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Wednesday 30 September, 2009 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Sam
Haywood piano

Schubert
Four Impromptus, D.899
Julius Isserlis Three Klavierstucke, Op.8
Julius Isserlis Ballade No.2 in E flat minor, Op.3
Chopin
Ballade No.2 in F major, Op.38
Chopin
Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor, Op.31
John Field
Nocturne No.2 in C minor
Chopin
Nocturne in D flat, Op.27 No.2
Chopin
Polonaise in A flat, Op.53
Sam Haywood began
playing the piano at the age of six, inspired by evenings
listening to crackly LPs of Beethoven sonatas with his
grandmother in the Lake District. His early teachers David
Bonser and David Hartigan continued to inspire him and by the
age of thirteen he had won 2nd prize in the BBC Young Musician
of the Year competition
(to watch an
extract click
here).
The Royal Philharmonic Society then awarded him their
prestigious Julius Isserlis Award, after which he moved to
Vienna to study with Paul Badura-Skoda. The Italian
Schnabel-pupil Maria Curcio was his next major influence,
studying with her at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Since then Sam has performed
all over the world both as soloist and chamber musician,
regularly collaborating with Steven Isserlis, members of the
Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras and the Galliard
Ensemble. In 2010 he will be touring Europe (including the
Wigmore Hall on 29th April) and the USA with Joshua
Bell. He has recorded a number of CDs and has broadcast widely
on radio.
Sam is very grateful to
George Isserlis both for introducing him to Barnes Music Society
and for helping him unearth the wonderful and largely forgotten
piano works of his father, the Russian pianist/composer Julius
Isserlis. Sam has made a new edition of these works and hopes to
record them in the near future. They include a short previously
unpublished work entitled “Warum” (Why?) written in memory of
Scriabin’s son, who died aged twelve in a boating accident.
Sam has composed several
solo piano and duo works, and also a children’s opera which has
had three performances in London. His Song of the Penguins for
bassoon and piano, dedicated to Roger and Penny Birnstingl, is
published by Emerson Editions. Outside his musical life he is a
passionate fell-walker and amateur magician.
`Beautifully played – an
enviable technique’ (Musical Opinion)
Wednesday 28 October, 2009 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Howard Blake

Madeleine Mitchell violin

Local
composer and pianist Howard Blake introduces and plays a
selection of his own music, including solo piano pieces from his
collection `Lifecycle’ and The Snowman. He is partnered by
violinist Madeleine Mitchell to give the London concert premiere of his
Violin Sonata and 'Pennillion', both of which they recently recorded for Naxos.
1. Four
Easy Pieces for piano (1956)
Moderato - Valse triste - Con moto - Andantino
2.
Variations on a theme of Bartok for piano (1958)
Theme,
moderato
Var.1
- Misterioso, lento
Var.2
- Con fuoco, allegro
Var.3
- Allegro
Var.4
- L’istesso tempo, nervosa
Var.5
- Vivace
Var.6
- Lento
Var.7
- Lento
Var.8
- Vivo, un poco capriccioso
Var.9
- Vivo energico
Var.10
- Piu mosso, con fuoco
Var.11
- Sempre fuoco
Finale
- Vivace
3.
Pieces from ‘Lifecycle’ for piano (1975)
Impromptu (The Watermill)
Toccatina (Top dance)
Chaconne in D minor
Scherzo in D major
4.
Pennillion for violin & piano (1975)
Theme-Moderato
Var.
1-Vivo
Var.2
– L’istesso tempo
Var.3
– Meno mosso (ritmico)
Var.4
- Allegro
Var. 5
– Lento (misterioso)
Var. 6
-Moderato (grazioso)
Theme
–tempo primo (tranquillo)
Interval
5.
Three film themes for the piano:
‘The
Music Box’ from ‘The Changeling’ (1979)
‘Laura’s theme’ from ‘The Duellists’ (1977)
‘Walking in the Air’ from ‘The Snowman’ (1982)
6.
Sonata for violin & piano op. 586
i)
Allegro
ii)
Lento
iii)
Presto
Howard Blake is one of the most popular and prolific
living English composers. Successes include scores which he
wrote for films such as 'The Duellists' and 'A Month in the
Country', both of which won prizes.
In
1982
he wrote words and music for the animated Channel 4 TV film and
Sony CD 'The Snowman', with its song 'Walking in the Air', so
much loved by children all over the world. Its concert version
continues to receive many performances worldwide, and the stage
version runs every year at Sadlers Wells' Peacock Theatre in
London.
Howard Blake has written many concert works including his piano
concerto for Princess Diana commissioned by the Philharmonia.
The oratorio 'Benedictus', which he conceived whilst staying
with the monks at Worth Abbey, was recorded by Sir David
Willcocks, Robert Tear, the Bach Choir and the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1994 Howard Blake received the O.B.E. for services to music
and is Fellow and Visiting Professor of Composition at The Royal
Academy of Music.
Madeleine Mitchell is one of Britain's most celebrated violinists, performing as a
soloist and chamber musician in over 40 countries. She was a
finalist in both the European Women of Achievement and the
Creative Briton Awards, Helen Wallace, Editor of BBC Music
Magazine describing her as "not
only a violinist of great virtuosity but also of a very special
poetic character...visionary imagination...she has been an
independent pioneering figure in the violin world...a tremendous
inspiration".
She broadcasts frequently for both television and radio
including ABC-Australia, SABC, European and BBC television and
the BBC Proms with Joanna MacGregor including their own
arrangement of Bach.
Madeleine performs a concerto repertoire from Vivaldi to
contemporary and has played with major orchestras throughout
Europe such as the Polish Radio Symphony - Stravinsky violin
concerto: ISCM Masters' of C20 Music Warsaw, Czech Radio
Symphony - first Czech broadcast of Vaughan Williams 'The Lark
Ascending', Wurttemburg and Munich Chamber orchestras, London
orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic - Bruch violin
concerto under Sir Alexander Gibson, Mozart on tour with the
Welsh Chamber Orchestra and for the BBC including the violin
concerto 'Quadruple Elegy' written for her by Piers Hellawell,
with the Ulster Orchestra and Charles Hazlewood. Most recently
she performed Lou Harrison's Violin Concerto with Percussion
Orchestra in Symphony Hall Birmingham International Series in a
new collaboration with Ensemble Bash supported by Arts Council
England.
Wednesday 11 November, 2009 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Gemma
Rosefield cello

