Mese: Maggio 2025

Nice to see Rustem Hayroudinoff back on the concert platform and playing as wonderfully as ever.Playing on Fou Ts’ong’s Concert Grand that now stands so proudly in the Razumovsky Academy that was built and run by the Kogan family with such warmth and generosity .

Oleg Kogan the renowned cellist pieced together the bricks and mortar of this chamber music hall of about one hundred seats and it is this love and dedication to real music making that envelopes you as you enter.

Rustem and he were at the Moscow Conservatory together over forty years ago and are now both distinguished professors, Rustem at the Royal Academy, and Oleg until recently at the Guildhall.

So what better place could there be to celebrate the release of Rustem’s new CD : ‘ Bach &Sons ‘ , that marks his miraculous recovery from a cruel disease that had struck so silently and unexpectedly a few years ago

The two parts of the programme showed two completely different pianists with a Schumannesque change of character. The first part was played with the monumental clarity and intelligence of its time that in the second half were translated into the naked passions and seduction also of its time.

The work by ‘Papa’ Bach was followed by two from the musician’s siblings from his vast family of seventeen children.

Bach was indeed prolific, in life as in music, because his life was music and his universal genius is still being unravelled almost three hundred years on.

The genius of Chopin too had created a new art form with the discovery of a piano with a ‘soul’. The pedals allowed Chopin to create new sounds and ways of making them that were from then on part of a world of less monumental music making but that of musicians who could turn the sedate ladies of the Parisian salons into a screaming mob trying to take a souvenir home of the artists who could ignite passions they were never aware of before.

Paganini and Liszt were considered the devils in disguise whereas Chopin’s was a more refined subtle seduction of the senses. Tchaikowsky’s turbulent emotional life was taken up by Rachmaninov who although he looked as though he had just swallowed a knife, according to my old teacher Vlado Perlemuter, his music making showed that appearances can be deceptive!

It was these two worlds the Rustem,with transcendental mastery, and with extraordinary musical intelligence ,showed us today.

His chameleonic change of character belied the charmingly reticent introductions to the programme that was unfolding from his ten magnificent fingers. They became a Köthen Baroque Orchestra on one hand, and the sumptuous Philadelphia on the other.

His wife and two children looking on with loving disbelief as this miracle unfolded in public once more.

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/…/i-had-to-tell-my-wife-i……. …..to be continued…………..:

There was a dynamic rhythmic energy to the opening of the J.S Bach English Suite that was to show Rustem’s vision of the monumental Bach that he envisaged. It was played with extraordinary clarity with the pedals only used very sparingly and to signify the change of register. Ornaments added just to add a different colour to the architectural shape of Bach’s mathematical genius. A knotty twine that in Rustem’s masterly hands was not at all knotty as the counterpoints were voices on their own that added up to a magnificent whole.

There are at least two schools of thought for the interpretation of Bach on a modern day piano and it was a privilege to invite the two High Priestesses of their day to play the Goldberg Variations for my concert season in Rome. I was much criticised for not having more adventurous programming but to those that could understand there was the monumental Bach of Rosalyn Tureck that was like a rock that was looked up to in awe. And there was the song and the dance of the people of Tatyana Nikolaeva. Added to that, elsewhere, there was Glenn Gould who added his genius in a very individual virtuosistic way.Other pianists like Louis Lortie steer clear of Bach on the modern piano and Andras Schiff prefers to play on the pianos nearer their period.

Rustem chose absolute clarity and rhythmically driven performances that did not preclude the mellifluous beauty he gave to the ‘Allemande’ with very discreet ornaments that embellished without adding any personal emotions.The ‘Courante’ just sprang from his well oiled fingers before the majesty and poignant significance that he brought to the ‘Sarabande’, where he reconciled nobility and delicacy. A crystalline clarity to the first ‘Minuet’ contrasted with the whispered echo effect of the second, with his beguiling ornaments of exquisite charm, before the innocent return of the first Minuet. The ‘Gigue’ was played with chiselled perfection and if it would have been hard to dance to it was in style with Rustem’s magisterial vision that he shared with us.

