I stumbled purely by chance on the Fidelio Café some years ago. I had heard about this café opposite the Italian Church in Camberwell and ventured in to meet the founder and guiding light of a place where culture reigns. Pages from scores adorned the walls. The Hammerklavier adorning the walls of the rest room as great pianists of the past and original programmes filled the spaces on the walls to the most sumptuous green room I have ever seen. I offered to move in immediately ! I have since heard miracles from Fillipo Gorini, hardly known in the UK but revered like Richard Goode elsewhere. Jonathan Ferrucci launching his masterly Bach CD’s and his mentor Angela Hewitt playing Brahms with the café’s resident orchestra. Imogen Cooper is regularly seen as is Steven Isserlis both also heard in this shrine of culture that is a true oasis of the senses. Refined menus adorn the programmes that include Beethoven Diabelli, Schubert Impromptus, Bach Goldbergs etc etc ……….For this is a place where quality counts more than quantity and is a rarity indeed where the box office reigns supreme over any other consideration. Raffaello has left his career with Morgan Chase and with a PhD in Mathematics he has hung up this hat and follows his passion.He is indeed a Renaissance Man. ‘Chapeau’
Culminating last night in a fearless performance of Mahler’s 6th not only rehearsing but also minutes before the actual performance conducting a conversation with two renowned experts about the order of the movements and that great hammer that Mahler uses in the last movement and much of the deep significance of Mahler. A conversation entitled : ‘ Dealing with the Tragic in life : Mahler,Judaism and beyond ‘ with Edward Seckerson ,Anthony Freud and Raffaello himself – conducting the conversation as he did his performance without the score, the ninety minutes of this monumental work that is locked deep in his soul.
A work that for me that has a great significance as it was the music chosen by the director Edmo Fenoglio for our production of O’Neil’s ‘Mourning becomes Electra’ with my wife Ileana Ghione who some years later was to be struck down on the stage of her own theatre in Rome whilst playing Euripides’s Electra.
No idea where Raffaello’s burning passion will lead him next but I will follow blindly knowing that it is a very rare wind that is blowing through London at the moment.
A private fundraising concert for the London International Chopin competition with just forty minutes of Chopin from the winner of the last edition. A young man from Chethams in Manchester studying with Benjamin Powell , a name new to me but judging from the artistry of this young man he must be a remarkable mentor.
Julian Zhu is the 15 year old winner of the Grand Prize 2026.
One of Chopin’s last performances was in Manchester just a year before his untimely death at the age of thirty nine. Sir Charles Hallé wrote an effusive and exhaustive report of his performance which is one of the few objective accounts of Chopins playing from a fellow musician. His description of the ‘Aeolian Harp’ study op 25 n 1 epitomises the artistry of a unique musician who was the innovator of today’s pianistic technique and also a composer of quite extraordinary originality .
A technique that is like swimming in sounds with natural horizontal movements of which the anchor is like a tree planted in the ground with the branches free to move as freely as they can within a certain radius.
All this to say that this young man has found the same secret that allows Argerich and Rubinstein to continue into their Indian Summer just adding to their mastery a depth and authority together with an intimate knowledge of the scores that allows them to discover new secrets as they share a spontaneity with an audience on a voyage of discovery together.
It is immediately apparent listening to this young man that his simple natural musicianship flows from fingers that are anchored in an arch of the hand with fingers often pointed or directed by an arm or wrist movement much like a painter before his canvas . Arcadi Volodos is in my opinion the perfect pianist because the sounds he makes are shaped by the beauty of the way he caresses the keys.
Chopin’s first published Polonaise in C sharp minor op 26 n 1 opened this showcase recital and it was immediately apparent that here was a young man with a very big natural talent. Everything I had noticed at the competition was on display, the only difference was that he could find even more sumptuous colours on this very fine Steinway piano. Playing in this intimate salon which is similar to where the teenage Chopin himself would have astonished his audiences, eliciting from Schumann :’ Hats off ,a Genius’.
It was the totally committed ‘Allegro appassionato’ opening that was immediately arresting, playing of chiselled beauty with fingers sculpting the sounds with pointillist precision and beauty. He brought a rare sensitivity to the ‘meno mosso’ where he could have been even more generous with the beautiful tenor exhortations. But this was a young man who plays with authority and was able to lead us to places of poetic intensity with a simplicity and total commitment of remarkable maturity for a young man barely fifteen years of age. Playing of great temperament with a masterly use of the pedal which did not take away from the crystalline clarity of his playing but just added more colours to his palette of sounds.
Four Mazurkas of op 17 revealed a natural feeling for the Polish idioms as he opened with the ‘vivo e risoluto’ of the first in B flat that he played with fervent passion and crystalline clarity with note picking of masterly relish.The beautiful central episode was played like the drone of a bagpipe with subdued etherial freedom. The E minor, a mellifluous outpouring of masterly flexibility contrasting with the A flat meanderings of extraordinary nostalgia and insinuating rubato with a teasing jeux perlé just thrown off with masterly nonchalance. What aristocratic beauty he brought to the A minor , final Mazurka, as Chopin’s bel canto was allowed to sing with refined beauty. Embellishments that were a magic web of sounds with touches of golden strands adorning this most poignant of Chopin’s early Mazurkas. Schumann described the Mazurkas as ‘canons covered in flowers’ but there were no canons here except for the deep yearning within the notes which this young man could portray with poetic intensity and simplicity.
The final work was the one that had won this young man the top award at the Chopin competition with a masterly performance of the ‘Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante op 22.’ I wonder why he began the accompaniment with two hands because it continued with one with masterly control as the fingers in the right hand played with extraordinary chiselled beauty. Fingers that were noticeably independent brush strokes with a technique that I have only ever noticed so apparently from Alexander Romanovsky. A way of pointing to jewels hidden within the keys with a sensitivity but allowing glowing luminosity that was quite extraordinary. The Polonaise was played with masterly command with a technical perfection that was part of the music and never used to his own advantage. Chordal playing, though, that he played more vertically and that held up the natural flow of his wonderful horizontal vision of the music. His playing is like washes of paint on a canvas with one natural masterly stroke from a pianist who is a musician who listens to himself with poetic intensity.
What a discovery similar to when I too discovered Artur Haftman when he first came as a teenager to begin his studies with Alexeev at the Royal College . A lunchtime recital in St James’s Piccadilly that will go down in history for the record number of encores that the public insisted on lasting until it was almost time for tea. Hats off to him and Jenny Lee for providing a platform for the next generation of musicians who have, like him, been blessed by the Gods.
This is what I wrote earlier this year when he ran away with the LICC:
‘Category C , the winner was Julian Zhu , a revelation, as this young English born Chinese student at Chethams, revealed a natural talent that cannot be taught. Breaking all the rules, but creating his own as he had the gift of listening to himself and creating music with quite considerable artistry. The Andante Spianato immediately revealed a wonderful arch to his left hand as flat fingers chiselled out Chopin’s youthful bel canto with the freedom that Chopin himself described to his pupils of a tree firmly planted in the ground but with the branches free to move naturally above. A Grande Polonaise that was truly ‘Grand’. Note picking accuracy is not for him, as he needed to communicate what he found within the notes, the external details which were pretty good, will be easy to perfect as he matures and his playing gains in weight.’
Misha Kaploukhii plays Brahms in the historic St Alfege in Greenwich where Thomas Tallis was organist and is buried.
The Greenwich Chamber Orchestra founded and conducted by David Cutts has been presenting concerts in this noble edifice since 2019.
A young pianist on the crest of a wave, now in his final year of study with Ian Jones at the Royal College of Music, has played with this orchestra many times.Having already played Brahms ‘tiny’ Second Concerto with them he returned tonight to play the First. The Second Concerto is very much a concerto where the piano becomes part of the orchestra but the youthful first concerto is one where the piano and orchestra fight it out to the end. This, in many ways, is a piano struggling to dominate the orchestra.
