ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

Pedro Salas igniting the atmosphere in London today with the brilliant sunlight of his native Spain

Following a monumental performance of Mussorgsky pictures and an even more astonishing Sonata by Schulhoff, it almost made us forget the exquisite refinement of Papà Haydn’s graceful Sonata n. 12 with which this dashing young Spanish virtuoso began his recital at St Stephen Walbrook today. There was no doubt of his fiery Latin temperament as Malagueña flooded this noble edifice with sounds of shameless passionate intensity, played as an encore after his monumental Great Gate of Kiev was still resounding around this beautiful church in the round.

I have heard Pedro play many times over the past few years as he completed his studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Perfecting his skills now with Stanislaw Ioudenitch at the Reina Sofia Academy in Madrid, he is fast making a name for himself on the competition circuit as he builds up his concert career.

In London today for some concerts in preparation for the Artur Rubinstein Competition where he is one of the few selected to play in Tel Aviv from a vast list of applicants. It was a short programme but showed off Pedro’s mastery and refined musicianship.

Haydn’s little Sonata Hob XVI:12 in A, began the concert with great delicacy and refined elegance.Ornaments that glistened like jewels with the perfection of highly wound springs as he shaped one of Haydn’s least known sonatas with a ravishing palette of colours making one wonder why it is not heard more often in the concert hall. He brought a flowing radiance and elegance to the ‘Menuetto’ but it was the whispered music box delicacy of the ‘Trio’ that showed his quite extraordinary sensitivity. There was a dynamic drive to the Finale bringing such character and ebullience to this single page of genial invention.

The Sonata n. 1 by Erwin Schulhoff was written in 1924 by a composer encouraged in his youth by Dvorák and going on to study with Debussy and Reger. He died in a Nazi Prison Camp in 1942 and was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist, one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime and whose works have been rarely noted or performed beyond Czechoslovakia until the 1980s. He was born in Prague into a German family of Ashkenazi Jewish  ancestry.

A fascinating work played with dynamic drive and commanding authority by Pedro. In three movements with an opening of corrosive rush hour drive but ending with single repeated notes which Pedro played with poignant significance as the movement lay exhausted and spent. The second movement ‘Molto tranquillo’ with a long meandering melodic line of luminosity and a sense of wonderment looking for a way forward in such a bleak landscape. The last movement ‘Allegro moderate grotesco ‘ was played with a kaleidoscope of colour but with a sense of line as it gradually sprang to life. ‘Grotesque’ indeed, with the driving rhythmic impulse of a march of wonderment of pulsating insistence. It was played with great commitment and technical mastery bringing searing intensity and an architectural shape to a work that I hope to hear more often in the concert hall .

Hats off to Pedro for having the courage to add two such rarely heard works to his repertoire. The last work in the programme, on the other hand, is often heard in the concert hall, but Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is rarely played with the masterly musicianship that Pedro showed today. I have heard Pedro play this work a few years ago and it has grown in stature and assurance and indeed held us spell bound as he delved deeply into the score with poetic sensitivity as well as astonishing technical mastery. A very solid opening to the Promenade as ‘Gnomus’ entered the scene with a chameleonic sense of character and very effective left hand tremolandos that I have not been aware of before. Now followed a quasi religious ‘Promenade’ with bells already chiming on the horizon,Pedro highlighting counterpoints rarely noticed before. A beautiful whispered ‘Old Castle’ was played with natural flowing ease with a truly poetic ending leading into a now rather strident ‘Promenade’ pace as Mussorgsky moves from one picture to another. The children playing in the ‘Tuileries’ was teasingly brilliant with its lilting relentless forward movement. A heavingly rumbustious ‘Bydlo’ was greeted by an etherial ‘Promenade’ of delicacy and resonance. The ‘Ballet of Unhatched Chicks’ produced some masterly playing of lightweight chattering and interesting bass counterpoints that Pedro underlined whilst the trills and thrills above created an incessant hustle and bustle. ‘Goldenberg’ strode onto the scene with imposing authority of brazen command only to be answered by the beseeching murmuring of ‘Schmyle.’ Pedro brought great authority to the imposing bass reply, the deep voice of ‘Goldenberg’ resonating around the church with commanding authority. This contrasted with the great activity of the ‘Market place at Limoges’ where Pedro played with breathless brilliance and dynamic relentless drive. Only to be thwarted by the vision of the ‘Catacombs’ that Pedro allowed to reverberate with great audacity as he listened to the sounds rising from the keyboard into the rarified air. Resolving so magically as Pedro produced sounds of magical golden beauty. This time it was ‘Baba Yaga’ that entered with intimidation and pounding authority. Sumptuous full sounds ,never hard, as even in the most challenging passages Pedro was listening to each note and giving them the just weight as members of an imaginary orchestra that he had in his ten fingers. He brought great drama to the central episode with its constant vibration of sounds on which the melodic line is carved out with a vibrantly whispered bass and sudden lightening strokes above. Arriving now at the vision of the ‘Great Gate of Kiev’ which Pedro played with nobility and grandeur. A sense of balance as he built up the tension with the chiming bells spread over the whole keyboard before a headlong plunge into the depths as the Great Gate arose in all its glory. A remarkable performance of a thinking musician who could delve so deeply into this well known score and still find so many new things that could bring it to life with vibrant mastery.

I would not have imagined an encore could have been contemplated but then I had not counted on Pedro’s hot blooded Spanish temperament. Letting his hair down as ‘Malagueña’ raised its head with scintillating playing of brazen showmanship and passionate intensity. Some masterly intricate playing of the knotty twine of counterpoints that teasingly accompanied the well known melody before bursting into flames of unabashed operatic bravura.

Impeccable living Mozart as Queen Bodicea drives her flaming chariot to meet Grieg.Salas,Swigut,Pastuszka and the (Oh!)Orkiestra take Warsaw by storm

Pedro López Salas Chopin recreated with poetic beauty and romantic fire

Pedro Lopez Salas at the Royal College of Music – A poet of aristocratic refinement

Pedro Lopez Salas in Paradise .A standing ovation at La Mortella – The Walton Foundation

Pedro Lopez Salas -The style and authority of a great artist -The Keyboard Trust in Florence goes British

The year of the horse celebrated in style at the National Liberal Club with distinguished guests invited by Yisha Xue to celebrate in words and music over a sumptuous Chinese dinner .

