THE KEYBOARD CHARITABLE TRUST
for Young Professional Performers

30^th Anniversary

Patron: SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO

Wednesday 21 April, 7.00pm in celebration of the founder John Leech on his 96th birthday.

“I have rarely heard Schumann’s Humoresque so beautifully played…a true poet of the piano. His musicianship and superb technical control will not be forgotten for a long time”
CHRISTOPHER AXWORTHY Co-Artistic Director, Keyboard Trust

Scarlatti: Sonatas K. 11 in C minor and K.159 in C Beethoven : Sonata Op. 31 No. 3 in E flat Schumann : Humoresque Op. 20

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/11/06/roman-kosyakov-mastery-at-st-marys/

I recently heard Roman Kosyakov in a private recording venue for the Keyboard Charitable Trust.It just confirmed my previous impression of a quite extraordinary artist more than ready to demonstrate his great artistry to an awaiting public.He arrived after a delayed journey from Hastings to London and just sat down and gave one of the most remarkable performances of Schumann Humoresque that I have ever heard.He is also one of the simplest and nicest people it has been my pleasure to meet.
I enclose a piece about Roman that I wrote a few weeks ago at St Mary’s and just confirm that he is a major talent.In his hands he had such authority,musicianship and above all a range of sound that projected in the quietest passages and roared like a lion when he wanted but never letting the sound harden.He explained about his early training and his teacher at central school telling him to think before you play, which are the same words that Andras Schiff uses in his masterclasses.He won Hastings 2018 and awaits his RPO concert at Cadogan Hall .He has a Liszt cd for Naxos part of a collaboration between Birmingham Conservatoire and Naxos and I believe Leslie Howard is very much involved in this series of lesser known works.

I have spoken about Roman’s remarkable performances of the Schumann Humoresque together with the Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition,but today I was taken by surprise also by his superb performances of Scarlatti and Beethoven.

Two Scarlatti sonatas played with such jewel like precision.The C minor K.11 was played with beautiful grace and charm with astonishing clarity as the music seemed to pour from his agile fingers with such fluidity.The ornaments just glittering like jewels as he seemed to conduct himself at the same time as playing.The famous C major Sonata K.159 with its horn like imitation was played with a crisp rhythmic impetus that was truly exhilarating.The discreet echo effect was judged to absolute perfection.

Beethoven’s Sonata op 31 n.3 was played with a freshness and feeling of pastoral well being with scrupulous attention to Beethoven’s precise indications .The almost too serious Beethoven character showing through at the beginning of the development was immediately diffused by the playfully wistful character that permeates this exhilarating work.We could admire yet again the ornaments that glistened and glittered like magic in his delicate hands.The Allegro vivace Scherzo just flowed from his fingers with an irresistible sense of mischief as it was played with a clockwork precision of great shape and character.And what fun he had as Beethoven slides up and down the keyboard before just throwing the end off with such nonchalant ease and charm.The Minuetto was indeed moderato and grazioso but it was also played with a simplicity and subtle beauty.The Trio,that Saint Saens uses as the theme of his Beethoven Variations was played with the mock seriousness of Beethoven poking fun at the proceedings before entering the bucolic fun of the Presto con fuoco that just spun from his fingers like a well oiled spring with an infectious joie de vivre.The central chase was played with the same sense of character that I remember from Rubinstein’s many memorable performances including his last at the Wigmore Hall in 1976.Roman had too that enormous rhythmic drive that I remember was so much part of Richter’s characterful exhilaration in the Schubert C minor Sonata.

More remarkable performances to add to my previous impressions.What a wonderful tribute to our founder on his 96th birthday to know that he has created a Keyboard Trust with his wife Noretta Conci that will help young musicians like Roman bridge the gap between acquiring a mastery and being able to share it with a waiting world.

Roman Kosyakov was born into a musical family and made his debut with orchestra at the age of 12 with Mozart Concerto N.23 in A Major. In 2012, he graduated from the Central Music School in Moscow where he studied with Farida Nurizade and then in 2017 from the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatoire with Vladimir Ovchinnikov. Since September 2017, he has studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on a full scholarship with Pascal Nemirovski.He is a laureate of many national and international competitions, among them “Young Talents of Russia” (Russia, Moscow 2006), the 1st International competition “Sforzando” (1^st Prize, Berlin, 2007), the International Alexander Scriabin Piano Competition (1^stPrize, Paris 2011), the 8^th Open Competition of Musicians Performers N. Sabitov (1^stPrize, Russia, Ufa, 2012), the International Piano Competition “Minsk-2014” (2^nd Prize, Republic of Belarus, Minsk, 2014), the 4^th International Piano Competition “Russian season in Ekaterinburg“ (1^st Prize, Russia, Ekaterinburg, 2015), the 4^th International Piano Competition “Vera Lotar-Shevchenko”(2^nd Prize,Russia, Ekaterinburg, 2016), 4^thPrize of the 1^st Saint-Priest International Piano Competition Saint-Priest (Lyon-France, 2017).In the UK, Roman won 1^st Prize and the Audience Prize at the 10th Sheepdrove Piano Competition open to candidates from the eight major UK music colleges.He won the prestigious 2018 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, and the Orchestra Prize performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2018, UK).Roman is now regularly invited to give concerts in France, Italy, Germany, Republic of Belarus, Russia, UK, USA. He just performed with the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Symphony Orchestra. In January 2019 Roman received “The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire- Silver Medal” from the Musician’s Company and became a member of Musician’s Company Yeomen Young Artists’ Programme. He was also invited to represent and launch the 2019 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition at the House of Commons in London. Roman is a winner of the Denis Matthews Memorial Trust award, Kirckman Concert Society Artist and a scholar of the Drake Calleja Trust.In Summer 2019 Roman recorded a debut CD for Naxos with works by Liszt. As part of Fitzroy Piano Quartet Roman won the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition string ensembles section in January 2020.