There are many assertive passages where the piano battles to dominate the orchestra and lead the way, but there are many others where the piano plays with an eloquence and the sounds of the ‘lullabies of Brahms’s grief’ that are of poignant beauty. Nowhere more than in the etherial and noble ‘Adagio’ with its gradual elation and passionate outpouring etched in marble. It was here that Misha’s poetic understanding was able to create an atmosphere where piano, orchestra and audience became involved in one of those seances that only music can create. A magic cadenza unwound in Misha’s sensitive hands as it brought the final benediction from the orchestra with a whispered intensity of remarkable poignancy. Brahms and Misha ,the same age, were here united in a benediction of extraordinary poetic potency with the glistening sounds from the piano not struggling against the orchestra but in this movement united with a poetic fantasy of profundity. Misha had also brought the same poetic intensity to the two solo ‘cadenzas’ in the first movement. Here Brahms, like the central episode of Schubert’s B flat sonata, allows a chorale to bring a moment of calm and solemnity as it gradually takes wing with a melodic line floated on etherial sounds contained within its very being. There were moments too where Misha could outdo the orchestra as the mighty orchestral opening of the ‘wailing of hell’ is mirrored on the piano in a duel of intensity and overwhelming power.
The last movement ‘Allegro non troppo’ just shot from Misha’s hands barely giving us time to wallow in the intense atmosphere created by the dying breath of the ‘Adagio’. Bursting with youthful energy it has been said that Beethoven’s third concert was Brahms’s model. This is, though, a movement of great originality and whereas Beethoven is full of youthful energy and ‘joie de vivre’ this is full of ominous clouds of turbulence and dynamic drive. A climax to this Rondo theme that explodes with scales across the keyboard as one of Brahms’s most noble of mellifluous outpourings opens with aristocratic poise and dignity. Exhilaration and youthful excitement are played out to the final cadenza where the piano, certainly in Misha’s hands, could outdo the orchestra for the full sumptuous sounds that brought this youthful but extraordinarily mature work to a glorious ending.
The concert had started with Beethoven’s ever green Egmont Overture and the much lesser known Eighth Symphony ,written in 1812, was his penultimate and shortest symphony that he fondly referred to it as “my little Symphony in F”.
The premiere took place on 27 February 1814, at a concert in the Redoutensaal, Vienna, at which the Seventh Symphony (which had been premiered two months earlier) was also played. The concert also included Wellington’s Victory and the premiere of Beethoven’s song “Tremate, empi, tremate.” Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time, but nevertheless insisted on leading the premiere. Reportedly, “the orchestra largely ignored his ungainly gestures and followed the principal violinist instead.”
When asked by his pupil Carl Czerny why the Eighth was less popular than the Seventh, Beethoven is said to have replied, “because the Eighth is so much better.”
Mike Oldham with Sanni Talvitiei David Cutts
A valiant performance conducted by the orchestra’s founder David Cutts, in which his daughter and Misha’s girlfriend shared the lead second violin desk adding a personal note to a joyous occasion in this Grade 1a edifice, where Tallis’s shadow still reigns.
Two Lions were let loose in Trafalgar Square today as Catherina Lee and Miles Walter ignited the atmosphere of St Martin in the Fields with passionate intensity and poetic mastery. Two young artists on the crest of a wave as they were like two animals on the prowl looking at each other to see which way this great wave of music would take them.
Catherina almost on her bended knees as she seemed to pull the sounds from below taking them to the heights with arched back and noble stance as the searing intensity of the sound filled this noble edifice with sounds that it has rarely heard before.
Miles, almost standing up from the piano stool as he too was swimming for his life with sounds that ranged from whispers to sumptuous rich golden sounds. Playing as one with the piano lid fully open, but there was never a moment when this Concert Grand was allowed to overpower the violin. Here were two artists listening to each other and with chameleonic mastery allowing themselves to be led into places neither had been before. The magical opening of the César Franck from Miles was immediately answered by a wave of fluidity from Catherina leading to moments of discovery together, Catherina like the water nymph Ondine relishing such exhilarating waters as she darted from one wave to another.
There was fantasy and passionate intensity as Catherina’s violin soared around this noble edifice with searing intensity with a pianist, who is also a composer, living and recreating with her a jewel of sumptuous beauty. Chausson is telling a story with an extraordinary palette of sounds from whispered intimate musings to outburst of passionate commitment.
It brings to mind Schlegel’s poem :Resounding through all the notes. In the earth’s colourful dream . There sounds a faint long-drawn note. For the one who listens in secret.
The whispered opening of the Ysaÿe solo sonata evoking ‘L’Aurore’ (The Dawn) with legato and staccato combined with masterly effect. A formidable technical command that never draws attention to itself but is at the service of the poetic fantasy of a great musician as she also brought sumptuous brilliance and breathtaking command to the awakening.
What better way could there be, under this extraordinary backdrop, of showing us that out of darkness comes light. The ‘Danse rustique’ was played with great clarity even stamping her foot a she relived the bucolic energy on her solo violin.
At the beginning of the César Franck Sonata Catherina immediately entered with a flowing tempo where her whole body was involved after an opening with the awakening of a dream from a pianist who is her equal partner. Menuhin commented on the mutual anticipation of the British and it is just this mutual anticipation that united an Australian and an American as they flowed and wove together streams of gold and silver strands erupting into passionate outbursts of overwhelming intensity and yearning. A pianist who could create a cushion on which the violinist could float the whispered musings of what must be the greatest wedding present ever offered from one composer to another. Brilliance and astonishing dynamic drive to the ‘Allegro’ second movement where the pianist was able to weave his way around the keys with masterly chameleonic ease as this duo ignited the atmosphere with playing of breathtaking audacity. And after such ‘sturm und drang’ a smile came to Catherina’s face as she intoned the simple pastoral beauty of the ‘Allegretto’. Shadowed by a pianist who was occasionally allowed to meet up and embrace with the Radiance and Joy of the greatest wedding gift a couple could ever receive.
with David Waterman distinguished cellist of the Endellion Quartet (1979/2021
No encore was possible after a musical conversation that was so intense and exhaustive but there was great exhilaration in there presbytery with many surprise visitors visibly moved by such an outpouring of Dreams and Devotion.
A very interesting and even arresting programme of ‘Dreams and Devotion’ in which and entire world was mixed up in poetic and romantic effusions with the great Belgian violinist as the catalyst between Chausson and Franck and even Liszt and Wagner.
Ernest Chausson developed his skill and his talent slowly. At age 25, he turned away from law to pursue music under the tutelage of César Franck, producing a limited number of compositions. The Poème was written for Chausson’s violinist friend Eugène Ysaÿe in 1896, and it reveals the composer as a gifted lyricist, a rhapsodist of impassioned refinement (or refined passion), and a craftsman of security and control. Claude Debussy said, “The Poème contains Chausson’s best qualities. The freedom of its form never hinders harmonious proportion. Nothing touches [us] more…than the end of the Poème, where the music, leaving aside all description and anecdote, becomes the very feeling that inspired the emotion. These are very rare instances of the works of an artist.Poème was written in response to a request from Ysaÿe for a violin concerto . Chausson felt unequal to the task of a concerto, writing to Ysaÿe: “I hardly know where to begin with a concerto, which is a huge undertaking, the devil’s own task. But I can cope with a shorter work. It will be in very free form with several passages in which the violin plays It was commenced in April 1896 and finished on 29 June, while Chausson was holidaying in Florence, Italy.Chausson initially called it Le Chant de l’amour triomphant, then changed it to Poème symphonique, and finally to simply Poème. The first two rejected titles are crossed out on the extant manuscripts.
The original title came from the 1881 romantic novella, Le Chant de l’amour triomphant ‘ ; Песнь торжествующей любви) by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev , who lived on the estate of the famed mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot and her husband near Paris; all three were acquaintances of Chausson’s. The Viardots’ daughter Marianne was engaged for some time to Gabriel Fauré, but broke it off and instead married Alphonse Duvernoy . Turgenev’s novella seems to mirror this set of relationships, and it may be that Chausson initially attempted to portray it in music.
Catherina presenting her dreams with devotion
Ysaÿe’s set of Six Sonatas for solo violin, Op. 27, was written in July 1923 with each sonata dedicated to one of Ysaÿe’s contemporary violinists. Mathieu Crickboom (1871–1947), dedicatee of the Sonata No 5 in G major, was the second violinist in the Ysaÿe Quartet before forming a quartet of his own in 1897, and was often thought to be Ysaÿe’s favourite pupil. Chausson dedicated his String Quartet to him. Crickboom became a professor first in Liège and then in Brussels, being best known for his teaching method Technique of the violin, containing pieces by the masters as well as some of his own.