Bobby Dean MP spoke about being firmly in the saddle, building a Liberal Economy.

Zhengyu Sim from the Guildhall played a Mozart Sonata K330 ,exquisitely ornamented as fitted an occasion that began with the Lion Dance Troup from Imperial College .

So many guests wanted to attend on this 9th year of celebrations organised by Yisha’s Asia Circle, that the piano had to sit in the corner, where strangely enough I have never heard it sound so beautiful. Especially at the end when Zhengyu improvised a ravishingly beautiful Chinese song and there was magic in the air.

A memorable evening and a stallion that will long be revered and remembered.

Curtis Phill Hsu A snake of genial proportions at the NLC and sublime artistry revealed at the Sketch Club

Ryan Wang ‘A star is born on the Wings of the Dragon’ at the National Liberal Club

Beethoven – Sonata Op.111 (25 mins)

Brahms – Paganini Variations Book 1 (14 mins) 

Interval

Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit (25 mins)

Liszt – Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (13 mins)

1. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
2. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

The Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor op 111 is the last of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas which span almost his entire compositional life . The work was written between 1821 and 1822. is dedicated to his friend, pupil, and patron, Archduke Rudolf.

‘A work of unmatched drama and transcendence … the triumph of order over chaos, of optimism over anguish.’ with a struggle that permeates the first movement as physically challenging pianists performing this work; even in the opening of the sonata, for instance, there is a downward leap of a seventh in the left hand – Beethoven is making his pianists physically struggle to reach the notes.  Alfred Brendel commented of the second movement that what is to be expressed here is distilled experience” and “perhaps nowhere else in piano literature does mystical experience feel so immediately close at hand.Beethoven conceived of the plan for his final three piano sonatas (op 109,110 and op 111) during the summer of 1820, while he worked on his Missa solemnis Although the work was only seriously outlined by 1819, the famous first theme  of the allegro ed appassionato was found in a draft book dating from 1801 to 1802, contemporary to his Second Symphony Moreover, the study of these draft books implies that Beethoven initially had plans for a sonata in three movements, quite different from that which we know: it is only thereafter that the initial theme of the first movement became that of the String Quartet n. 13 , and that what should have been used as the theme with the adagio—a slow melody in A flat —was abandoned. Only the motif planned for the third movement, the famous theme mentioned above, was preserved to become that of the first movement. The Arietta, too, offers a considerable amount of research on its themes; the drafts found for this movement seem to indicate that as the second movement took form, Beethoven gave up the idea of a third movement, the sonata finally appearing to him as ideal.

Variations on a Theme of Paganini,op. 35, was composed in 1863 and based on the Caprice n. 24 in A minor by Paganini ( The same one used by Rachmaninov, Liszt and Lutoslawski ) The work consists of two books. Each book opens with the theme, Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 in A minor, followed by fourteen variations. The final variation in each section is virtuosic and climactic.

Brahms intended the work to be more than simply a set of theme and variations ; each variation also has the characteristic of a study . He published it as Studies for Pianoforte: Variations on a Theme of Paganini and dedicated to the piano virtuoso Carl Tausig It is well known for its harmonic depth and extreme physical difficulty with particular emphasis of the technical challenges lie on hand independence, with the left hand often mirroring the right hand throughout the piece or having its own set of obstacles.

It has been described as “a legend in the piano literature,fiendish, and one of the most subtly difficult works in the literature.” Clara Schumann Clara Schumann called it Hexenvariationen(Witch’s Variations) because of its difficulty.The critic James Huneker wrote :

‘Brahms and Paganini! Was ever so strange a couple in harness? Caliban and Ariel,Jove and Puck. The stolid German, the vibratile Italian! Yet fantasy wins, even if brewed in a homely Teutonic kettle … These diabolical variations, the last word in the technical literature of the piano, are also vast spiritual problems. To play them requires fingers of steel, a heart of burning lava and the courage of a lion ‘

The first of the two books is the Theme and fourteen variations .

Gaspard de la nuit (subtitled Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand), M. 55 is a suite of three piano  pieces by Maurice Ravel written in 1908. Each of the three movements is based on a poem or fantaisie from the collection Gaspard de la Nuit – Fantasies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot completed in 1836 by Aloysius Bertrand. The work was premiered in Paris, on January 9, 1909, by Ricardo Viñes but dedicated to pianists Harold Bauer , Jean Marnold and Rudolph Ganz.

The piece is famous for its difficulty, partly because Ravel intended the Scarbo movement to be more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey. Because of its technical challenges and profound musical structure, Scarbo is considered one of the most difficult solo piano pieces in the standard repertoire.

Ondine an oneiric tale of the water nymph Undine singing to seduce the observer into visiting her kingdom deep at the bottom of a lake. It is reminiscent of Ravel’s early piano piece, the Jeux d’eau (1901), with the sounds of water falling and flowing, woven with cascades. The work is in sonata form “by stealth”

. . . . . . . . I thought I heard
A faint harmony that enchants my sleep.
And close to me radiates an identical murmur
Of songs interrupted by a sad and tender voice.
     Ch. Brugnot – The Two Spirits

Le Gibet represents the observer with a view of the desert, where the lone corpse of a hanged man on a gibbet  stands out against the horizon, reddened by the setting sun. Meanwhile, a bell tolls from inside the walls of a far-off city, creating the deathly atmosphere that surrounds the observer.

‘What do I see stirring around that gibbet?’
– Faust.

Scarbo depicts the night time mischief of a small fiend or goblin , making pirouettes flitting in and out of the darkness, disappearing and suddenly reappearing. Its uneven flight, hitting and scratching against the walls and bed curtains, casting a growing shadow in the moonlight creates a nightmarish scene for the observer lying in his bed.As Ravel said : ‘I wanted to make a caricature of romanticism. Perhaps it got the better of me.’

‘He looked under the bed, in the chimney,
in the cupboard; – nobody. He could not
understand how he got in, or how he escaped.’
     Hoffmann. – Nocturnal Tales

The Mephisto Waltzes (German: Mephisto-Walzer) are four waltzes  composed by Franz Liszt  from 1859 to 1862, from 1880 to 1881, and in 1883 and 1885. Nos. 1 and 2 were composed for orchestra, and later arranged for piano, piano duet and two pianos, whereas nos. 3 and 4 were written for piano only. Of the four, the first is the most popular.The first Mephisto Waltz is a typical example of programme music taking for its program an episode from Nikolaus Lenau’s 1836 verse drama Faust (not from Goethe’s Faust. The following program note, which Liszt took from Lenau, appears in the printed score:

There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistopheles  and Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches the fiddle from the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains. The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad, abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods. The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song.

