Sunday 15 November 4.00 pm

Streamed LIVE concert in an empty church

Mark Viner (piano) – lecture/recital

Alkan and his Grande Sonate Op 33
‘Faustian Struggles and Promethean Prophesies’

Today Mark Viner in professorial mode just as remarkable as his performances at the keyboard.I have been following his career for some years and via the Keyboard Charitable Trust we have been offering tours of Italy,USA as well as his official London debut at the Wigmore Hall .I remember the eclectic public in my theatre in Rome amazed and ravished as was the critic in Vicenza when I showed her the score of Alkan’s Le Vent with fingerings on every note ……it looked as though some virus had been at it! Bryce Morrison was on his feet cheering at his London debut and the five star reviews that his 7 CD’s have received is proof enough that here a unique figure has appeared on the musical horizon.Just as I remember Raymond Lewenthal and the queues around the hall to try to get a ticket.Raymond Lewenthal is Mark’s favourite pianist and the same heros welcome awaits his next major appearances.

This is what I have written over the years faites vos jeux:

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/03/12/mark-viner-at-st-marys-2/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/03/12/mark-viner-at-st-marys-2/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/mark-viner-at-st-marys/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2018/05/06/mark-viner-with-the-camerata/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2018/03/03/mark-viner-takes-london-by-storm/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2018/01/18/mark-viner-takes-italy-by-storm/

Described by International Piano Magazine as “one of the most gifted pianists of his generation”, Mark Viner is steadily gaining a reputation as one of Britain’s leading concert pianists; his unique blend of individual artistry combined with his bold exploration of the byways of the piano literature garnering international renown. Born in 1989, he began playing at the age of 11 before being awarded a scholarship two years later to enter the Purcell School of Music where he studied with Tessa Nicholson for the next five years. Another scholarship took him to the Royal College of Music where he studied with Niel Immelman for the next six years, graduating with first class honours in a Bachelor of Music degree in 2011 and a distinction in Master of Performance 2013; the same year which afforded him the honour to perform before HRH the Prince of Wales.

After winning 1st prize at the Alkan-Zimmerman International Piano Competition in Athens, Greece in 2012, his career has brought him across much of Europe as well as North and South America. While festival invitations include appearances the Raritäten der Klaviermusik, Husum in Germany, the Cheltenham Music Festival and Harrogate Music Festival in the United Kingdom and the Festival Chopiniana in Argentina, radio broadcasts include recitals and interviews aired on Deutschlandfunk together with frequent appearances on BBC Radio 3. His acclaimed Wigmore Hall début recital in 2018 confirmed his reputation as one of today’s indisputable torchbearers of the Romantic Revival.

He is particularly renowned for his CD recordings on the Piano Classics label which include music by Alkan, Chaminade, Liszt and Thalberg, all of which have garnered exceptional international critical acclaim. His most important project to date is a survey of the complete piano music of Alkan: the first of its kind and which is expected to run to some 17 CDs in length. Aside from a busy schedule of concerts and teaching, he is also a published composer and writer and his advocacy for the music of Alkan and Liszt led to his election as Chairman of both the Alkan Society and the Liszt Society in 2014 and 2017 respectively.