César Franck’s Violin Sonata in A was written in 1886, when he was 63, as a wedding present for the 28-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1858, Franck had promised a violin sonata for Cosima von Bülow,the daughter of Liszt and wife of Hans von Bülow and Richard Wagner This never appeared and whatever work Franck had done on that piece was put aside, and eventually ended up in the sonata he wrote for Ysaÿe in 1886. Franck was not present when Ysaÿe married, but on the morning of the wedding, on 26 September 1886 in Arlon, their mutual friend Charles Bordes presented the work to Ysaÿe and his bride Louise Bourdeau de Courtrai. After a hurried rehearsal, Ysaÿe and Bordes’ sister-in-law, the pianist Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène played the Sonata to the other wedding guests.
the last word of course to Oscar Wilde who sits outside St Martin’s
And as this young lady opened with Bach the thought of Tureck and Nikolaeva came to mind, as their shadows are still present on the stage of the theatre that was to claim my wife, Ileana Ghione, as she intoned the terrible exhortations of Hecuba on 2nd December 2005. Fausto Zadra, a few years earlier, making his much awaited return to Rome on 17th May 2001, was called by the angels as he intoned his Chopin D flat nocturne op 27 n. 2.
And now a young Russian pianist of Hungarian parentage had come to make her debut at the start of what promises to be a long and productive career in music.
‘ All the world is a stage and the men and women merely players ‘ states the great poet William Shakespeare. And as the wheel turns the same stage is ready to greet them with open arms, ready to share their message of hope, fear, beauty and communication with a world full of rhetoric and politics starved of the poetic fantasy of true story telling.
And it was indeed with the universal genius of Bach that this twenty year old artist began her journey. One that was to include the personal revolution of Beethoven with his ‘Appassionata’ Sonata and the revelation of Dante from the pen of her fellow Hungarian Franz Liszt . All wrapped up in just a few bars, with four of Chopin’s ‘canons covered in flowers ‘ as Schumann was to describe the 59 Mazurkas, or miniature tone poems that the innovative genius of the piano was to bequeath the world.
The Toccata in D minor, BWV 913 is a keyboard piece composed by Johann Sebastian Bach around 1708 and first published in 1801. The seven Toccatas were composed largely during the period when he served at the Weimar court (1708-17), although some may be dated back to the years of Arnstadt or Mühlhausen. Born as a very free form of improvised invention and bravura it gradually took form with and introductory Prelude. a secondary section in the style of an ‘Aria’ followed by a first Fugato, then a new improvised recitative episode leading to the virtuosistic Toccata. The idea of inserting an ‘Aria’ between the introduction and first episode was probably inspired by Buxtehude and George Muffat; another characteristic is the double fugue (with two united subjects), a form that the composer was no longer to use in his keyboard works.
The Toccata in D minor BWV 913 dates back to the years between 1705 and 1708. It certainly enjoyed considerable prestige within the circle of Bach’s students since it was handed down to us in a number of copies, one of which reported had the honour of being in the first of Bach’s harpsichord-keyboard editions (Hoffmeister und Kühnel, Leipzig 1801).
Henrietta immediately demonstrated a rhythmic energy and fantasy with playing of style, intelligence and a refined palette of sounds. Playing of authority and aristocratic good taste as Bach’s fantasy was ignited with mastery and a sense of improvisation on a voyage of discovery always of radiance and beauty. A Toccata that took wing with a dynamic rhythmic drive of remarkable control and clarity as her fingers were able to dig deep into the keys and give an architectural shape to this early work of Bach.
And after Bach, Beethoven as this young lady demonstrated her remarkable musicianly credential intoning the mysterious and threatening opening notes of Beethoven’s ‘ Appassionata’ Sonata op 57.
Next to the Moonlight and the Waldstein Sonatas, the Appassionata is no doubt the most celebrated of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and marks a new high point in the composer’s piano oeuvre. Even Lenin said of them that “Such miraculous works can only be made by man.” Curiously, the nickname Appassionata appeared for the first time in 1838 in a transcription of the sonata for piano four-hands published by the Cranz Verlag in Hamburg and is nowadays inseparably connected with the work.Beethoven’s autograph manuscript of the sonata though has “La Pasionata” written on the cover, in Beethoven’s hand, and it fits splendidly with the dramatic contrasts of the first movement, the solemnity and inwardness of the second and the demonic passion of the third.
Henrietta opened with a whispered authority and great sense of style, immediately immersing us in Beethoven’s tempestuous world with fearless abandon and dynamic drive. Henrietta has quite rightly said that ‘music is in the silences between the notes’ and nowhere more is that apparent than in this first movement of Beethoven’s tempestuous ‘Appassionata’. She shaped the opening with great style, playing Beethoven’s virtuosistic outburst with one hand as he asks in the score. Beethoven’s is not play safe music, but there is an inherent struggle that is evident from Beethoven’s very precise notation. It was a pity that she tried to round off the trill ending of the opening phrases, because played strictly in time makes the silences even more terrifying. But the movement moved continually forward with the expansive second subject played with sumptuous sounds before bursting into another of Beethoven’s tempestuous rages. Beethoven was also very particular about the pedal having inherited from his mentor Haydn a poetical use of long held pedal effects. It was here that Henrietta preferred a cleaner pedal loosing an effect that makes the return of the four note figure ( like the opening of the fifth symphony) even more menacing. The ‘Andante’ is also marked ‘con moto’ and was a little too slow for the opening of a procession even though played with string quartet fullness. The variations that followed, though, she allowed to flow with fluidity as the deep bass notes of the first variation were given great prominence. It contrasted with the mellifluous beauty of the second and the scintillating outpouring of the third, and she brought great drama to Beethovens’s extraordinary interruption at the end of this movement, as the ‘Allegro ma non troppo’ took wing with dynamic drive and a relentless forward motion. Playing of great architectural shape interrupted only by a whispered stream of notes that Henrietta played with remarkable control before giving great menace to the bass motif ( similar to the opening ), that signalled the tempestuous race to the end. A coda played not only ‘Presto’ but with a scintillating passionated intensity that brought this revolutionary work to an exhilarating end.
After the interval Henrietta brought us to the world of Chopin and Liszt.
Chopin’s four Mazurkas op 6 were played with great character and sense of style. Four miniature masterpieces that she played with the same freedom that Chopin described to his students. A tree with the roots firmly planted in the ground with the branches free to move naturally above. Bringing a natural sense of character with playing of simplicity and great delicacy alternating with infectious rhythmic dance and mellifluous outpourings of nostalgia and refined beauty.
Now we were ready for Liszt’s tempestuous ‘Dante Sonata’.
The highly programmatic themes depict the souls of Hell wailing in anguish.
Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata is a sonata in one movement , written in 1849. The final version was completed between 1853 and 1856 and first published in 1858 as part of the second volume of his Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) and was inspired by the reading of Victor Hugo’s poem “Après une lecture de Dante” (1836).It was composed as a fund-raiser for the Bonn Beethoven monument in 1839, that Liszt had undertaken to bring to fruition and to which funds Schumann had offered his Fantasy op 17 and Mendelssohn his Variations sérieuses. It is a work in three main episodes that depict the wailing of the soul in Hell ( in D minor) and the joy of those in Heaven (in F sharp major ) . With three themes reflecting Satan’s three faces as depicted in Dante’s ‘Inferno’. A remarkable performance where Henrietta could bring such sumptuous beauty and scintillating technical brilliance as she told the story in music of Dante’s great drama that had so ignited Liszt ‘s imagination. Playing with fearless abandon but also a control where the music was given an architectural shape and at times in the central episode a chiselled beauty of glowing radiance. Counterpoints in this sublime outpouring that were allowed to glisten as the music built to passages of breathtaking audacity and brilliance with the treacherous final octave leaps played with masterly technical assurance.
with Maestro Gallo and great friend Gabriella Cicognani with her mother the distinguished plastic surgeon
After such a dramatic outpouring it was a good choice to offer as an encore the scintillating brilliance of Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor K1. Played with crystalline clarity and trills that shone like jewels with the precision of a master craftsman.
Closing her programme with the last of Chopin’s studies op 25 n. 12. Sometimes known as the ‘Ocean’ study for the waves of continuous sounds that spread over the entire keyboard. Henrietta played with passionate intensity but also a sense of line as the tenor melody was allowed to ride on wings of song.
with maestro Gallo with whom she had recently performed Liszt 2nd piano Concerto
Henrietta Lukacs A life devoted to the piano.