The Sonata by C.P.E. Bach took me by surprise and was indeed a crazy conflict between Florestan and Eusebius. Extraordinary control that allowed Rustem one moment to play with transcendental velocity and the next with heartrending cantabile. It was as though the fast episodes were merely accompanying a chorale (similar to Chopin’s Third Scherzo op 39). Rustem managed to convey the architectural shape with these quick fire exchanges of extraordinary originality. He brought a restrained and dignified outpouring to the ‘Poco Andante’ with beautifully entwined counterpoints, and a quite extraordinary ‘fingerfertigkeit’ to the antics of the ‘Allegro assai ‘

The Sonata by J.C. Bach was much more mellifluous and Rustem allowed it to flow with clarity and chiselled beauty before the dynamic rhythmic drive of the ‘Presto’ Finale.

After the interval we heard another pianist, that of the great Russian School of breathtaking virtuosity with a kaleidoscope of colour and emotions. This was indeed masterly playing with the beguiling whispered beauty of Rachmaninov’s ‘Lullaby’ played with glistening beauty and the improvised freedom or recreation. Three Etudes -Tableaux were, of course, crowned by the extraordinary nostalgia and majesty of the E flat minor op 39 n. 5, played with passion and ravishing beauty . A sense of balance of orchestral dimensions where the melodic line just rose so radiantly above a surge of emotional power. Adding the E flat prelude op 23 to the C minor was a master stroke as the E flat is one of the most ravishingly romantic of all the preludes with a stream of whispered sounds on which Rachmaninov allows himself to wallow with heartrending emotional impact. The great C minor was by contrast a hurricane of sounds on which the melodic line emerged like an Eagle surveying all that was swirling under foot.

Luckily Ian Jones deputy Head of Keyboard at the RCM reminded Rustem that he still had to play Chopin to complete the programme!

Chopin op 22 that he played with ravishing beauty and scintillating jeux perlé .Also the showmanship of the aristocratic good taste that the teenage Chopin would have demonstrated in the the Parisian Salons that he took by storm. Performances that had Liszt and Schumann at his feet in respect of the Genius that was in their midst. ‘Hats off ,Gentlemen, a Genius !’ wrote Schumann in his journal of the day.

A encore of the ‘Polka of WR’ by Rachmaninov was played with the charm and style of another age and reminded me of the times that Cherkassky would end his recitals with this very piece played with the same tantalising charm that Rustem offered as a thank you to us today .

In the Summer 2021 The Razumovsky Trust purchased a marvellous Steinway D Concert Grand Piano for the Razumovsky Academy.

The Trustees are very grateful to the many Friends of the Razumovsky Trust who contributed generously to our Steinway D Piano Fund.This fabulous instrument belonged for many years to the legendary Chinese pianist Fou Ts’ong and his wife Patsy Toh. The distinguished French pianist François-Frédéric Guy said Fou had been his “mentor and a musical father”. “His Debussy, Chopin and Mozart remain legendary.”The renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang described Fou Ts’ong as “a truly great pianist, and our spiritual beacon”. “Master Fou was a great artist…His understanding of music was unique.”We are immensely grateful to Nigel Polmear who introduced us to this instrument. Nigel suggested we invite Ulrich Gerhartz to advise on the best ways to preserve its beautiful qualities whilst at the same time ensuring that it is ready to serve Razumovsky Academy as a hardworking stage piano.

Ulrich Gerhartz, following initial examination of the instrument, suggested a comprehensive programme of servicing, both at Steinway Hall London’s workshop, and on-site at the Razumovsky Academy. Following completion of works by Ulrich, the rehearsals and recordings have resumed. “Ulrich’s work on the instrument was magical.” (Oleg Kogan).Our Chairman Sir Bernard Rix came to the Razumovsky Academy to meet Ulrich Gerhartz during the works. Our dear friend Julius Drake, who came to rehearse here with singers Alice Coote and Ian Bostridge, commented on the piano: “Absolutely marvellous!

Francois-Frédéric Guy ignites the soul of Fou Ts’ong’s piano at the Razumovsky Academy.

Francois Dumont remembering the genius of Fou Ts’ong at the Razumovsky Academy

The English Suites, BWV 806–811, are a set of six suites by Johann Sebastian Bach  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.

