder conductor
Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
Allan Clayton tenor
Roderick Williams baritone
Neal Davies bass
Britten Sinfonia Voices

Sir Mark Elder conducts a stellar cast of soloists in Berlioz's magical oratorio which tells the story of Christ's childhood - the perfect start to the festive season.

Based on the story of the Holy Family's journey from Bethlehem to Egypt, L'enfance du Christ is one of Berlioz's most popular and enduring works. Not exactly a Christmas work it has become inseparable from this time of year and in contrast to Les Troyens and Damnation de Faust Berlioz has created a work with a much more intimate character.

The orchestra's new professional choir, Britten Sinfonia Voices, make their London debut, conducted by one of the UK's most distinguished conductors Sir Mark Elder.

£7.00-£32.00, Concessions: 50% off

Queen Elizabeth Hall
9 December 2011, 19.30
The Sixteen's Christmas Concert
Hodie Christus Natus est

14thC: Resonemus laudibus
Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina: Kyrie from Missa Hodie Christus natus est
John Joubert: There is no rose
Cecilia McDowall: Now may we singen
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Hodie Christus natus est
Bartmoliej Pekiel: Resonet in laudibus
Peter Racine Fricker: A babe is born
John Rutter: There is a flower
Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina: Motet, Hodie Christus natus est (8vv)
Interval
Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina: Magnificat a 8
Elizabeth Poston: Jesus Christ The Apple Tree
William Byrd: This day Christ was born (A Carroll for Christmas Day)
Johannes Eccard: Resonet in laudibus
Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina: Gloria from Missa Hodie Christus natus est
Traditional: The cherry tree carol
Herbert Howells: A spotless rose (from 3 Carol-anthems)
Benjamin Britten: This little babe (from A Ceremony of Carols)
Jacob Handl: Resonet in laudibus

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers conductor

The Sixteen's seasonal programme this year is based around Palestrina's glorious antiphon for Christmas Day, Hodie Christus natus est, and how composers as diverse as Byrd, Sweelinck, Britten and Fricker relate to that text. Settings of Resonet in laudibus by Eccard, Handl and Pekiel where 'voices of praise resound with sweetest music all around' permeate the programme, as well as symbols of nature relating to the newborn child and his pious mother, the Virgin Mary, in settings by Howells and Rutter.

The Front Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall at 21.00 Carols with The Sixteen. Admission free.

£8.00-£36.00, Concessions: 50% off

Purcell Room
9 December 2011, 19.45
Edmund de Waal
The Economist Books of the Year 2011

Edmund de Waal's memoir, about how his Jewish banker forebears flashed like a comet through the social and financial firmament of 19th-century Europe only to lose everything but a collection of 264 Japanese netsuke after the Nazis invaded Vienna in 1938, became a word-of-mouth hit that is still selling 5,000 copies a week. Part treasure hunt, part family saga, The Hare with Amber Eyes is a wholly original meditation on objects and memory through one of Europe's most tumultuous centuries.

£10.00, Concessions: 50% off

Royal Festival Hall
10 December 2011, 19.30
Messiah by Candlelight

George Frideric Handel: Messiah
Interval
Mozart Festival Orchestra in full 18th century costume
Oliver Gooch conductor
Helen-Jane Howells soprano
Julia Riley mezzo-soprano
Tyler Clarke tenor
James Oldfield bass
London Philharmonic Choir

Following a sold-out performance in 2010, four acclaimed soloists join the London Philharmonic Choir in full 18th-century costume to perform Handel's grand choral masterpiece in an evocative candle-lit style setting.

£14.50-£42.50, Concessions: 50% off

Purcell Room
10 December 2011, 16.00
Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Economist Books of the Year 2011

Having made his name with his work on the lives of the young Josef Stalin and Catherine the Great, Simon Sebag Montefiore has now published Jerusalem - The Biography. A descendant of the first European to be allowed by the Ottomans to visit the Temple Mount, he scours family diaries and little-known memoirs to tell the story of the city through the lives of the men and women - prophets, poets, peasants and soldiers, kings and conquerors - who shaped it.

£10.00, Concessions: 50% off

Royal Festival Hall
11 December 2011, 19.45
Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw
The Economist Books of the Year 2011

Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw set out to explain the deepest questions in science with their new book, The Quantum Universe, which they present at this live event. Cox and Forshaw are long-time collaborators, and their new work is a brilliantly ambitious mission to explain the workings of nature through the complexities of quantum physics.

Join two outstanding scientists on a thrilling journey into the subatomic world, sorting the fact from the fiction, and engaging with experimental science in a life-enhancing way.