Liszt dedicated the piece to Karl Tausig his favourite pupil

Nikita Burzanitsa in Florence A birthday celebration with the mastery of a poet of the keyboard

Misha Kaploukhii plays Rachmaninov 2nd Concerto with the Salomon Orchestra conducted by Michal Oren

This was no ‘Brief Encounter ‘ as his encore of Stephen Hough’s arrangement of Moscow Nights could testify. Taking the inspiration of Van Cliburn for the encore that he played at his triumphant victory in Moscow in 1958.https://youtu.be/vkxSgmoqpTs?si=uuM8r4uRJlI6UlUZ

His playing has the same style and virtuosity of Cliburn. A year younger than when he triumphed in Moscow, Misha can already boast a large repertoire of many of the greatest concertos in the piano repertoire. …………..tonight was the third Rachmaninov Concerto under his belt. And what a belt it was!

Refined Romanticism of good taste and ravishing beauty added to fearless virtuosity that seemed to have an audacity that was without shame but with poetic beauty and passionate intensity .

Misha Kaploukhii mastery and clarity in Walton’s paradise where dreams become reality – updated to include the Sheepdrove Competition and graduation recital

Misha Kaploukhii plays Brahms 2 igniting with Martyn Brabbins the RCM Philharmonic

Misha Kaploukhii plays Rachmaninov Beauty and youthfulness triumph

Chopin reigns at the National Liberal Club and St Mary’s Perivale The triumph of Misha Kaploukhii and Magdalene Ho

Misha Kaploukhii plays Liszt at the RCM A Sea Symphony Concert…..Youth and music a joy to ‘behold’!

Rachmaninov’s  Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor op 18 was  composed  between June 1900 and April 1901. The piece established his fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces.

After the disastrous 1897 premiere of his First Symphony , Rachmaninoff suffered a psychological breakdown and depression that prevented composition for three years. In 1899, he was supposed to perform the Second Piano Concerto in London, which he had not composed yet, and instead made a successful conducting debut. The success led to an invitation to return next year with his First Piano Concerto ; however, he promised to reappear with a newer and better one. After an unsuccessful meeting with Leo Tolstoy meant to revoke his writer’s block , relatives decided to introduce Rachmaninoff to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl, whom he visited daily from January to April 1900. Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to Dahl for successfully treating him by restoring his health and confidence in composition.

From the summer to the autumn of 1900, he worked on the second and third movements of the concerto, with the first movement causing him difficulties. Both movements of the unfinished concerto were first performed with him as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti iconducting on 15 December  The first movement was finished in 1901, and the complete work had an astoundingly successful premiere on 9 November, again with the same duo. Gutheil published it the concerto the same year.

Brief Encounter tells the story of two married strangers living in pre-World War II England, whose chance meeting at a railway station leads to a brief yet intense emotional affair disrupting their otherwise conventional lives.Many critics, historians, and scholars consider Brief Encounter as one of the greatest films of all time  .

Excerpts from  Rachmaninmov’s Second Concerto  recur throughout the film, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra under Muir Mathieson , with Eileen Joyce as the pianist. 

photo credit Davide Sagliocca https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/03/20/christopher-axworthy-dip-ram-aram/

Fluidity and freedom, intelligence and beauty are words that come to mind as I listened to a great pianist showing us a wondrous world of his own

Aidan Mikdad looked bewildered and dazed as the magic spell he had unknowingly created was broken by the ovation he received at the National Liberal Club last night for Mary Orr’s inaugural ‘Promote Our Pianists’ concert series. I missed his ‘Waldstein’ Sonata that he confided was his first performance of this work that Delius was to describe as all scales and arpeggios. Aidan spontaneously modest as he came down the sumptuous staircase on his way to the green room and saw me just arriving in time for his Chopin . Mary Orr knew I had been invited by the LSO to the spotlight on Seong- Jin Cho

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2026/02/14/lso-shines-a-spotlight-on-seong-jin-cho-the-wondrous-sound-world-of-the-poet-of-the-keyboard/

Mary had written to me in her own inimitable way and on arriving our beloved Mary handed me a glass of red wine and the best seat in the house! What a lady!

Having listened enthralled to Aidan’s Chopin I was doubly sorry to have missed his Beethoven.The original programme for the second half had gone through some deeply rooted changes and instead of the Prelude op 45 and Scherzo op 39 leading into the Sonata in B minor , Aidan after long suffering decided that the great B minor sonata would be better accompanied by two of Chopin’s most mellifluous outpourings of Bel Canto : The Aeolian Harp of op 25 n. 1 and the equally magical Berceuse op 57. The reasoning for this became evident as the sound of the first notes of the étude was the same sound that resounded through the Berceuse and B minor Sonata creating a sumptuous world of refined elegance and passionate intensity.

Leaning back as his long slender fingers created the magic sounds that Sir Charles Hallé had described on hearing Chopin himself play in Manchester.This was on his last ill fated tour enticed by an aristocratic lady friend and fervent admirer, Jane Sterling just as Chopin had been persuaded by another equally demanding George Sand, to spend an ill fated winter on Majorca. The description of Hallé perfectly describes the playing of Aidan as the melodic line rose and fell and was shaped with beguiling freedom sustained by the undulating sounds of changing harmonies. Undulating harmonies played with simplicity but also a poetic intensity where this étude became a tone poem of extraordinary power and beauty. We are so used to hearing these studies played one after the other that to hear just one elevated to such heights and with an overwhelming freedom and personality was overpowering and caught our attention immediately, paving the way for the magical glowing simplicity of the ‘Berceuse’. A theme and variations with a constant lullaby undercurrent, played with the glowing radiance of Bel Canto, this time without the luxuriant harmonies that he had bestowed on it with his Aeolian Harp. Maybe Aidan played it a little fast as the more intricate filigree work lost something of its expansive freedom, but the golden sounds and strong personality were compelling as the scene was now set for the B minor Sonata.