Suite No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808

Prelude – Allemande – Courante – Sarabande – Gavotte 1 – Gavotte 11 Gigue

The Sonata in F sharp minor H37 (Wq52/4) by C.P.E Bach dates from 1744. The most remarkable movement is the opening Allegro, built on a contrast between fantasia and lyric passages. In comparison to this unusual opening movement, the following Poco andante, in D major, is a study in restrained elegance. The finale is again in binary form featuring dotted rhythms and occasional sudden rests setting off dramatic harmonic progressions. Allegro – Poco Andante – Allegro assai

The genius of Johann Sebastian Bach often overshadows the achievements of his four prodigiously talented sons, all of whom played a crucial role in further advancing music’s development during the 18th century. Johann Christian, the youngest, was indeed among the most pivotal composers of his day, his move to Italy in 1755 precipitating a noticeable change in style that, known as the galant, looked forward to the soon-to-emerge Classical period.

J.C. Bach was the first to champion the fortepiano in concert, and by the time he came to write his Six Sonatas Op.17, the instrument was well on its way to dominance. Following on from the Six Sonatas Op.5 , the works reveal the composer’s multifaceted skills, displaying the widest possible range of compositional manners and characters –One of J.C. Bach’s many admirers was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and it is highly likely that these works were among those played to the young prodigy when he visited London in the 1760s, where the German composer was then living. They comprise a set truly befitting of a composer who would later became music master to the English royal family, revealing how, in the realm of keyboard virtuosity, J.C. Bach was every bit his father’s son. Given J.C. Bach’s influence on Mozart, it should come as little surprise that the sonatas of Op.17 are almost stylistically interchangeable with those of the Salzburg genius.Sonata in A op.17 n.5 Allegro – Presto

 

 

A knight in shining armour sailed through Perivale today with authority and poetic mastery. Whatever Nikita does it is imbued with burning conviction and communication. Veni, vidi, vici Bravo Nikita. Some remarkable playing in a varied programme from Bach to Babadjanian.

Bach’s C sharp minor Prelude with its five part fugue of such imposing majesty. A gently flowing Prelude that was played with poignant meaning and aristocratic poise.From the profound depths of the piano the five part fugue unfolded with mathematical precision combined with deep spiritual meaning as the voices were played with utmost clarity. The final clashing harmonies at the end that like Messiaen two centuries later were to signify the unbearable suffering of a fervent believer.

Two of Tchaikowsky’s seasons were played with languid beauty and fleeting flights of emotional intensity.There was a melancholic yearning to the melodic line of June of tender nostalgia leading to an imposing outpouring of joyous liberation that Nikita played with ravishing colour and style.

Mussorgsky has long been a favourite of our young prince of the keyboard and he gave a dynamic drive of total conviction to ‘A night on a bare mountain’ .A transcendental command of the keyboard with searing blasts of sound high on the keyboard that were the blasts of wind whilst the deep bass melody was allowed to dominate the landscape.Passion and frenzy were played with remarkable control and a sense of line no matter the technical difficulty.There was beauty too after the storm, with streams of notes accompanying the melodic line of thanksgiving after such a monstrous night.

Two pieces by Debussy, both depicting water. ‘Ondine’ the water nymph was played with glowing beauty gradually growing in pace until she was revealed in all her beauty only to disappear in a wash of luxuriant sounds. A miniature tone poem played with poetic fantasy and beauty but also with a sense of architectural line that gave such strength to Debussy’s characterisation. Less virtuosistic than Ravel’s Ondine but just as evocative and fleetingly beautiful. ‘Reflets dans l’eau’ was played with great delicacy with Debussy’s etherial clouds of sound spread over the entire keyboard as the melodic line appeared from its midst. A transcendental control of the pedal allowed Nikita to play with such clarity without loosing the glowing fluidity of one of Debussy’s most evocative creations.

 

Nikita’s charming introductions were indeed very enticing and his presentation of Babadjanian had me intrigued. Armenian born in 1920 completing his studies in Moscow, the six pictures were vividly played with very busy and engaging drive. A kaleidoscope of sounds and moods but mainly of rhythmic toccata type precision played with extraordinary conviction and masterly control.There was a beautiful slow picture with a melodic line of chiselled beauty and a tumultuous final toccata.

An encore of Mussorgsky’s unhatched chicks from Pictures was played with mastery and style and brought this quite exceptional recital to a brilliant conclusion .