£12.00-£18.00, Concessions: 50% off

11 December 2011, 17.00
Janine di Giovanni
The Economist Books of the Year 2011

Janine di Giovanni's first reporting assignment was on the Palestinian intifada in the 1980s and she has gone on to cover nearly every violent conflict since, from Bosnia to Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan. But it was when she settled down to family life in Paris, marrying and bearing a son, that she learned that the hardest battles can be at home. In Ghosts by Daylight she explores, with unflinching honesty, the lingering scars of war and how people who love each other cannot always live together.

£10.00, Concessions: 50% off

Queen Elizabeth Hall
12- 18 December 2011, 11.00, 14.00, 15.00, 19.30
The Bollywood Trip

In this brand new love story with a twist, Haroon is a young man living in a fantasy world of his own creation, claiming to be India's greatest Bollywood star. Arriving from India to a psychiatric ward in Copenhagen, matters of the heart intensify and mayhem looms when Haroon convinces the entire hospital to take part in an extravagant Bollywood dance.

This magnificent musical drama is performed by Danish actors, Indian dancers and an extraordinary band of musicians from both nations. Award-winning director Rolf Heim collaborates with leading modern Kathak choreographer and Southbank Centre Artist in Residence Gauri Sharma Tripathi. Musician and composer Stephan Grabowski and band provide the musical score.

Recommended for ages 14 and over.

Please note: 17 December performance at 14.00 is captioned.

£20.00-£30.00, Concessions: 50% off

Royal Festival Hall
13 December 2011, 20.00
A Magical Christmas Concert with Russell Watson and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
In support of The Prince's Trust

The award-winning Russell Watson performs a spectacular Christmas concert at Royal Festival Hall in support of The Prince's Trust. Watson is joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and choir, conducted by Robert Emery, for this very special concert.

Last year's show, with its indoor fireworks and wisps of falling snow, set a breathtaking wintery scene. This year, Salford's finest tenor creates an awe-inspiring winter wonderland, complete with festive cheer, Christmas carols and, of course, surprise and delight galore.

Huawei Technologies (UK) Ltd will pay all profits with a minimum contribution of £25,000 from this prestigious event to The Prince's Trust.

£25.00-£75.00, Concessions: 50% off

Royal Festival Hall
17 December 2011 - 8 January 2012, 14.30, 19.30
Slava's Snowshow

The multi-award-winning international sensation Slava's Snowshow has delighted and thrilled audiences in over 80 cities around the globe, including New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro and Moscow. This Christmas experience a joyous, dream-like world that will touch both your heart and funny bone, culminating in a breathtaking blizzard leaving you literally knee-deep in snow!

Recommended for ages eight and over.

£20.00-£47.50, Premium £65.00, Concessions: 50% off

White Room, Spirit Level
17- 31 December 2011, 10.30, 13.00, 15.00
White

White is a performance especially for children aged two to four, with music, stories and surprises.

Come with us into the sparkling world of White. Everything is clean and new. The white world gleams and dazzles but someone has to keep it that way...

White has been created with the needs of very young children in mind. It is a gentle and playful experience which entertains and stimulates the imagination. Catherine Wheels is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed children's theatre company.

£12.00, Concessions: 50% off

Purcell Room
19-30 December 2011, 14.00, 19.45
The Colour of Nonsense
By Forkbeard Fantasy

With Forkbeard's famed mix of visual trickery, film and outlandish storylines, The Colour of Nonsense is an exuberant satire on an art and theatre world always in search of 'the new'. Come on a hilarious cartoon journey through the shifting borderlands between sense and nonsense.

At the studios of Splash, Line and Scuro, Cutting Edge Conceptualists, things haven't been looking too hot of late. Splash is paralysed by indecision and all the bright young Turks are queuing up eager to knock him off his perch. Then, out of the blue, comes a mysterious multi-million pound commission. As mutinous drawings throw the studios into animated confusion, only Edward Lear's 'Dong with a Luminous Nose' seems able to shed any light into the chiaroscuro of chaos.

This performance is recommended for ages seven and over.

£15.00-£20.00, Concessions: 50% off

Queen Elizabeth Hall
20 December 2011 - 2 January 2012, 14.30, 19.30
Murmurs
Produced by Crying Out Loud

In this follow-up to the internationally acclaimed Aurélia's Oratorio, Aurélia Thierrée is a woman on the run, fleeing from reality - her life packed up in cardboard boxes. Pursued through abandoned buildings and streets that lead nowhere, the walls close in as Aurélia becomes immersed in snippets of others' lives.

A tour of whirlwind romance, city confusion, undersea encounters and dining-room debacles told through a mischievous blend of illusion, circus and dance by director and designer Victoria Thierrée Chaplin with Aurélia Thierrée.

Recommended for ages eight and over.

£15.00-£30.00, Concessions: 50% off

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