Michael Dussek piano

Beethoven
12 Variations on Handel’s `See the conqu’ring hero comes’,
WoO.45
David Matthews Journeying Songs for cello
Mendelssohn
Cello Sonata No.2, Op.58
Interval
Schumann
5 Pieces in folk style, Op.102
Brahms
Cello Sonata No.2 in F, Op.99
Gemma
Rosefield,
born in London in 1981, studied for a Masters Degree with Ralph
Kirshbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music, supported by
the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. She had previously
graduated with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music. Major
competition successes include First Prize in the European Music
for Youth Competition in Oslo, the Royal Overseas League String
Competition, the Making Music Young Concert Artists Award, the
Kirckman Award, and the Prix Academie Maurice Ravel.
She has taken
part in masterclasses with such musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Gary
Hoffman, Johannes Goritzki, Frans Helmerson, Zara Nelsova and
Bernard Greenhouse.
When she was
only 18, The Strad wrote about her "Eighteen-year-old Gemma
Rosefield & gave a heartfelt reading of Bruch's Meditation on
the Jewish chant, Kol Nidrei. Her eminent control, her fine
contrast between light and shade and her broad, expressive brush
strokes made this a deeply affecting performance. The sheer
sophistication and depth of understanding she revealed were
inspirational."
A committed
chamber musician, Gemma has played in the USA, Russia, Japan,
Europe and throughout the UK, including performances with György
Pauk, Menachem Pressler and Stephen Kovacevich. She has appeared
at all major London venues, including the South Bank, Barbican
and Wigmore Hall, where at her debut recital in 2004, she was
described by The Strad as "a mesmerising musical treasure;" the
London Evening Standard commented "Monday nights at the Wigmore
Hall will never be the same again."
Her festival
appearances this year include Corsham, Hampstead & Highgate,
Kings Lynn, Presteigne and Edinburgh Fringe, Gstaad and the Lyon
Musicades XV in France. Praised by the London Evening Standard
in 2005 as "a phenomenal talent", Gemma's plans include solo
recitals throughout the UK and performances of the Elgar,
Schumann and both Haydn concertos. She has toured in Mexico and
Holland (in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam) in the New Masters
International Recital Series.
More information
about Ms Rosefield may be found at
www.gemmarosefield.co.uk.
Michael Dussek has led an exceptionally varied and
successful career, performing throughout the world as soloist,
chamber musician and singer's accompanist.
He has partnered many of today's leading instrumental and vocal
soloists, including violinists Ryu Goto, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne
Akiko Meyers, Gil Shaham, Antje Weithaas and Xue Wei; cellist
Ofra Harnoy, flautist James Galway, oboist Douglas Boyd; and
singers Susan Bullock, Bernarda Fink, Christopher Maltman, Ian
Partridge and Jean Rigby.
Michael has played in many of the world's major concert halls,
including London's Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall,
Wigmore Hall, Royal Opera House; Amsterdam's Concertgebouw,
Madrid's Auditorio Nacional, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Osaka's
Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Centre and major concert venues in
Beijing, Bonn, Brussels, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Paris, Prague,
Toronto and Taipei.
In 2006 he completed a 13-recital tour of Japan with violinist
Ryu Goto, including a Suntory Hall recital recorded live for CD
and DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.
He is a member of three London-based chamber groups: the Dussek
Piano Trio, Endymion Ensemble and Primavera. He has also
performed with the soloists of The Chamber Orchestra of Europe,
The City of London Sinfonia and The Orchestra of the Age of the
Enlightenment.
Michael Dussek's versatility is reflected in his extensive
discography, which he has recorded for labels such as ASV,
Chandos, Deutsche Grammophon, Dutton Epoch, EMI, Hyperion and
Meridian. He has recently recorded York Bowen's first three
Piano Concertos with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by
Vernon Handley, to critical acclaim.
His recording of Britten's solo piano music was described by
Fanfare Magazine as "one of the most magical discs of Britten
yet made". With cellist Ofra Harnoy he recorded works by
Beethoven and Dvorak, and a disc of sonatas by Prokofiev and
Schubert which won a Canadian Juno Award.
As a member of the Dussek Piano Trio, with his wife, cellist
Margaret Powell and violinist Gonzalo Acosta, he has recorded
trios by Arensky, Brahms, Bridge, Haydn and Hurlstone, and with
Endymion Ensemble, chamber works by Berkeley, Bowen, Dohnanyi,
Dunhill, Fibich and Rubbra.
Two of his recordings of Edmund Rubbra's chamber music were
nominated for Gramophone Awards, and his disc of songs by Arnold
Bax, with singers Ian Partridge and Jean Rigby, received
outstanding reviews.
Altogether he has made 20 recordings in Dutton Epoch's widely
acclaimed survey of British music. Michael Dussek's EMI
recording with violinist Xue Wei was a best-selling classical
recording in mainland China and Hong Kong.
In addition to his extensive performing career, Michael Dussek
is a Professor and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in
London.
More
information about Mr Dussek may be found at
www.michaeldussek.co.uk.
Saturday 5 December, 2009 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Divertimenti String Quintet
***
Concert Review ***