Nikita Lukinov is known for his “extraordinary breadth and freedom of imagination” (Gramophone), praised as an “Exceptional talent” (The Scotsman), and named the “Rising Star” by the BBC Music Magazine, Nikita Lukinov stands out as one of the most exciting pianists based in Scotland. In his impressive international presence, he performed as a soloist in prestigious venues across the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Poland, Croatia, Germany and Russia. Most notable appearances include renowned venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Usher Hall, Southbank Centre, Palau de la Musica, Fazioli Hall, Verbier Festival and Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow. Additionally, both his live and studio performances have been broadcast by BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 3 and Scala Radio. Highlights of the 2024/25 season include recitals at the Bechstein Hall in London, Perth Concert Hall, Armourers’ Hall in London, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Inverness Town Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields in London and St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. 

A disciple of the Russian Piano School Nikita Lukinov started his musical education with Svetlana Semenkova, an alumna of Dmitry Bashkirov, at the age of six in Voronezh, Russia. Nikita’s first significant success was a Grand Prix at the 2010 International Shostakovich Piano Competition for Youth in Moscow. This led to a debut with a symphonic orchestra at the age of 11. Other achievements include 1st place in the Inter-Russian piano competition for young pianists, Finalist in an International television competition for young musicians “Nutcracker”, 1st place in the Inter-Russian Concerto competition, where he performed a Chopin piano Concerto 1 op.11 with the Voronezh Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 14. 

In 2013 Nikita won a full scholarship to continue his education at The Purcell School, a specialist music school in London, with Prof. Tatiana Sarkissova, an alumna of Dmitry Bashkirov. In 2017 Nikita was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Prof. Petras Geniušas, an alumnus of V. Gornostaeva. In 2021 Nikita was awarded a First-Class with Honours Bachelor of Music Degree and a full scholarship from ABRSM to pursue a Master of Music degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since October 2022 Nikita has also started teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, being the youngest senior teaching staff in all of the UK’s Royal Schools of Music at that moment. In June 2023 Nikita was awarded The Governors Recital Prize for the most outstanding end-of-year performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, culminating in the completion of his Master’s Degree. The same month Nikita’s debut CD was released with the KNS Classical label. Nikita was awarded his Artist Diploma degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in September 2024. 

Nikita Lukinov conquers the Bechstein Hall with masterly music making

Nikita Lukinov at the National Liberal Club ‘A supreme stylist astonishes and seduces’

Babajanian wrote in various musical genres, including many popular songs in collaboration with leading poets such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Robert Rozhdesdtvensky. Much of his music is rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore, which he generally uses in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninov  and Khachaturian. His later works were influenced by Prokofiev  and Bartók. Praised by Dmitri Shostakovich as a “brilliant piano teacher”, Babajanian was also a noted pianist and often performed his own works in concerts.

The Lloyd Webber’s take the National Liberal Club by storm with Bach!

Thanks to Yisha Xue and the Asia Circle who invited Jiaxin to perform solo Bach suites introduced by her husband Julian with brother Andrew looking and listening to the genius of J.S.Bach .

A family of musicians starting with their father, director of the London College of Music and Julian a renowned cellist and ex director of the Birmingham Conservatoire. Andrew Baron Lloyd Webber is one of the most successful writers of musicals with numerous shows playing every day of the year in theatres all over the world.

It was Julian who, with a twinkle in his eye, told us how a teenage café cellist in 1889 had stumbled upon a crumpled copy of six suites for solo cello by Bach in a book shop in his native Barcellona .

He took them home to master them and would often try them out on customers in the café in Barcellona. Word soon spread that this was no ordinary café performer and the music he played was of divine invention. Pablo Casals created the technique to play works that had lain dormant for 200 years. A story told with the same theatrical know how as his brother, reaching over the footlights with intelligence and charm .

It was left to Jiaxin to put Julian’s words into music and she proved that it is certainly true that music reaches places where words are not enough.

Two suites in G and C held the audience spellbound with these masterworks on a single instrument, that in Jiaxin’s hands became a whole orchestra .

This was not monumental Bach but the work of a composer who could bring the song and the dance to the people with the mathematical invention of a universal genius. An extraordinary range of colour and a rhythmic drive of flowing beauty. A wave of sounds played with a tension that held us spellbound as she unravelled Bach’s knotty twine with transcendental mastery, that passed unnoticed, as we were only aware of an outpouring of sumptuous sounds, with the architectural shape of a mighty Gothic cathedral.