Aidan opened the Sonata with a commanding authority and a scrupulous attention to Chopin’s very precise indications, to which he added fantasy and dramatic drive with everything so beautifully and naturally phrased. A sumptuous golden sound as the second subject was played with a flowing poignant beauty of aristocratic nobility. Straight into the development with passionate intensity and the return of the second subject intoned with even more depth of sound and extraordinary radiance. The ‘Scherzo’ was phrased with the shape of a thinking musician, not just a web of sparkling jeux perlé but something of far greater significance. The ‘Trio’ unfolded like an improvised voyage of discovery as the weaving, glowing counterpoints spoke in a way that is rare indeed and lead imperceptibly to the return of the ‘Scherzo’. Even the noble opening chords of the ‘Largo’ were given a subtle sense of direction and significance as the luminosity of the melodic line held us spellbound for the eloquence and sensitivity of Aidan’s playing. Streams of notes poured from Aidan’s hands with a sumptuous bass keeping an anchor and giving great strength to the glowingly elusive musical line. This was music shaped by a great musical personality with passionate radiance and a remarkable line of great architectural strength.The Finale: ‘Presto non tanto’ opened with octaves over the entire keyboard, given a sense of direction and colour out of which was born the Rondò theme that was to become ever more intense on each return.There was a continuous, fearless drive of poetic mastery where even the many scintillating cascades of notes were shaped and phrased with subtle meaning as the music built to the final explosion and a coda that was played with breathtaking brilliance and the sumptuous sounds of a truly ‘Grand’ piano.

The Prelude op 45 that had originally been intended as the first work in this Chopin second half was now the encore that Aidan offered to a very enthusiastic audience. The long flowing lines of slowly changing harmonies were allowed to unfold with glowing beauty and an improvised freedom of extraordinary beauty. The delicacy of the cadenza at the end was where Chopin creates sounds of even faster changing harmonies of whispered beauty as this late Prelude uttered its last glowing wish. Aidan was not expecting a second encore but such was our insistence that he sat at the piano again and played a Waltz by Scriabin op 38 with a kaleidoscope of colour and beguiling insinuation that filled the air with even more rarified magic from a master musician.

https://youtu.be/FpOnHiZYbaU?si=VwgSYgm_WGh5cI6z

Aidan Mikdad at the Wigmore Hall astonishes and ravishes with Scriabin of mystery,passion and colour as he reaches for the stars.

Nothing like a Dame!Aidan Mikdad ignites the Imogen Cooper Music Trust – part 1 and 2

Miracles at the Barbican in these days with the whispered glowing power of music from Seong-Jin Cho together with the passionate refined musicianship of Gianandrea Noseda.

The wonderful players of the LSO encouraged to play with the same freedom and inner intensity as Cho. Has the horn call that heralds the coda of the ‘Allegro Vivace’ ever sounded more like a mountain call? Resounding throughout the hall with an improvised freedom before being gently brought to heel as Cho played with crystalline clarity and delicacy Chopin’s beguiling web of intricate weaving sounds. Nosseda encouraging the players to join in the fun with the waltz like lilt and ‘joie de vivre’ that we sometimes experience in Schumann, but what a wonder to hear Chopin restored to it’s Polish roots with such beguiling insinuation and refinement.

This was after the fearless opening ‘Maestoso’ where Chopin’s oft criticised orchestral writing was given a new lease of life. Sumptuous rich sounds all congregating around the ravishing poetic beauty that was pouring from Cho’s hands. Sounds at times like streams of gold just illuminating the aristocratic elegance of this movement whilst both were capable of passionate abandon and glorious exhilaration.

There were moments of timeless beauty as Cho allowed the Bel Canto embellishments to unwind with the sublime sounds of a Monserrat Caballé as we all waited with baited breath for the orchestra to continue its miraculous journey together.

A Larghetto of such perfection, as one of Chopin’s most beautiful melodic creations was played with an exquisite palette of sounds, Nosseda just waiting to encourage his players to listen and caress such wonders together that were filling the hall.

This was beauty not for beauty’s sake but of a great musician who could see and shape these sounds and give them an architectural shape and rhythmic anchor that never slipped into sentimentality but was of the same simple beauty as a Michelangelo sculpture.

A monumental simplicity in which so little could mean so much.

I hope that his encore of the valse de l’adieu does not signify that the spotlight on such an artist will ever fade.

The saga continues …..after a most poetic Chopin Second Concerto with the LSO at the Barbican last night, Seong-Jin Cho shows us once again the whispered power of music.

The magical sounds of Donghoon Shin with only four of the players from last night sharing the intimate stage of St Luke’s. A performance where notes shone like jewels in the dark as Cho played the part of Stevenson’s shadow :”For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India- rubber ball , And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

It was the same chameleonic presence of Cho with the four principal string players in Brahms G minor Quartet. He was able to amalgamate the sound of the piano so it became part of the strings with no thought of hammers striking strings.A sound that miraculously just filled the stage, the hall and hopefully microphones with sumptuous sounds. David Cohen, who I had noticed yesterday in Stravinsky, playing with such joy as he looked us in the eye to make sure we were enjoying it just as much as he. This was chamber music to cherish as this group of players could unite as one stimulating each other to delve ever deeper into the sublime secrets hidden within the all too inadequate black and white indications on the page.

The third time to hear Seong-Jin Cho within twenty four hours thanks to the LSO Spotlight falling on a true star.

The Barbican and surrounds taken by siege with Korean fans ,the sort of enthusiasm we only experience in the west with football. The dial has moved from west to east as the wonderful Korean training and love of music is showing the west the way to Parnassus .

Having heard his Chopin 2 which has gained in timeless strength since I last heard it at the Proms. This morning chamber music where the piano became part of a musical line that these fabulous players could create together with obvious passionate joy at being part of the recreation of such sublime outpourings. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2018/08/21/chopin-galore-bryce-morrison-and-seong-jin-cho-on-sunday-in-london/

The last concert was with a friend and colleague Sunwook Kim , a few years older than Cho , who had taken the Leeds by siege in 2006 being the youngest, at 18, to win the Gold medal. Both from the remarkable class of Daejin Kim at Korea National University of the Arts . His music making took him to London’s RAM to perfect his conducting skills.

It was exactly this sense of architectural shape that gave such strength to Mozart’s F major Sonata K 497.