Henrietta Lukacs is a concert pianist whose performances have earned top honors at international competitions across Europe — from London and Milan to the Fryderyk Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Glasgow, Gorizia, and the Feurich Competition for Young Performers in Vienna.
Born in Hungary, she was identified early as a singular talent. She graduated with honors from the Central School of Music at the Moscow Conservatory and is currently continuing her studies at the celebrated Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, refining the deep musical language she now carries to audiences worldwide.
Since 2022, Henrietta has been triumphantly touring with solo concerts in Milan, Rome, Vienna and Budapest. By invitation, she regularly performs as soloist with grand symphony orchestras across the European continent.
Her interpretations are noted for their emotional depth and architectural clarity — qualities equally suited to the searching poetry of Chopin, the tempestuous virtuosity of Liszt, and the spiritual restraint of Bach.
“Music is the silence between the notes — where the soul speaks.” — HENRIETTA LUKACS
A concert I heard in Florence just two weeks ago for the Keyboard Trust and am happy to include my review. And even happier to include the superb live stream from his concert at St Mary’s Perivale for all to enjoy and admire.
Russian pianist Alexander Doronin began his studies at the Royal College of Music in London in 2021 as an ABRSM Scholar. He graduated in 2025 with a First Class Bachelor of Music degree and is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree under the guidance of Professor Dmitri Alexeev (piano). From 2015 to 2021, Alexander studied at the Gnessin Moscow Special School (College) of Music with Professor Mikhail Khokhlov (piano) and Olga Martynova (harpsichord). Alexander is London Symphony Orchestra Scholar, he is the Eileen Rowe Musical Trust award holder, and is also supported by the Drake Calleja Trust and Countess of Munster. He has achieved remarkable success in piano competitions, including First Prize at the Moscow Piano Open International Competition (2019), Third Prize at European Piano Competition in Bremen, Germany (2024), Second Prize at the International Piano Competition of Lyon (2024), Second Prize at the Vladimir Krainev Competition for Young Pianists (2019). He has consistently demonstrated extraordinary talent and dedication in his musical pursuits. He has also participated in major international competitions such as the Enescu Piano Competition (2024) and the Van Cliburn Piano Competition (2025).
He performed as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra (Founder & Artistic Director – Mikhail Pletnev), Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra (as the result of the First prize at the Concerto Competition in Royal College of Music (2022) playing Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto.), City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Yaroslavl Philharmonic Orchestra, Voronezh Youth Symphony Orchestra, Omsk Symphony Orchestra. Alexander performed recitals and took part in various concerts in the UK, Austria, Poland, China, Vietnam, Netherlands, Switzerland and in various cities of Russia including the series ‘YAMAHA Stars’ in Sochi (2019), the Loft Philharmonic project, ‘Summer evenings in Yelabuga’, Kazan (2021) and a piano recital at the Hermitage, Saint-Petersburg (2021), Piano recital in Steinway Hall in London organized by Keyboard Trust (2023).
As Dr Mather said after yet another superb recital from Michal :’ You play Chopin as I would like to be able to play it!’ It is playing of intelligence and poetic intensity played with humility and respect for the composer’s written intentions. The so called Chopin tradition where pianists would offer their own personal view of Chopin is fine if played with sincerity and mastery but is not the rock on which other interpretations should be based. The only rock is the one provided by the composer and Chopin did provide his own variants in the many written manuscripts that he gave away to his sponsors and publishers.
In 1959, Jan Ekier started the project of a new critical edition of Chopin’s works, as he came to the conclusion that the prevailing Paderewski edition presented a “false image of Chopin’s music in many aspects”.The first volume of Ballades was published in 1967 .A total of nine volumes were published up to 1991, with a publication rhythm that correlated to each edition of the quinquennial International Chopin Piano Competition. The edition was completed in 2010, in time for the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth As an urtext, the Chopin National Edition aims to produce a musical text that adheres to the original notation and the composer’s intentions. All extant sources were analyzed and verified for authenticity, mainly autographs , first editions with Chopin’s corrections and pupils’ copies with Chopin’s annotations. Necessary editorial decisions are documented in each volume’s source commentary. Additionally, a separate performance commentary documents cases where Chopin’s notation may be misunderstood by contemporary pianists, such as realizations of ornaments and pedaling. The Chopin National Edition consists of 36 volumes in two series, for works published during Chopin’s lifetime (Series A), and for works published posthumously (Series B). A 37th volume (titled Supplement) consists of compositions partly by Chopin, for instance his contribution to Hexaméron
Michal opened with the Nocturne op posth which he played with aristocratic good taste and an extraordinary control of sound. Immediately one could feel the rock on which Chopin constructed his compositions. He always had a copy of the Bach ’48’ on his piano as the supreme example of counterpoint and the fact that music is constructed from the bass upwards. Chopin explained to his pupils that music was like a tree with the roots firmly planted in the ground but with the branches free to move naturally above. This was immediately evident with Michal’s playing and it gave great strength and poetic intensity to all he played. Chopin made many variants of this nocturne and the two’s against three’s have always been hotly debated. Michal played with simplicity and authority allowing the music to flow with radiance and beauty, problems of rhythm were not played out in public but interpreted with intelligence and poetic authority.
This early Polonaise is one of two and opens with a fiery Allegro appassionato in C sharp minor beginning with authoritative descending octaves like the opening of slow movement of the B minor Sonata. Its partner in E flat minor, on the other hand, is full of mystery and ominous foreboding. Michal played with dynamic drive and passionate intensity which was followed by a melodic outpouring of poise and refined elegance full of nostalgia and beauty. The central episode is in D flat, a key that Chopin used often for his exquisite bel canto melodic outpourings, and it was this that closed the Polonaise with whispered uncertainty.
The second Impromptu was also played with a beautiful cantabile and allowed to flow with simplicity and radiance . Building to a passionate climax with an imposing left hand octave accompaniment before it dissolved into a mellifluous outpouring and streams of jeux perlé notes out of which emerged a beautiful tenor melody of subtle beauty. Michal brought a extraordinary architectural shape and sense of line to this miniature tone poem.
The three Mazurkas op 63 were played with beauty and simplicity, with the beguiling beauty of the second and the nostalgia and yearning beauty of the last complimented by the dance of the first. The Mazurkas of Chopin were described by Schumann as ‘canons covered in flowers’ and it was this poignant meaning that Michal could bring to the music with refined beauty and simplicity.
This late Prelude stands on its own and is much longer and contrapuntally more complex than the previous 24 of op 28. A meandering unwinding of magical sounds spread over the keyboard with control and glowing radiance played with a beauty of legato where the notes were but streams of sounds with sumptuous deep bass notes providing the anchor on which they were floated with ethereal beauty. A magical cadenza was played with whispered beauty before the aristocratic nobility of the final chords.
There was an architectural shape that Michal gave to the third Scherzo which did not deny the demanding character of the opening octaves contrasted with the sumptuous chorale with its shimmering accompaniments. Maintaining the long line gave the chorale a strength and sense of direction as the mysterious introduction to the coda was very similar in texture to the mysterious washes of sound of the Debussy ‘Cathédrale’ that was to follow. A coda played with fearless mastery and passionate intensity brought this very fine performance to a scintillating finish. Octaves given a shape and direction were played with horizontal rather than vertical mastery with the mysterious opening in some way being mirrored by the lead up to the coda where there was always a masterly sense of balance and line.
Laguna is beautiful mellifluous outpouring of radiant sounds with streams of notes and a romantic outpouring of passionate intensity and was the perfect link between Chopin and Debussy.
Ludomir Różycki, 18 September 1883 Warsaw 1 January 1953 Katowice ,Poland T ogether with Karlowicz, Szymanowski and Fitelberg, he was a member of the group of composers known asYoung Poland the intention of which was to invigorate the musical culture of their generation in their mother country.
He brought sumptuous rich sounds to Debussy’s ‘Cathédrale’ with a flowing intensity of deep resonating bass notes sometimes struck with the right hand giving a glowing liquid resonance to the sound. There was a stillness and fervent religious atmosphere as the chorale was heard in the distance with a kaleidoscope of poetic sounds reaching an intense climax before disappearing into the distance ,where the melodic line was floated on a magic wave of sonorities.
‘Minstrels’ on the other hand was played with a clarity and capricious good humour bringing with it a sense of character with scintillating brilliance and rhythmic elan.