It was the same range of sounds that she brought to a movement of a suite by Malcom Arnold played as an encore. Leaving her bow aside she she played with a pizzicato of whispered jeux perlé sounds, where we the audience were drawn in to a fantasy world of extraordinary subtlety.

The fame of Lloyd Webber filled this Lloyd George Music Room but it was Bach who won the day with many drawn by the fame of the composer of Phantom of the Opera found themselves falling in love with the solo cello of Bach .

Hats off to Yisha and the Asia Circle for enticing an audience to savour not the delights of the palette but those of the soul.

Temple Church Temple, London EC4Y 7BB

Wednesday, 30 April 2025, 1.15-1.45pm

PROGRAMME:
 Bach  Prelude in E-flat major BWV 552
Čiurlionis  Fugue in C minor ‘Kyrie eleison’ Vl 19
Surzyński  Capriccio in F sharp minor Op. 36
Mendelssohn (arr. Schmeding) Prelude and Fugue in E minor

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iumXbsF0f6o3HXofUjbrhGGDNU5_H4kr/view?usp=sharing

COLOUR AND INSPIRATION AT TEMPLE CHURCH

by

ANGELA RANSLEY

Bach Prelude in E-flat major BWV 552
Čiurlionis Fugue in C minor ‘Kyrie eleison’ Vl 19
Surzyński Capriccio in F sharp minor Op. 36
Mendelssohn (arr. Schmeding) Prelude and Fugue in E minor

PIOTR MAZIARZ studied at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow under Prof.
Semeniuk-Podraza. During his studies, he participated in numerous organ competitions taking First
Prizes in Russia and Italy. In 2021 he began his organ studies in Frosinone, Italy, and during his
time there began researching the work of Marco Enrico Bossi. In 2023, he received a scholarship
from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and The Nicholas Danby Trust, and began his MMus
studies under the guidance of Daniel Moult and Nicholas Wearne. He has already given concerts in
Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Russia and the UK.

For his Temple debut, Piotr devised a stimulating programme where all four composers – Bach,
Ciurlionis, Surzynski and Mendelssohn – were influenced by the musical hothouse that is Leipzig.
The link between Mendelssohn and Bach is well known, and Felix later founded the Conservatoire

where the two East European composers received their specialist training,

Piotr showed the breadth of his experience by opening his recital with the famous St Anne Prelude
BWV 552, one of the pinnacles of organ art by J S Bach. It was written in 1735 and published four
years later in the Clavierubung III. This is the third of four repertoire publications by Bach and the
only one dedicated to the organ.

Title page of Clavierubung III
The Prelude in Eb BWV 552 is the longest prelude in Bach’s output and displays the command of
international style required of German composers by the well-travelled nobility. First came the
formal dotted style of the French overture where Piotr displayed well controlled rhythmic precision.
He communicated the Italian dance style – an elegant Gavotte – with appropriately light, playful
registration. For the German style, Bach chose to write a double fugue and despite references to the
other styles, developed this writing to a rousing climax.

Piotr has accumulated wide international experience through his studies in Poland, Italy and now
the UK, and his choice of a bright, north European timbre using the reed potential of the Temple
instrument was entirely convincing. His keen ear was able to create just the right Baroque sound
that might be heard on one of the magnificent historic instruments such as the St Bavokerk,
Haarlem, pictured below:

…

St Bavokerk, Haarlem

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875 – 1911) is the leading artist of Lithuania where there is a
centre dedicated to him. His influence is also found in a similar centre in Chicago, and there have
been major exhibitions including one at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London in 2022. He was
equally gifted as a musician and painter and possessed the remarkable faculty of synesthesia, where
musical pitches and keys are associated with colour. Despite a short life of 35 years, he left 400
musical works and 300 paintings.

Ciurlionis National Art Museum, Lithuania

The Fugue in C minor Kyrie Eleison is a transcription of a choral piece which sets the Greek text
from the Mass. It has a sinous, introspective quality for which Piotr searched a richly mixed palette
of dark hues, imbued with Romantic unease. This was achieved through a well sustained legato and
impeccable linear clarity.