A work long neglected by amateur pianists where Mozart at the height of his powers could structure such a complex work for Franziska von Jacquin who was obviously far from being an amateur pianist. Kim at the helm and Cho a super anchor they revealed the genius of Mozart with poetic weight and an extraordinary palette of sounds. These two friends and master musicians could dialogue together with a great sense of balance as they listened to the overall whole and recreated a work that I have rarely heard before at home or on stage!

After such magnificence they refreshed the air, with Cho now at the helm, seducing us with the charm and cheek of six of Wolfgang Rihm’s satirical Viennese Waltzes. A beguiling insinuating sense of colour and at times even sleazy night club charm that was of such enticing style we could have happily danced the night away to Valentine’s Day.

We were secretly hoping we might get another one or two as an encore after the Schubert .

However after such a monumental performance of the F minor Fantasy, Cho wisely shut the piano lid as we silently left this beautiful hall heading off in the rain perchance to dream of the wonders we had experienced from these two refined master musicians.

If they tried a little too hard to exult the beauty of Schubert with the whispered ethereal palette of pointillist sounds that only they seem to possess, it was because they love it as obviously Schubert did .

Schubert who in his last year could open the gate to the paradise that was waiting at only 31.

Schubert marks very clearly piano and pianissimo which became tainted with the same exquisite brush and moments of breathtaking beauty strangely lost their sublime shock . This was such a monumental performance ,though, that it was a small price to pay for such charm and drive of the Scherzo. Rarely played with such perfection where colour and rhythmic drive could live together with such transcendental mastery.

Unforgettable were the ghostly trills spread over the piano in the Largo sending a shiver of Scriabinesque vibrations of etherial wonderment.

Masterly playing of the fugato leading to searing excitement of exhilaration and passionate involvement and then suddenly silence. Desolate and distressing .

They say silence is golden and this certainly was, as Kim waiting what seemed like a eternity before barely caressing the keys as Cho intoned the magical melody that he imbued with even more tenderness and nostalgia .The death rattle of the final chords and the simple gasp to end , left us with silence in one of those magic moments where the entire audience were united with the players in what might even be described as ‘religious’ .

There was certainly magic in the air and a spotlight that had fallen on an all too often forgotten paradise.

Proving that MUSIC is most certainly the food of love and the cure for all the evils that are inflicting such suffering and pain on so many in these ‘modern’ times!

Seong-Jin Cho in Rome -The refined finesse of a poet of the keyboard

Seong-Jin Cho Ravelathon Pianistic perfection of transcendental radiance and ravishing beauty

Sunwook Kim was born in Seol, South Korea on 22 April 1988. He began studying the piano  at the age of three. He gave his debut recital aged ten and this was followed by his concerto debut two years later. He won the Leeds International Piano Competition  aged just 18, becoming the competition’s youngest winner for 40 years, as well as its first Asian winner. Kim’s performance of Brahms Piano Concerto in D minor with The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder  in the competition’s final won unanimous praise from the press, and led to concerto engagements with UK’s finest orchestras as well as various recitals around Europe.

At the time of the competition, Kim was a student at the Korea National University of Arts under Daejin Kim . He had also previously won the IX Ettlingen Competition and the XVIII Concours Clara Haskil. He was awarded the Artist of the Year prizes from the Daewon Cultural Foundation (2005) and Kumho Asiana Group (2007).

He has received MA degree for conducting from Royal Academy of Music  in 2013.

In the 2023/24 season, Sunwook will make his debut with Atlanta Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Gävle Symfoniorkester as well as his conducting debuts with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra (Budapest), Georges Enescu Philharmonic and Filharmonia Śląska (Poland). Sunwook will also return to conduct the Seoul Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony and as soloist with BBC Philharmonic. In September 2023, Sunwook Kim was announced as the next Music Director of the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra for an initial term until December 2025, leading the orchestra in a minimum of ten performances per year, starting with Gyeonggi Arts Center’s New Year’s concert in January 2024.ecital highlights to date include regular appearances at the Wigmore Hall, London’s International Piano Series (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Stockholm Konserthuset, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, La Roque d’Antheron International Piano Festival in France, Kioi Hall in Tokyo, Seoul Arts Centree, Symphony Hall Osaka, Brussels Klara Festival, Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele.

Sunwook Kim’s debut recital disc was released on the Accentus label in October 2015, featuring Beethoven’s Waldstein and Hammerklaviersonatas, this was followed by a recording of Franck’s Prelude, choral et fugue paired with Brahms Sonata No.3. He has released further recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: Sonata No.8 (Pathétique), No.14 (Moonlight) and No. 23 (Appassionata) as well as Sonatas Nos. 30-32. His most recent chamber music release features the Violin Sonatas of Beethoven in collaboration with Clara-Jumi Kang. His discography also includes multiple concerto recordings; on Accentus Music with the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Myung-Whun Chung featuring Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.1 and Six Piano Pieces (2020) in addition to recordings on Deutsche Grammophon with the Seoul Philharmonic conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, a CD featuring Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto (2014) and a CD featuring Beethoven’s Concerto No.5 (2013).

Seong- Jin Cho was born in Seol, South Korea, the only child of non-musical parents; his father was an engineer. At six years old, he began studying both the piano and the violin Though he appeared to have more natural facility on the latter, he developed a stronger liking for the piano, and gave his first public piano recital at age eleven. After being identified through a musical prodigy development program at the Seoul Arts Centre , he began studying under Sook-Ryeon Park at Sunchon National University  and Soo-Jung Shin at Seol National University

He attended the Yewon School, a private middle school for art education, during which he won First Prize at both the Moscow International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Young Pianists (2008) and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2009). Cho then attended Seol Arts High Shool for two years, during which he placed third at the 2011 International Tchaikowsky Competition  and began performing regularly with Myung-whun Chung  and the Seol Philharmonic Orchestra .

Cho moved to Paris in 2012 to study at the Conservatoire de Paris  with Michel Béroff . While there, Cho placed third at the 2014 Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition and first prize at the 2015 International Chopin Competition , becoming the first Korean to receive that distinction.