He brought even more character and masterly control to the second study by Bacewicz which he played with extraordinary style and impish good humour .
Grażyna Bacewicz 5 February 1909 Lódź 17 January 1969 Warsaw After her studies at the Warsaw Conservatory she studied with André Touret and Carl Flesch After completing her studies, Bacewicz continued her musical career as both a composer and performer, appearing as a soloist and acting as a jury member for competitions. She served as the concertmaster of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra , directed by Grzegorz Fitelberg from 1936-1938.During this time, the orchestra performed her first violin concerto, as well as her Three Songs for tenor and orchestra. Bacewicz’s reputation grew during the post-war era, despite the general censorship resulting from political realisation of socialist cultural reforms.Despite the ideological control of the arts, Bacewicz continued composing from 1945 to 1955, even though it was difficult to perform many of her compositions. With her rising recognition, as well as growing number of awards and commissions, she began to shift her focus towards composition. Many of her compositions feature the violin. Among them are seven violin concerti , five sonatas for violin with piano, three for violin solo (including an early, unnumbered one from 1929), a Quartet for four violins, seven string quartets , and two piano quintets . Her orchestral works include four numbered symphonies (1945, 1951, 1952, and 1953), a Symphony for Strings (1946), and two early symphonies, now lost. These two studies were written in 1955
An encore by great demand was of course by Chopin. His late nocturne op 62 n. 2 in E major was played with the exquisite delicacy and aristocratic control with which he had held us mesmerised once again here at St Mary’s.
A Polish pianist and conductor, Michal Karol Szymanowski graduated with honours from the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he studied piano with E. Popowa-Zydron and symphonic-operatic conducting under Z. Rychert. He honed his skills with E. Nebolsin at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. At present he works as a Professor at his alma mater, teaching the piano. Michal Szymanowski is artistic director of the International I. J. Paderewski Festival in Warsaw.
Michal Szymanowski has won top awards in a number of national and international piano competitions, including: Chopin Piano Competitions in Warsaw, Daegu, Darmstadt, Szafarnia, MozARTè in Aachen, Horowitz in Kiev, Paderewski in Bydgoszcz, Moniuszko in Rzeszów, Zarebski in Warsaw, Yamaha in Katowice. In 2015 he represented Poland at the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Michal has performed in many concerts across Europe and throughout the world, including the Palace of Nations in Geneva, in the Vatican City (a concert for Pope Benedict XVI), Warsaw’s Belvedere Palace (for the Polish President), numerous philharmonic halls as well as major festivals in Poland and abroad, among them Oficina de Música de Curitiba, Festival Chopiniana in Buenos Aires, Festival Europeo de Solistas in Caracas, Festival Pianistico di Roma, the Long Lake Festival in Lugano, and the Chopin and his Europe Festival in Warsaw, where he brilliantly performed piano concertos by Paderewski, Wieniawski and Stojowski.
He has released four albums with polish music. Three solo albums for CD Accord (Naxos) and Saggitaria featuring compositions by Chopin, Paderewski, Szymanowski and Wieniawski. The recordings were critically acclaimed. One of the reviews said: “this is heartfelt music-making of the type one associates with such luminaries as Uchida, Schiff and Brendel”. In 2024 Michal Szymanowski has recorded all works for piano and orchestra by I. J. Paderewski, leading the Polish Paderewski Symphony Orchestra (DUX).
Chenyu Wang, 23-year-old pianist from Zhuhai, China, is currently studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston (MM 26’, GD 28’) with Alexander Korsantia and Alessio Bax. Chenyu has performed at concert venues such as Jordan Hall in Boston, St James’s Piccadilly and Steinway Hall in London, Wiener Saal of Universitat Mozarteum Salzburg, Concert Hall of Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina in Warsaw, and Oratorio di Santa Caterina Cervo, among others. In June 2024 she earned her Bachelor of Music degree with First-Class Honours from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied with Ian Fountain on a full scholarship. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Edna Bralesford Piano Prize for achieving the highest recital mark of the year. She was awarded the Polonsky Foundation Fellowship with a full scholarship to attend the 2024 Aspen Music Festival and School. Beyond Aspen, Chenyu has participated in music festivals such as the Oxford Piano Festival, Morningside Music Bridge, Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum, among others. She has worked with distinguished musicians such as Arie Vardi, Michel Béroff, Steven Kovacevich, Arnulf von Arnim, Eleanor Wong, Aquiles Delle Vigne, and Sa Chen, among others. From 2014 to 2020, Chenyu studied with Tiandong Huang at the Music School attached to Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China, where she won multiple scholarship and concerto prizes, gave recital at Guangzhou Steinway Hall, and won 1st prize at Xinghai Cup Piano Competition.
Washington was a most lovely final stop! I had a wonderful stay at the Arts Club,it was really special to spend time in a building with such a rich history and to feel the aura of its significant stories. The concert took place in an intimate gallery space,which made for a lovely, intimate setting, with the audience seated around several small round tables.Everyone was very warm and engaged, and I really enjoyed chatting with so many of them afterwards. Jameson, the club’s president, was incredibly welcoming and thoughtful, sharing sightseeing recommendations and even offered to cover my taxi to the airport. A really memorable experience, that makes the end of the tour all the more bittersweet.
Jameson Paul Freeman, President, The Arts Club of Washington
Founded in 1916, The Arts Club of Washington is the oldest nonprofit arts organization in the nation’s capital, committed to elevating all forms of artistic expression, facilitating cultural conversations, and preserving the unique history of our permanent collection and buildings, including the historic Monroe House, former home to President James Monroe. We are on Instagram @theartsclubdc and Facebook @artsclubdc.
It’s been a deeply meaningful week (or 10 days to be exact) for me, I had learned so much about living a pianist’s, a musician’s life, where difficult things happen often but what holds one through these things matters above all. Thank you, Sarah, for all your work to make this tour happen, all the logistics so well planned and thought through. I’m deeply grateful for the support from Keyboard Trust, and from all the people I have met during the tour, that allowed me to share my playing with others. Hope we will meet again soon!! Chenyu Wang
‘Chenyu was absolutely spectacular. The residents were truly impressed
I spoke to Chenyu briefly about possible performances later. Since I have sent up Chenyu as an entertainer with our Company Acts, Chenyu can now perform at any of our communities. Im hoping she contacts me for future performances.’
‘At Country House, Jamie and Becky showed me everything warmly, they have a very new Steinway which is quite remarkable in a bright hall. They seemed to have another event going on the same time so not as many audience, but still they were very welcoming and sent me warm compliments after the concert.
All in all, stage experience is irreplaceable and really the best source to learn in a most efficient and memorable way, I am just sincerely grateful for Keyboard Trust to make this tour possible for me, I have received so many encouraging messages from audience, and it’s been so personally rewarding to feel the bond with them through my music. Also, how one should be actively looking for every possible opportunity to perform as a starter, something school doesn’t really stress its importance to us… I’m looking forward to Washington, although also starting to feel sad about the tour coming to an end soon.’ Chenyu Wang
It’s been a really meaningful time and experience, I’ve learned so much from this tour, about being on stage, and about connecting with people.
photo credit Dietlinde Maazel Wood
Castleton, my first stop, was an absolutely amazing place and I’ve had some best experiences there, with the warmest hospitality of Dietlinde and Tony. The facilities are fantastic, the surrounding nature is like a mental health treatment, the theatre house very beautiful with the stage looking out to the woods, a bright extrovert Bösendorfer, and a warm close atmosphere with the audience. Crowd shared their warm compliments with me and even personal stories full of emotions. Sadly I haven’t got the time to visit Lorin’s studio in the upstairs area of theatre house, but I received a CD of Lorin, young Bronfman and Rostropovich (what a legendary group!!!) performing Tchaikovsky piano trio at theatre house as a gift from Dietlinde… will run to a CD player when I get back in Boston!! I just hope there will be chance for me to return to this beautiful beautiful place soon again.
At Cokesbury, Helen and Robert were so warm and enthusiastic hosts, took care of me like grandparents, we had dinner together and a drink after concert, it was a delightful time. The hall has a lovely warm sound old Steinway, and the crowd was very welcoming and I received lots of really enthusiastic words. Then at Country House, Jamie and Becky showed me everything warmly, they have a very new Steinway which is quite remarkable in a bright hall, they seem to have another event going on the same time so not as many audience, but still they were very welcoming and sent me warm compliments after the concert.