Mieczyslaw Surzynski (1866-1924) is not a familiar name here but deserves to be better known as
his is a truly international style. In his own country, Poland, he is honoured as the leading concert
organist of his day who also held conducting posts, church positions in Russia and (now) Ukraine,
and became Professor of organ and counterpoint at the Institute of Music in Warsaw.

Capriccio is one of 7 Romantic pieces published in the collection Improvisations Op 36 in 1910.
Like Ciurlionis, Surzynski furthered his education at the Leipzig Conservatoire and in Capriccio,
Mendelssohn fairy music meets 2-bar Polish folk melody. We hear it initially in its delightfully
airborne form which is then repeated in organo pleno. A number of varied repeats follow featuring
triplets and imitation before the semiquavers dance off joyfully. What a brilliant choice, Piotr! After
the athleticism of Bach and brooding Ciurlionis, this was perfectly placed. It also gave many
opportunities to show the symphonic capability of the Temple instrument, making imaginative use
of the woodwind reed stops. Dynamics and rubato were also finely judged so that Piotr revealed
inner secrets one at a time and saved the best for last. Super!

Mieczyslaw Surzynski

The first three composers in this recital owe much to the fourth, Felix Mendelssohn. His influence
extends beyond his own works to being responsible for the rediscovery of J S Bach after a century
of obscurity, and to the founding of the Leipzig Conservatoire in 1843. It subsequently became the
leading centre of musical studies in Europe and where Ciurlionis and Surzynski both furthered their
talents later in the century.

Leipzig Conservatoire
The Prelude and Fugue in E minor were paired later, the Fugue dating from 1827 and the Prelude
from 1841. The Prelude is vintage Mendelssohn. It was written orginally for the piano and
transcribed by a previous Visiting Professor at Birmingham, Martin Schmeding, based at the
Leipzig Conservatoire. Piotr was fortunate to work on this piece with him. It is suited to the organ
in that Felix wrote in a 3-hand technique with the melody in the middle register. However, its tonal
wash relies on the use of the piano’s sustaining pedal and this is not available to the organist.
Another issue is that what the organist hears at the console is not necessarily what is received below
and there were issues of balance and blend on this occasion.

The Fugue stands among Mendelssohn’s most dramatic writing. It coincided with the performance
of Mendelssohn’s only opera in 1827 and anticipates the elemental fury of Fingal‘s Cave, written
two years later. The contrapuntal brilliance owes much to Bach: Felix’s early studies were so
grounded in the earlier composer that by the age of 14, he could play all 48 Preludes and Fugues
from memory. There is also a family connection that is not widely known: Felix’s great aunt, Sara
Levy, studied the harpsichord with J S Bach’s son, Wilhem Friedemann, and she owned a copy of
St Matthew Passion, which she gave to him. Felix became deeply engaged with the score and this

led to the historic recreation in 1829 which fired his interest in Bach’s works and is the reason we
can enjoy today‘s Prelude and Fugue.

Excitement is built into the first two notes of the fugue’s subject, its jagged dissonance cutting
through the complex texture at every re-entry and driving the movement forward relentlessly. There
are powerful musical tools: the descending dotted rhythms, the toccata-like episodes, the piling up
of dissonance. As the drama builds, awe descends as the genius of an 18-year-old invokes a leonine
roar from the King of Instruments. There was power, clarity and assurance here combined with the
unique joy of being able to converse with the gods. Piotr took the audience with him and they
showed their appreciation in heartfelt applause.

The Keyboard Trust offers two major London recitals a year to its rising stars, here at Temple and
also at Westminster Abbey. These venues are appropriate because student is no longer the correct
description: performers such as Piotr are already adult artists who are enabled to develop through
guidance at the highest level at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and other music colleges. As
RBC Daniel Moult says: We have become a destination of choice for some of the most gifted
organists in the UK and internationally. At last our reputation will be matched by our resources
and will enable us to educate and inspire in a way previously unimaginable.

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Please understand that life is not easy for today’s young and gifted and think what you might do to
support them at this critical stage. Meanwhile, thank you Temple, thank you Keyboard Trust and
most of all, thank you, Piotr!

ANGELA RANSLEY is Director of the Harmony School of Pianoforte, writer on musical subjects
and organist. She has collaborated with the Keyboard Trust since 2010.