Paul Barritt violin
Rachel Isserlis violin
Jonathan Barritt viola
Sebastian Comberti cello
Josephine Horder cello
Glazunov
Quintet in A for strings, Op.39
Tchaikovsky
Andante Cantabile for cello and strings (arr. from Quartet,
Op.11)
Schubert
String Quintet in C, D.956
Divertimenti has been widely acclaimed as one of the most
exciting and innovative British chamber groups of its
generation.
Four of the players in this outstanding ensemble were founder
members at its inception in 1978. All five are top ranking
players with a wealth of world-wide concert experience between
them, as soloists and orchestral principals as well as chamber
music players. Long standing friends, they share an evergreen
love of music making, and a passion for the rich sonorities of
the string ensemble repertoire.
The
core group is a quintet for two cellos. Schubert’s great C major
Quintet forms the backbone of many programmes, while other
exciting and beautiful quintets for this combination have been
discovered. Divertimenti has a long tradition of breaking new
ground with adventurous repertoire, and the championing of works
by lesser known composers. A serious dedication to twentieth
century compositions, together with a particular focus on the
rich seam of works by British composers, has enabled the
creation of attractive and challenging concerts. In addition,
Divertimenti Ensemble expands to sextets and octets, and
performs quintets for two violas and also quartets, trios, duos
and solos.
The
ensemble’s recording activities have included numerous
programmes for BBC Radio 3, notably live broadcast concerts at
St.George’s, Bristol and Pebble Mill, Birmingham. Early interest
was attracted by a recording of chamber music by Colin Matthews,
and of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet on the Meridian label. Two
further recordings on the Hyperion label - Howells and Dyson
Quartets, and Mendelssohn and Bargiel Octets - received
unanimous praise from the critics, the latter being singled out
for recommendation by BBC Radio 3’s Record Review and by
International Record Review. Both recordings received
recommendations from BBC Music Magazine and Classic FM (as
Record of the Month).
The
Ensemble gave the second ever performance of Arnold Bax’s
Quintet No.1, together with Dame Ethel Smyth’s Quintet, at the
Lichfield Festival, both enthusiastically received. Divertimenti
subsequently recorded the Bax on the Dutton Epoch label – “a
thoroughly likeable and valuable release” (Gramophone). Another
recent discovery was the Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Quintet, a
transcription for string quintet with two cellos of the famous
violin sonata, published in 1932, with scores provided by the
Beethovenhaus in Bonn. The latest addition to their exclusive
repertoire is the Joseph Miroslav Weber Quintet, which has been
released on the Cello Classics label, together with the Brahms
String Quintet in F minor (a reconstruction of the original
instrumentation of his Piano Quintet Op.34) - “the lyrical flow
in this beautiful account is unimpeded” (Sunday Times).
Compelling masterworks of the Russian Romantic School by Catoire
and Taneyev, Glazunov, as well as a very early quintet by Gade
have recently also been added to Divertimenti’s repertoire.
Thursday 21 January, 2010 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Junko Kobayashi
piano