In Philadelphia, I had a nice time chatting with Marja when she drove me from and back to the station, and it was inspiring to hear how she developed a wonderful multitude of careers. The venue was in Suzanne’s big house full of artworks and artistic ambience, and it was a really nice old fashioned salon atmosphere. The piano was an old Steinway, nice warm sound though it could be a little difficult with the mechanisms (touch and pedal control etc). My host Jim was very friendly and took me to a bit of sightseeing in the Woodmere museum afterwards, and I had a really nice time talking with Jim and Joanna during dinner. Sadly the Barnes and Museum of Art were both closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, as I was told they are a must for art lovers visiting Philadelphia. Save for the next time!
‘So sorry for these late photos re Chenyu. Our audience simply adored her.’ Marja
New York is always a mass of sensations to experience. Caroline has been really considerate, warm and supportive for me, and I admired her fascinating apartment with such a collection of art and books (couldn’t pick which one to turn pages from!). The Salmagundi Club has an attractive aura of art collections, and the Shigeru Kawai in their gallery room has a really nice warm sound with gentler touch. Garth from St David’s Society hosted me warmly for the rehearsal and the audience was very engaging and shared with me many nice words. I had dinner after with Caroline and Dani, at a really nice restaurant of Caroline’s choice (Leon’s, highly recommend!), and heard about Dani’s story with introducing Kissin into American recording at the very first… Got a peek of New Yorker’s nightlife! And shared some tv series with Caroline (we’re interested in the same genre;)). It might be still a bit of stretch for my temperament to become a New Yorker, but it’s certainly a place full of stimulation and unexpected inspirations.
‘Wonderful concert, Chenyu was amazing, peple were moved by her performance and gave her a standing ovation. The St. David’s Society prople were very pleased. They did put on a lovely spread with wine. David Morgan gave a little speech about this being a fundraising event’ Caroline von Reitzenstein
All in all, stage experience is irreplaceable and really the best source to learn in a most efficient and memorable way, I am just sincerely grateful for Keyboard Trust to make this tour possible for me, I have received so many encouraging messages from audience, and it’s been so personally rewarding to feel the bond with them through my music. Also, how one should be actively looking for every possible opportunity to perform as a starter, something school doesn’t really stress its importance to us… I’m looking forward to Washington, although also starting to feel sad about the tour coming to an end soon. I will write you about Washington probably on the plane back to Boston!
All best,
Chenyu
從我的iPad傳送
The Keyboard Charitable Trust.
and
The Arts Club of Washington
present
Chenyu Wang, piano
Sunday, October 25th, 2026 at 6:30 pm
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
ACW Members $40 ~ Non-Members $50
Sponsored by the Keyboard Trust and
the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation.
A meet-the-artist reception will follow the musical performance.
Programme
J.S. Bach – Egon Petri Chorale from Birthday Cantata in B flat major, BWV 208
Chopin – Barcarolle Op.60
Scriabin – Piano Sonata No.5, Op.53
Schubert – Drei Klavierstücke D.946
About the Event:
Price includes open bar and reception with hors d’oeuvres following the performance. Bar opens at 6:30 pm. Performance at 7:00 pm.
Sponsored by the Keyboard Trust and
the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation.
About the Artist:
Chenyu Wang, 23-year-old pianist from Zhuhai, China, is currently studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston (MM 26’, GD 28’) with Alexander Korsantia and Alessio Bax.
Chenyu has performed at concert venues such as Jordan Hall in Boston, St James’s Piccadilly and Steinway Hall in London, Wiener Saal of Universitat Mozarteum Salzburg, Concert Hall of Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina in Warsaw, and Oratorio di Santa Caterina Cervo, among others.
In June 2024 she earned her Bachelor of Music degree with First-Class Honours from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied with Ian Fountain on a full scholarship. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Edna Bralesford Piano Prize for achieving the highest recital mark of the year. She was awarded the Polonsky Foundation Fellowship with a full scholarship to attend the 2024 Aspen Music Festival and School.
Beyond Aspen, Chenyu has participated in music festivals such as the Oxford Piano Festival, Morningside Music Bridge, Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum, among others. She has worked with distinguished musicians such as Arie Vardi, Michel Béroff, Steven Kovacevich, Arnulf von Arnim, Eleanor Wong, Aquiles Delle Vigne, and Sa Chen, among others.
From 2014 to 2020, Chenyu studied with Tiandong Huang at the Music School attached to Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China, where she won multiple scholarship and concerto prizes, gave recital at Guangzhou Steinway Hall, and won 1stprize at Xinghai Cup Piano Competition.
THE KEYBOARD CHARITABLE TRUST
for Young Professional Performers
Founded in 1991, the Keyboard Charitable Trust’s mission is to help young keyboard players reduce the element of chance in building a professional musical career. The Trust identifies the most talented young performers (aged 18-30) and assists their development by offering them opportunities to perform throughout the world. For the most gifted, this means débuts in London, New York, Mexico, Berlin, Rome and other music capitals.
In collaboration with its partners worldwide, the Keyboard Trust has developed a circuit of some fifty venues in seven principal countries, from the most prestigious concert halls to locations where classical music is rarely heard. Over the past thirty-three years, the Trust has presented over 300 young international pianists, historic keyboard players and organists (aged 18-30) in over 900 concerts worldwide.
With such notable musicians as the late Claudio Abbado, Alfred Brendel and Evgeny Kissin among its Trustees, this formula has proved its worth: many Trust artists receive an offer of a new engagement, a broadcast, a recording or management. Nearly half of the artists have subsequently made serious professional musical careers.
Recent years have seen a further expansion of the Trust’s work in Germany, Italy and Russia as well as in the USA where the distinguished conductor, the late Lorin Maazel, invited the Trust to present its artists at his Festival Theatre in Virginia.
Recent highlights include Elia Cecino winning the New Orleans International Competition in 2022 and the Valencia Iturbi International Competition in 2023; Pedro Lopez Salas winning Second Prize at the Ferrol International Piano Competition in Galicia in 2022; and George X. Fu winning BBC Music Magazine’s Newcomer Award for his album ‘Mirrors’ in 2024.
The Keyboard Charitable Trust is funded entirely by voluntary donations. Detailed information about the Trust, how to become a Friend, join the One Thousand Club or to provide corporate support, may be found on our website.
Online payments are non-refundable. Paid tickets can be canceled online for an account credit up to 72 hours before the event. Members can cancel their reservation without a penalty until the day before the event.
Chenyu was absolutely wonderful! What a hidden treasure! Especially her Schubert touched me deeply… she is always telling a story, finding deeper meaning in every phrasing. The audience was captivated from the first note, contributed with standing ovation, and left the concert very fulfilled with joy.
Thank you for sending her!
I am so glad we got our Videographer, last minute, to film the entire concert, and as soon as he has an edited version ready for dissemination, we will send it to you (and her!). He also did some headshots for her, since she doesn’t seem to have any PR material, really.
Castletonphoto credit Luke Christopher
I only took a few snap shots while she was practicing but didn’t want to bother her too much, so Mr. Axworthy needs to be patient until we get the professional video and images from Luke Christopher ……… Thank you Dietlinde and Luke Christopher
Castleton Festival photo credit Luke Christopher
We also had the slide-show with the very moving images of John & Noretta, and I spoke a bit about them and our 18-year collaboration.
Castleton Festival photo credit Luke Christopher
I hope Chenyu’s tour is continuing well!
Thank you, Sarah, for all your diligent work!
Warmest regards,
Dietlinde
It’s been a really meaningful time and experience, I’ve learned so much from this tour, about being on stage, and about connecting with people. Castleton, my first stop, was an absolutely amazing place and I’ve had some best experiences there, with the warmest hospitality of Dietlinde and Tony. The facilities are fantastic, the surrounding nature is like a mental health treatment, the theatre house very beautiful with the stage looking out to the woods, a bright extrovert Bösendorfer, and a warm close atmosphere with the audience. Crowd shared their warm compliments with me and even personal stories full of emotions. Sadly I haven’t got the time to visit Lorin’s studio in the upstairs area of theatre house, but I received a CD of Lorin, young Bronfman and Rostropovich (what a legendary group!!!) performing Tchaikovsky piano trio at theatre house as a gift from Dietlinde… will run to a CD player when I get back in Boston!! I just hope there will be chance for me to return to this beautiful beautiful place soon again. Chenyu
Chenyu’s recital was wonderful. I meant to write to you right away. We are still hearing rave reviews from Cokesbury residents. A crowd of people hung around afterwards, talking with her and just savoring the moments.