In the 2025/26 season, Seong-Jin Cho is the London Symphony Orchestra’s Artist Portrait. The position sees him work with the orchestra on multiple projects across the season, with concerto performances including the world premiere of a new Piano Concerto by Donghoon Shin, written especially for him. The position also features touring performances across Europe, as well as chamber music concerts and in recital at LSO St Luke’s. Elsewhere, he notably returns to Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck with performances in Pittsburgh and Carnegie Hall, to Boston Symphony Orchestra with Andris Nelsons, and to Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. Cho embarks on several international tours, including his notable return to Czech Philharmonic with Semyon Bychkov in Taiwan and Japan, and Münchner Philharmoniker with Lahav Shani in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. He also performs with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Andris Nelsons throughout Europe in Autumn 2025.

Chappell Gold Medal and much more besides with a sumptuous display of superb piano playing but above all of music making of the highest order

Awaiting the results from a distinguished jury but they are all winners today as the world awaits these wonderfully trained musicians

Chappell Medal to Ruka Ogihara for an astonishing Sonata by Miyashi .Some very musicianly performances of Bach and Beethoven as you might expect from a student of Dany Driver. It was the Sonata by Miyoshi, however, that unlocked her classical restraint and respect as she was freed by the extraordinary demands of Akira Miyoshi’s 1958 Sonata. Extraordinary mastery of the keyboard as her arms became suddenly like rubber allowing her to create a kaleidoscope of colours with a dynamic natural freedom that was breathtaking in it’s audacity.

Hopkinson Gold Medal and Cyril Smith Prize to Zvjezdan Vojvodic for his mastery and supreme artistry. Opening with the extraordinary demands of Hamelin’s ‘Pavane Variée’ played with the same astonishing natural mastery as its composer. His Haydn ‘Presto’ sounded more like an impressive perpetuum mobile rather than with the charm and colour he brought to the ‘Andante con expressione’ first movement of the C major Sonata Hob XVI /48. It was his complete self identification with Liszt, that he brought to the ‘St Francis preaching to the birds’ and the Dante Sonata, that showed off his great temperament and supreme artistry where authority and showmanship combined to masterly effect.

Hopkinson Silver Medal and Peter Wallfisch Prize together with best undergraduate performance to Jiaxin Li for her hair raising Kapustin Etude that was anything but ‘Pastoral’ and her musicianly playing of Les Adieux. Her Kapustin Etude immediately showed her remarkable crystal clear clarity and refined rhythmic energy with a dizzying stream of notes .Beethoven showed off her superb classical training, that combined with her precision and respectful musicianship brought Les Adieux vividly to life. It was in Scriabin and Liszt that she could combine her technical mastery with musicianship in performances where she could carve out an architectural line of delicacy and power allied to a refined poetic fantasy.

I would have awarded some special recognition to Leo Little despite an unfortunate lapse in Scriabin 5 as he was about to pass the winners post. As this ‘outsider’ astonished us with a fearless performance of Carl Vine’s Piano Sonata n 1. Some astonishing performances of undemonstrative mastery of a pianist with a natural feeling for sound and colour. A passionate intensity and concentration that he brought not only to Vine but with the washes of sound and colours of self identification and total commitment that he brought to Debussy and Auerbach. An overwhelming performance of Scriabin’s fifth Sonata where he lost the thread towards the end, which cost him the recognition he deserved , but in spite of that he bravely brought the sonata to its demonic conclusion.

Of course there was the remarkable Schumann op 14 from Rebekah Yinuo Tan. The ‘Concerto without orchestra’ was played with dynamic drive and searing intensity. A scrupulous attention to the composers intricate indications as she gave a fearless performance of fervent commitment. Ravishing kaleidoscope of sounds in Debussy’s Images Bk 2 and remarkable clarity and mastery of the composers vivid Firework display played with virtuosity and poetic imagery.

An equally stylish Carnaval from Radu-Gabriel Stoica. A musical personality who is not afraid of having something personal to say. Pierrot and Eusebius may have been too loquacious for some tastes but it added to a performance of great commitment and style. Beethoven op 110 had been given an impeccable performance where intelligence and mature musicianship combined with a pianist who looked as though he belonged to the keyboard such was his involvement in listening to himself.

Hats off …The Chappell Gold Medal has uncovered a genius

This is the third time I have heard Khrystyna since she was forced to flee her homeland and find refuge in the UK. It was Dr Mather who was one of the first to come to her rescue as she found a way of continuing her artistic journey in a new country. Like Chopin who fled his homeland, the heritage it had left him was always present in everything he did whether in Vienna ,Paris ,Nohant or even Majorca. Khrystyna too has inherited a musical training that has given her a phenomenal technical command of the keyboard but also a love for the sound of the piano. Her ‘fingerfertigkeit’ was given to her as her hands were growing as a child and they were obviously formed with a flexibility and natural beauty that can only be acquired from this early age. Whatever she plays there is always a wonderful fluidity and beauty of sound. Never hard or ungrateful sounds of tension but music that flows from her fingers as it did for Alicia De Larrocha ,Argerich and Pires too. Khrystyna is also blessed with a temperament that can excite as it can seduce.

Today she chose two monuments of the piano repertoire . The Busoni ‘Chaconne’ is very much where Busoni has recreated on the piano the masterpiece that Bach had penned for solo violin. Brahms’s transcription is nearer to the original being played with the left hand just as it would have been on the violin. Busoni has created a concert piece and it is a master work but more Busoni than Bach. Busoni’s wife was often introduced to people as Mrs Bach Busoni such was the identification of Busoni with Bach in a period when Bach’s music was hardly known. The ‘Chaconne’ is a monumental work that needs a continuous undercurrent within it’s framework. As Chopin was to say : ‘a tree with firmly planted roots but branches free to move as nature commands’. Khrystyna found the excitement and exhilaration of this work but her breakneck speed and insistence even she found hard to maintain. Amazing lightweight left hand octaves and a driving insistence like the man on the high wire- will he make it or not? The opening tempo was much too slow and as Khrystyna delved into the notes finding great beauty we had lost from the very beginning the anchor on which the whole work depends. Khrystyna is a very fine musician and all she did was shaped with great artistry and loving care but one felt that there were the fast passages and the slow ones, both exaggerated in tempo, that they did not belong to the one whole. Her sumptuous sound and extraordinary technical mastery taken with more aristocratic nobility would allow this great work to speak for itself as one of the greatest works ever written for a solo instrument.

Khrystyna is now studying at my old Alma Mater, the Royal Academy, with Joanna McGregor ,head of the keyboard having been bequeathed it by Christopher Elton and the school of great musicianship of Gordon Green ( who was both Christopher and my teacher ) and I am sure with guidance she will come to understand the structure of the Chaconne, as she in fact demonstrated with the Brahms Sonata that followed.