Haydn Piano Sonata in C, Hob.XVI/50
Beethoven Piano Sonata in A flat, Op.110
Chopin Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23
Kosaku Yamada Karatachi no hana (Trifoliate
orange blossom)
Schumann/Liszt Liebeslied, S.566
Liszt Valse Impromptu, S.213
Liszt Concert paraphrase on Verdi's Rigoletto,
S.434
Junko Kobayashi was born in Japan, but has lived in England
for over twenty years. Her teachers have included Louis Kentner
and Maria Curcio. She has given concerts in four continents, as
well as all over Great Britain. Her career as a recitalist has
included appearances at the Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith
Square, while in chamber music she has played with Nigel
Kennedy, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and appeared on both German
and American television.
In
her CD 'Nocturnes' (on Quartz QTZ 2004) she plays nocturnes by
Chopin, Debussy, Fauré and Satie, however her repertoire extends
from Bach to the twenty-first century. Ms Kobayashi is chair of
the Takemitsu Society.
'Junko Kobayashi is a pianist who does not impose her
subjectivity on the listener, but who lets the music speak for
itself.' (Neue Ruhr Zeitung)
Wednesday 3 February, 2010 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Andrew McGee
violin
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An
unaccompanied recital and exhibition of items belonging
to Nicolo Paganini. Original manuscripts, programmes and
letters relating to the programme.
Telemann
Fantasia No.5 in A for solo violin
Ysaye
Sonata No.4 in E minor for solo violin (dedicated to Fritz
Kreisler)
Kreisler
Recitativo & scherzo-caprice, Op.6 (dedicated to Eugene Ysaye)
Nathan
Milstein
Paganiniana
Paganini
Introduction and variations on ‘Nel cor piu non mi sento’ from
Paisiello’s opera ‘La Molinara’
Andrew McGee
studied the violin with Rosemary Rapaport and David
Martin at the Royal Academy of Music. He began his
professional career in the Royal Opera House orchestra,
which he eventually led for performances.
He
became Co-Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, and was the
leader of the London Sinfonietta. He was a member of the Nash
Ensemble and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra.
Amongst the great conductors and composers that Andrew has led
and played for are Leopold Stokowski, Georg Solti, Gennady
Rozhdestvensky, Lorin Maazel, Otto Klemperer, Malcolm Sargent,
John Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky
and Michael Tippet.
Andrew worked very closely with Mistislav Rostropovich, Yehudi
Menuhin, Isaac Stern, and Henryk Szering.
Sir Adrian Boult wrote to Andrew congratulating him on his
B.B.C. broadcast of the Elgar Violin Concerto – ‘Your fine
performance of the Elgar Concerto reminded me of the first
performance by Fritz Kreisler’.
Andrew was for many years a member of the Academy of St.Martin
in the Fields orchestra where he played violin and viola. He
also wrote arrangements for the Academy which they performed on
Concert tours. Andrew teaches at the Centre for Young Musicians,
and is an authority on Nicolo Paganini on whom he gives Lecture
Recitals. He has a remarkable collection of important personal
items associated with the great Italian virtuoso and other
famous musicians.
Thursday 18 March, 2010 8 pm
Methodist
Church, Station
Road, Barnes
Stagg Quartet

Arriaga String Quartet No.1 in D
minor
(1. Allegro;
2. Adagio
con espressione; 3.
Minuet;
4. Allegretto)
Shostakovich String Quartet No.6
in G, Op.101
(1.
Allegretto; 2. Moderato
con moto;
3. Lento;
4. Lento)
Borodin String Quartet No.2 in D
(1. Allegro
moderato; 2. Scherzo
(Allegro); 3. Nocturne
(Andante); 4. Finale
(Andante) - vivace)
April 2010 (date TBC) 8 pm
Harrodian School
Hall, Lonsdale Road, Barnes
Players from the
Centre for Young Musicians
(with
Andrew McGee)
Chamber
music and solo works performed by players from the Centre for
Young Musicians, including works by Haydn, Mozart and Sibelius
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