She came back with us to our cottage afterwards where we hung out for another hour or so, just chatting. She was gracious and a delight.
We will be sending you the link to the concert. It really was quite awesome!
More later. Helen
We are still hearing rave reviews from Cokesbury residents about Chenyu’s concert. Here is the recording of the concert that begins with an introduction as to how Keyboard Trust happened to come to Cokesbury.
Gratefully for all Keyboard Trust has given us,
Helen
photo credit Castelton Festival Luke Christopher
It was amazing to have her with us! Maybe not the best e-mail communicator at first, but I think we all grew closer with her weekend stay and we have texted back and forth oodles about next steps into potential doctoral programs here in the states – and from what I saw more communication with Dietlinde, too
I would be happy to offer my review of Chenyu, and with Dietlinde’s approval, perhaps Mr. Christopher Axworthy can use it as an official Castleton review:
‘Ms. Wang commanded the audience’s attention from the moment she stepped onto the stage. Her carefully judged opening of Bach’s Capriccio in B-flat, shaped by pianissimos of exceptional softness and resonance, established the intimacy of a true salon recital. Chopin’s Barcarolle confirmed the afternoon’s deeply personal character, drawing listeners into an inner world whose more private contours emerged through a carefully chosen group of Scriabin works. The Prelude (Op. 11, No. 13) and Album Leaf (Op. 45, No. 1) were remarkably soulful, their emotional directness as compelling as the virtuoso fireworks of Sonata No. 5. In the sonata, playfulness and exuberance animated the display, with Ms. Wang’s broad smile reflected throughout the house.
Whereas other artists might program their second half with massive works, in both virtuosity and length, Wang chose miniatures: Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives Op. 20 and Schubert’s Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946. The thorns and thistles of Prokofiev were never harsh or heavy, rather, the piece was spoken with the poetic ease of an omniscient sage.
Then, Schubert was unlike anything we had heard. The sensitivity and time Wang put into voicing and registering Schubert resulted in guttural reactions from our 21st century audience as she delivered the narrative. Although it was quite a musically informed audience that afternoon, they found themselves attempting to applaud Wang after each movement! No one was bothered by the numerous repetitions [a long debated problem of the piece].
We would’ve wished her to keep repeating – we didn’t want Wang’s story to end.’ Jared Alan Yoakem
I have a mini-recital tour of my own beginning tomorrow and heading down south, but I should be able to find some time tonight to collect my thoughts and send along. I have already been percolating since she left me inspired – as each of the Keyboard Trust artists do.
Sincerely yours,
Jared Alan Yoakem
Artistic Administrator, Castleton Festival
Nurturing young talents, fostering the arts and reclaiming the human spirit
through integrative mentoring, world-class performances and building of communities.
On Sunday 29th November 2026 at 11 am , the city of Trento will celebrate this great , much loved lady at ‘her’ Filarmonica . Surrounded by eight wonderful musicians who have come together to celebrate and thank her for her unstinting dedication of helping young musicians. Gradus ad Parnassum. Together with her husband ,John Leech ,they created the Keyboard Trust, an invaluable friend to all aspiring young musicians. Performances by Evgeny Kissin and his colleagues Francesco Libetta , Alessandro Taverna , Stefano Greco , Vitaly Pisarenko , Sasha Grynyuk , Elena Vorotko and Giovanni Bertolazzi. Together with just a few heartfelt words from her friends, Marco Gambino, Valentina Lo Surdo and Moritz von Bredow It will be a memorable occasion celebrating a great lady in her own much loved city .photo credit Davide Sagliocca https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/03/20/christopher-axworthy-dip-ram-aram/ https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/12/05/ileana-and-joan-3rd-december-2023/
It seems incredible that six years have passed since first listening to this piano duo during the pandemic in 2020. Concerts streamed from the stage of the Teatro Palladium in Rome which were the life blood for many musicians and also a public hungry for live music making in a very bleak period of recent history. Roma 3 University have been promoting young musicians through thick and thin for many years with Valerio Vicari at the helm together with his professor Roberto Pujia. They have even created an orchestra of musicians graduated from music academies and needing only experience of playing in chamber groups of various sizes from simple duo to a full symphony orchestra.
Hugh Mather and his team have been heroically promoting young musicians too in the beautiful redundant church of St Mary’s in Perivale. Dr Mather has received official recognition from the Royal College and Royal Academy for his regular three weekly concerts for young musicians. Also streamed worldwide even after the pandemic , allowing young musicians to receive the recognition and audiences that their talent demands. This is the third appearance of this piano duo in London and on each appearance they play ever more with one mind and one poetic soul.
Today a French programme but with an Italian twist in the tail with an encore of one of Resighi’s beguiling tone pictures from his suite ‘The Pines of Rome.’
Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie, was written in 1898 but unpublished during the composer’s lifetime (it was only published in 1975), is a work for orchestra planned as the overture for an opera of the same name.
It was first performed at a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique on 27 May 1899, conducted by the composer. It had a mixed reception, with boos mingling with applause from the audience, and unflattering reviews from the critics. One described the piece as ‘a jolting debut: a clumsy plagiarism of the Russian School’ and called Ravel a ‘mediocrely gifted debutant who will perhaps become something if not someone in about ten years, if he works hard.’ This critic was “Willy”, Henri Gauthier-Villars, who later became an admirer of Ravel. The composer assimilated Willy’s criticism, describing the overture as ‘a clumsy botch-up’, and recognising that it was ‘quite heavily dominated by the influence of Russian music’ (assez fortement dominé par l’influence de la musique russe). Another critic, Pierre Lalo , thought that Ravel showed talent, but was too indebted to Debussy and should instead emulate Beethoven.
This is Ravel’s original transcription of the Overture to an opera that he never completed. Shéhérazade is full of the perfumes and colours that Ravel could portray even on a single piano. A palette of sounds from this duo with the luminosity of Francesco’s crystalline playing with Adriano adding gradually meandering counterpoints like a cordon bleu chef adding more and more exotic ingredients to a sumptuous dish. Sounds that glowed and glittered like a light passing through a prism as the great architectural shape and musical line was always so clear with continual flowing movements and a chameleonic palette of colour. There were the driving insistent rhythms from Adriano with fragments being added by Francesco with a fascinating range of colours, as the music grew in intensity only to lie spent with barely whispered sounds of glowing luminosity and opaque poignancy.
Debussy completed La mer on 5 March 1905 and took the proofs to correct on holiday at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne on the English Channel coast when he went there on 23 July 1905; he described Eastbourne to his publisher, Durand , as “a charming peaceful spot: the sea unfurls itself with an utterly British correctness”.He arranged the piece for piano four hands in 1905 and in 1909, Durand published a second edition of La mer with the composer’s revisions.
There was a radiance and an atmospheric sense of awakening to the opening with a calm and serenity of whispered sounds of vibrating intensity. They created shimmering sounds of glowing luminosity with a sumptuous rich bass on which was placed a melodic line of piercing purity. Swirling washes of sound were played with remarkable unity of intent with the shrill sounds of agitation created by an extraordinary sense of balance in which the architectural line was always so clearly etched. Suddenly there was a nervous energy of surging intensity which brought this extraordinary work to a brilliant conclusion.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a symphonic poem by the French composer Paul Dukas , completed in 1897. Subtitled ‘Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe”, the piece is based on Goethe’s 1797 poem ‘Der Zauberlehrling’. By far the most performed and recorded of Dukas’ works, its notable appearance in the Walt Disney 1940 animated film Fantasia has led to the piece becoming widely known to audiences outside the classical concert hall. It was first published in 1897 by A. Durand & Fils and the premiere was given in Paris on May 18, 1897 by the Société Nationale de Musique with the composer himself conducting.
There was a whispered opening out of which the famous melody makes itself felt, evolving with a nervous rhythmic energy and a scintillating amount of notes played with astonishing mastery as the music moved relentlessly forward with exhilaration and animal excitement. A ‘tour de force’ of fantasy and intensity played with a poetic significance that brought this poem vividly to life.