The Brahms F minor Sonata is a monumental work and a real trial of musicianship and resilience . Five movements for what was described by Schumann as a ‘veiled symphony’. Khrystyna played it with the same fearless drive that she had brought to the Chaconne but here it was allied to an architectural understanding that could construct a great Gothic Cathedral of monumental proportions. The fearless rhythmic drive and enviable precision of the treacherous octave leaps was allied to the beauty and simplicity that she brought to the lyrical passages. There were slight fluctuations of tempo but within the framework of the whole sonata . There was a beauty of balance in the ‘quasi ‘cello’ outpouring that Brahms marks with such indications as ‘pianissimo’ and ‘sostenuto’ before the dramatic outburst of the opening fanfare. A grandiose ending to the first movement was contrasted with the glowing luminosity of the ‘Andante espressivo’ and I doubt the ‘Poco più lento Äusserst leise un zart’ has ever been played with such touching radiance and beauty. Maybe only by Curzon ! The central passionate outpouring gave Khrystyna a chance to pour her heart out with passionate intensity and poignant meaning.The ‘Andante molto coda ‘ was played with whispered beauty and aristocratic authority as it built imperceptibly to the fortissimo climax of liberation and exhilarance.

The ‘Scherzo’ just flew from her hands but with measured control and with considerable technical command. Even the ‘Trio’ she managed to maintain a similar tempo that made the surprise return to the ‘Scherzo’ even more effective. The ‘Intermezzo’,introduction to the last movement, was played with radiance until the menacing left hand throbbing of a desolate heart was intoned with extraordinary mastery and anguish.The ‘Finale’ that can sound so fragmented in lesser hands was played with such rhythmic finesse that the pieces fitted together in a jigsaw puzzle of genial invention. It was in the coda that Khystyna lapsed into sixth gear again and lost the grandeur and timeless magnificence of the climax of this monumental work. It was an amazing ‘tour de force’ where after the ‘più mosso’ she could even play faster the ‘Presto’ with extraordinary fingerfertigkeit, but it was where her technical prowess took over from what was truly in the heart and soul of a great pianist in the making .

Khrystyna Mykhailichenko at St Mary’s Perivale ‘Mastery and maturity of great artistry’

Khrystyna Mykhailichenko at St Mary’s Mature artistry and refined musicianship of a great pianist in the making.

Jonathan Ferrucci playing three English Suites at Raffaello Morales’s Fidelio. A ‘tour de force’ of mastery and mystery as he unravelled suites 3,4 and 6 in a dense spiral of knotty twine played with dynamic energy and at times searing intensity. Beginning with the familiar chords of the G minor Prelude and finishing with the obscure density of the D minor gigue it was hardly surprising that it was in the Sarabandes that Jonathan’s deep understanding of Bach was tinged with the profound aristocratic intensity of universal commitment that touch us so deeply.

The G minor suite opened with clarity and rhythmic drive followed by the long lines of mellifluous outpouring of the Allemande and Courante . The grandiose Sarabande with its poignant noble sentiments with the magical ritornello just whispered with streams of golden sounds spread over the keys. Charm and crystalline clarity of the ‘Gavotte I’ was followed by the disarming simplicity of reflection of the ‘Gavotte II’ and the insistent drive of the Gigue. I have heard this particular suite many times and above all I will never forget Wilhelm Kempff playing with the same simplicity as Jonathan. Both in life seemingly so small in stature in Jonathan’s case, and frail in Kempff’s but at the keyboard personalities of gigantic authority.

The Fourth suite is a rarity in the concert hall and it was played with a pastoral Allemande and a Sarabande of exquisite beauty. Ending with a truly monumental Gigue.

The final Suite in D minor from the very first imperious notes was Bach making a great statement and as Jonathan had said he even signed his name at the end of the score. After the monumental opening there was a disarming simplicity and a Sarabande of poise and eloquence. The Gavotte II even played at a higher register with a music box sound of glistening beauty. This was before the dynamic drive and overwhelming outpouring of notes like a Dam opening and the flood gates opened for this one last monumental struggle. A friend of mine on hearing Jonathan play asked me how big he was as this was a movement played with such burning muscular intensity and mastery that Jonathan suddenly became a Giant ready to climb Everest for the Glory of Bach .

The imminent release of his recording of the English Suites will stand side by side with his Toccatas that has been receiving rave reviews from the few discerning music critics that still inhabit the barren landscape of ‘Classical’ music.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/12/13/fidelio-mahler-2-the-resurrection-of-a-renaissance-man/ https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/10/30/diabelli-is-box-office-at-fidelio-where-genius-meets-genius-filippo-gorini-and-raffaello-morales-breaking-barriers/

Jonathan Ferrucci Touching Toccatas and much more besides

Jonathan Ferrucci plays Bach in Florence A room with a view with a whole world in his hands.

The English Suites, BWV 806-811 are a set of six suites  written for harpsichord or clavichord and generally thought to be the earliest of his 19 suites for keyboard (discounting several less well-known earlier suites), the others being the six French suites (BWV 812–817), the six Partitas (BWV 825-830) and the Overture in the French style  (BWV 831). They probably date from around 1713 or 1714 until 1720

These six suites  for keyboard are thought to be the earliest set that Bach composed aside from several miscellaneous suites written when he was much younger. Bach’s English Suites display less affinity with Baroque English keyboard style than do the French Suites to French Baroque keyboard style. It has also been suggested that the name is a tribute to Charles Dieupart , whose fame was greatest in England, and on whose Six Suittes de clavessin Bach’s English Suites were in part based.

Surface characteristics of the English Suites strongly resemble those of Bach’s French Suites and Partitas, particularly in the sequential dance-movement structural organization and treatment of ornamentation. These suites also resemble the Baroque French keyboard suite typified by the generation of composers including Jean-Henri d’Anglebert , and the dance-suite tradition of French lutenists that preceded it.

In the English Suites especially, Bach’s affinity with French lute music is demonstrated by his inclusion of a prelude for each suite, departing from an earlier tradition of German derivations of French suite (those of Johann- Jakob Froberger  and Georg Boehm are examples), which saw a relatively strict progression of the dance movements (Allemande,Courante,Sarabande and Gigue ) and which did not typically feature a Prelude. Unlike the unmeasured preludes of French lute or keyboard style, however, Bach’s preludes in the English Suites are composed in strict meter.

Richard Zhang at St Pancras Euston with playing of rare sensibility and intelligence . Chopin Mazukas played with a glowing beauty and subtle palette of colour where these ‘canons covered in flowers’ immediately revealed Richard’s power to combine intellect and soul. A crystalline clarity and beauty to the first and a delicacy to the second where trills were mere vibrations of glowing beauty with a wide palette of sounds etched out with rare sensibility. The third had a rhythmic drive but still with a luminosity and refined beauty of sound. Even the central episode of bagpipes were merely delicately placed left hand chords. The last Mazurka had a beguiling melodic line played with great freedom and a disarming beauty full of nostalgia and innermost intensity.

Liszt’s ‘Harmonies du soir’ was where Richard could carve out a tone poem of extraordinary power and beauty . From the whispered opening through glowing mellifluous outpourings that gradually built to a searing intensity of emotions. Richard’s mastery and control ignited the piano with sumptuous richness before returning to the whispered secrets of the opening which had now been revealed to us with poetic mastery.

Liszt’s ‘Harmonies du Soir’ the penultimate and one of the most poetic of his twelve transcendental studies. There was a whispered opening as this great tone poem was about to be revealed with poetic vibrancy. A tonal palette of extraordinary sensitivity that drew us in to Richard as he created a glowing radiance with a masterly use of the pedals. The whispered ‘pianississimo’ that Liszt indicates was a wash of sounds on which the delicately placed chords could grow imperceptibly in intensity. Bursting into an ‘appassionato’ outpouring but never with harsh or ungrateful sounds but a sumptuous fullness. Allowing the melodic line to shine with ‘intimo sentimento’ , subtle wisps of chords magically sustaining this ‘recitativo’ which was to lead to a triumphal climax of vibrancy and quite considerable technical mastery. Always with the melodic line glowing with passionate intensity no matter the hurdles that Liszt puts in it’s way in what is a transcendental study covered in velvet. Dying away to a mere whisper as Richard shaped the arpeggios like aeolian harps ascending into the heavenly beauty of serenity after such passionate turbulence. A remarkable recreation of this glistening jewel hidden amongst all the thorns of transcendental pianism that Liszt actually simplified before the final publication!

Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ received a remarkable, newly minted, performance where Beethoven’s precise indications were scrupulously interpreted with mastery and sensitivity.

A dynamic rhythmic drive from the first to the last notes where Richard could delve deeply into the score and reveal a sonata that was of a revolutionary genius but has been tainted by tradition for too long .

Richard brought a freshness as he shone light on the score which he brought to life with mastery and the relentless struggle with which this masterpiece was penned. Playing of power and beauty with real Beethovenian energy coming from the bass and driving the music forward without any noticeable fluctuations of tempo. Richard was able to shape the music with a kaleidoscope of colour without allowing the pace to slacken. Silences were menacing too as they became such an important voice especially after the opening menacing trills. A beautifully sung second subject of great nobility as a pianissimo scale played so perfectly that the explosion on its arrival over four bars was quite overwhelming. The opening motif passing from the bass to the top of the piano with a clarity and dynamic drive that was of burning intensity. After the cadenza of notes spread over the entire keyboard, that Richard played as a musician not as a pianist, following Beethoven’s own indication of the struggle he intended. The long held pedal after the exciting coda was judged to absolute perfection leading us so naturally into the opening of the ‘Andante con moto’ as the composer obviously intended.

An ‘Andante’ that was truly ‘con moto’ as the cortège moved forward with the sublime unwinding of streams of glistening notes only to be interrupted by the extraordinarily shocking intrusion of the last movement .

An ‘Allegro’ that was also ‘non troppo’ as the relentless forward movement carried a momentum that was not of speed but of searing inner intensity. The explosion of the coda now marked ‘Presto’ was all the more breathtaking for its audacity and fearless brilliance. I wonder why Richard did not leave the pedal on in the final nine bars as Beethoven indicates, and can only surmise that the excitement and exhilaration at the end of such a performance required a cleaner more crystalline brilliance in this acoustic.

Biographies:

Richard Zhang was born in Jiashan, China in 2005 and showed a great interest in music at a very early age. He began playing the piano when he was six, studying with William Zhou. In October 2015 he met the harpsichord maker Ferguson Hoey at the China Music Exhibition, and tried a harpsichord for the first time. Immediately realising his exceptional talent, Mr. Hoey arranged for him to come to the UK and audition at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Here he continued his piano studies with Marcel Baudet.

Richard has given various solo performances in China and Europe, taking part in a number of concerts in the Menuhin Hall and other venues since joining the school. In December 2017 he was the soloist for a performance of Finzi’s Eclogue with the school’s Junior Orchestra, a mature performance much praised for its meditative qualities. In February 2018 he performed Liszt Transcendental Studies in Amsterdam to considerable acclaim.

His love of chamber music came to the fore in the Menuhin School’s Summer Festival 2018, when he performed Schumann’s Piano Quintet with other pupils. In March 2019 he progressed to the finals of the Aarhus International Piano Competition in Denmark and in June performed with other students at London’s Wigmore Hall. In the Summer Festival he joined string players at the school in a dazzling performance of the Dvorak Piano Quintet. Then in October he partnered Alina Ibragimova in the Violin Sonata by Debussy at Zamira Menuhin Benthall’s 80th Birthday Concert in the Menuhin Hall. In 2021 Richard was awarded Distinction in the Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition.

Richard has taken part in master classes with many distinguished teachers including Cristina Ortiz, Angela Hewitt, Klaus Hellwig and Jacques Rouvier. His musical interests and repertoire are wide-ranging, from early C17th keyboard masters up to contemporary composers. He also composes and has been a contributor to the “250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven” international composition project.

He has been awarded a scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and in addition to this generous bursary, he has been selected by the Keyboard Trust to receive the 2024 Dr. Weir Legacy Award to help support his further studies.

He will also be joining Talent Unlimited since his study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Presented in association with Talent Unlimited.

And below discussions about Richard’s playing by people who are following and helping Richard in his pursuit for Parnassus . Fergus Hoey, Canan Maxton, Lord David Cholmondeley ,Barry Wordsworth and Christopher Axworthy of the Keyboard Trust Weir Foundation.