Boléro is a 1928 work for large orchestra by Ravel and is one of his last works completed before illness diminished his ability to write music. It became Ravel’s most famous composition, much to the surprise of the composer, who had predicted that most orchestras would refuse to play it . Toscanini gave the American premiere with the New York Philharmonic on 14 November 1929. The performance was a great success, bringing shouts and cheers from the audience. On 4 May 1930, Toscanini performed the work with the New York Philharmonic at the Paris Opéraas part of that orchestra’s European tour. His tempo was significantly faster than Ravel preferred who showed his disapproval by refusing to respond to Toscanini’s gesture during the audience ovation. An exchange took place between the two men backstage after the concert and according to one account, Ravel said, ‘It’s too fast’, to which Toscanini responded, ‘You don’t know anything about your own music. It’s the only way to save the work’. According to another report, Ravel said, ‘That’s not my tempo’. Toscanini replied, ‘When I play it at your tempo, it is not effective’, to which Ravel retorted, ‘Then do not play it’.
Adriano chose just the right tempo which he maintained heroically throughout the fifteen minutes of hypnotic repetition. Francesco entered with the famous melody of whispered insinuation with the volume and excitement gradually building up with masterly control and burning insistence. A sense of chameleonic colour with Francesco adding a different instrument as the melody moved towards its conclusion with Adriano never faltering as the music moved inexorably to its almost unbearable climax. An extraordinary performance of quite masterly rhythmic control and of a palette of sounds of insinuating decadent radiance.
An encore of one of Respighi’s ‘Pines of Rome’ began with the rumbling bass from Leonardo and gradually building up in volume with overwhelming brilliance and exhilaration.
Francesco Bravi and Adriano Leonardo Scapicchi formed their duo in 2019. In 2020 they performed Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at Teatro Palladium in Rome. The success following their concert, described by Christopher Axworthy as “a formidable knotty twine of great precision and rhythmic pulse”, brought them to be invited to several international music festivals and venues. In 2023 they were awarded the Outstanding Musicians Prize and a special mention for their interpretation of Debussy at the International Music Competition Ibla Grand Prize. As winners of the competition, in 2024 they took part in a tour in the USA, performing in Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, and New York, including the Weill Recital Hall of the Carnegie Hall. In 2024 they have played at the Pauline Chapel of the Quirinal Palace, live streamed by RAI Radio 3, at St. Mary’s Perivale in London, MusiQuart festival in Valencia (Spain), IUC-La Sapienza, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, and I Tramonti di Tinia, where they played Bartók’s Sonata for two pianos and percussions. In 2025 they have been invited to perform concerts in Austria, Hungary, South Korea, United Kingdom, and Italy, including the 102° edition of Micat in Vertice in Siena, where they have played Brahms’s Liebeslieder-Walzer with choir. Keen on promoting new repertoire, they often programme works by contemporary authors, such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Fazil Say, Fabio Massimo Capogrosso, and Paolo Catenaccio, who wrote Visions from a Dream for the duo. For the Chigiana International Festival 2025 they will also take part to the world premiere of Matteo D’Amico’s Hérodiade. They attend the Chamber Music Course at the International School of Music Avos Project in Rome, the Advanced Course at the Academy of the Società dei Concerti di Parma, and the Piano Course at the Accademia Musicale
It is always a revelation to listen to students from Norma Fisher’s class where music reigns with a capital ‘M’. Masterworks that are played from the bass upwards with an anchor on which the music can flow with a simplicity and beauty without any unnecessary personal intervention. Parvis has graduated from the Royal College and divides a professional life between Germany and England. He has not only been dedicated to his solo repertoire but also sharing his music making with others and recently I heard him with a very fine singer in a lieder recital of significant beauty and also in two pianos with another student of Norma Fisher, Sonya Pigot.
The Haydn Sonata in B minor is one of six published in 1776 and Parvis played with crystalline clarity with impish ornaments and playing of fantasy with a refined palette of colour. He brought simplicity and radiance to the Minuet which was allowed to flow beautifully, interrupted only by the Trio that was played with measured insistence and aristocratic poise. The ‘Presto’ Finale was played with a dynamic drive of scintillating brilliance.
The Haydn Sonata was just a prelude to the ethereal peaceful glowing sounds of a true believer. A radiance and poignant intensity of a series of chords that are part of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus. Chords and progressions that had great significance for Messiaen and that Parvis was to use in his own very suggestive composition simply called Thème de Dieu.
‘A giant fresco, a kind of odyssey,” is Bertrand Chamayou’s description of Olivier Messiaen’s piano masterwork, Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant-Jésus. Written in 1944, it is a monumental, mystical and iridescent sequence of 20 gazes or contemplations on the infant Jesus. Messiaen once wrote that ‘The drama of my life is that I have written religious music for an audience that has no faith.’
Vingt Regards ‘is a mystical rather than a religious experience … It arouses the same kind of awe as walking into a magnificent cathedral or seeing a glorious sunset. You feel that time stops.’
Regard du Père (“Contemplation of the Father”) is the first of the set of twenty and Regard du temps (“Contemplation of time”) is the ninth just before the well known Regard de l’esprit de joie. Parvis created an atmosphere of a seance with chords played very slowly with poignant sensibility and timeless beauty . His own composition was much more complex and was played with searing luminosity and an authority with a palette of sounds bathed in pedal that was an impressive display of control and projection. He created an extraordinary atmosphere with his audience who were now following his every move with intense concentration as there appeared a vision of radiance and beauty on the horizon, of the paradise that Brahms’s Variations on an Original theme inhabit.
Brahms wrote this set of eleven variations in 1857 and they were first performed by Clara Schumann two years later. A work rarely heard in the concert hall it is the only set of variations on Brahms’s own theme. A continuous outpouring of flowing radiance and beauty. Parvis brought a nobility to the opening with the generous sonority of sumptuous sounds with the inner counterpoints just adding to the opening grandeur . Played with a fluidity and exquisite beauty of rare sensibility as it build to a climax with authority and passionate intensity.
A recital that was by a young artist who has something important to say sharing an intense love for all he does with his audience with playing of the extraordinary beauty and intensity of an intelligent musician.
1999, London-based German Persian concert pianist Parvis Hejazi has been acclaimed as a “rising star on the piano sky” (Ulla Hamann, ARD ). Highlights of this year include the award of Absolute Winner at the Brahms International Music Competition in Gdansk, a tour with Beethoven 5th piano concerto with Musica Viva Orchestra under the baton of Nicolas Hrudnik at Die Glocke Bremen as well as several recitals at the LiedBasel Festival with his Duopartner Jakob Schad as well as with Annette Dasch and Wolfram Rieger. For the 2026/2027 season, concerts across Europe are planned, including an all-Messiaen at the Koepelkerk in Groningen, as well as performances in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Paris and London.
Parvis has performed with the Bremen Philharmonics under the baton of Marko Letonja, with the Jena Philharmonics under the baton of Markus Frank, with Musica Viva Orchestra under the baton of Nicolas Hrudnik, with Wratislavia Chamber Orchestra , Circle Symphony Orchestra , and others. In 2025, Parvis performed Pierre Boulez’s Sur Incises at Bradshaw Hall and CBSO Centre Birmingham under the baton of Daniele Rosina, making him one of only very few pianists to perform the work, which is notorious for its extreme difficulty. Parvis made his debut at Laeiszhalle Hamburg in 2015 upon winning the Federal Jugend Musiziert Competition. In 2016, he made his debut at the Wiener Saal Salzburg in 2016, following the prizewinner’s selection of the International Summer Academy Mozarteum in co-operation with the Salzburg Festival. Parvis now calls national and international stages in over 30 countries home, such as Die Glocke Bremen, Federal Chancellery Berlin, Villa Medici Giulini Milan, Gnessin Institute Moscow, the Old War Office London, the Kaufman Center and Klavierhaus in New York City. He has also given lecture recitals at the ConVivial Foundation Wiesbaden and Villa Ichon Bremen.
Parvis is an alumnus of the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Norma Fisher and Vanessa Latarche. He graduated from both Bachelor and postgraduate programmes as a Scholar of the Royal College of Music with highest distinctions and holds a prestigious Artist Diploma Award.
Parvis has won over 30 national and international piano competitions, including the Grand Prix and Special Prize “Les Maitres du Piano” of the International Piano Competition Gagny , three first prizes at the Federal Jugend musiziert competition in Germany, and five awards at the Jeunesses Musicales Competition for Young Composers ( Bundeswettbewerb Komposition ).