Piotr Maziarz at Temple Church – review

Piotr Maziarz studied the organ at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow under Prof. Mirosław Semeniuk-Podraza. During his studies, he participated in numerous organ competitions taking First Prizes in international organ competitions in Russia (“Vox Polonica Petropolitana” 2019) and in Italy (“Don Vincenzo Vitti” 2021).
In 2021, he began his organ studies in Italy under Prof. Juan Paradell-Sole and Prof. Antonella Tigretti in Frosinone. During his time there he began researching the work of Marco Enrico Bossi, following in his footsteps by playing the instruments the composer performed on and analysing manuscripts. At the end of his Master’s studies in Kraków, he wrote a thesis entitled “Marco Enrico Bossi – in search of romantic patterns”, touching in depth on the problems of registering and interpreting his works.

In 2022, he secured an Erasmus+ internship at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire to study the works of Byrd, Purcell, Elgar and Howells.
In 2023, he received a scholarship from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and The Nicolas Danby Trust and began his MMus studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under Daniel Moult and Nicholas Wearne.
Piotr has been invited to the most important organ festivals in Poland. He has given concerts in Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom.

A concert streamed live from this extraordinary church opposite Euston Station. A fascinating discovery inside, outside and underneath and streets that surround it full of fascinating historic buildings and vibrantly active cultural centres.

Inside this vast edifice it was the first time that I had been able to listen to Paul Mnatsakanov’s Carnaval.

He had played it over three consecutive mornings in St George’s Hannover Square but it was far too early, even for me! I remember Shura Cherkassky’s Funeral there in 1996, but at a more civilised time.

A short lunchtime concert that had opened with Mozart’s early Sonata in F K 280 that was played with crystalline clarity and knowing style. A pianist who also plays historic instruments and whilst bathed in the style of the period he is also a master pianist who can combine the two worlds.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/01/18/paul-mnatsakanovs-mozart-of-refined-elegance-and-operatic-character/

Gracefully ornamented the first movement was beautifully shaped with the dynamic contrasts of its age. A beautiful liquid sound to the slow movement with subtle inflections of great delicacy and poignancy. A teasingly operatic last movement just bursting with characters bubbling over with humour. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/05/24/paul-mnatsakanov-graduation-recitals-at-the-royal-college-music/

A charming interlude by Robert’s wife, Clara Schumann, with a beautiful intermezzo under the title, ‘Pièce fugitive’ op 15.n.1, with its etherial melody of charm and the beguiling beauty of its time, allowed to float like a ‘Song without words’ on a mellifluous accompaniment of melting radiance.

This was the link to an authoritative performance of Robert Schumann’s ‘Carnaval’ op 9 .

The first time I heard Paul was in a monumental performance of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures’ played as a curtain raiser for the orchestral version by the RCM Symphony Orchestra. It was such an overwhelming performance that I chose not to stay for the orchestral version directed by Haken Hardenberger having had my plate filled to the full by a sumptuous feast of transcendental mastery.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/02/09/paul-mnatsakanov-s-monumental-mussorgsky-pictures/

I had discussed Carnaval with Paul when he was learning it, and I did wonder how someone who plays Mussorgsky so masterly would cope with the subtle world of Florestan and Eusebius.

I need not have worried because Paul is a master musician, as today proved, and Carnaval unfolded with extraordinary characterisation and a kaleidoscope not only of colours but of personalities that were depicted with such authority and conviction. A parade of characters that with chameleonic physicality he identified with each one in turn in a most extraordinarily mesmersising way. In fact this was one of the most convincing performances that I have heard since listening to Artur Rubinstein or Nelson Freire not to mention on disc Alfred Cortot and Guiomar Novaes. Yes I certainly know my Carnaval and woe beside anyone who tries to play it like a virtuosistic showpiece!

Sorry Shura how could I ever forget your ravishingly beautiful Carnaval for us in Rome in 1987 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DmdTaZWs7B6bCCJAOaFa2wDDIznr4_rO/view?usp=gmail

Opening with an immediately arresting ‘Préambule’ of nobility and authority, descending into a fleeting dance of ravishing seductive style as the Carnaval is about to begin. ‘Pierrot’ entered with a mellifluous fluidity interrupted by a heavy tread, never overstepping the mark though, as Paul added weight to the inner notes of the melodic line adding an unexpected richness to a character that can sometimes pale into insignificance in lesser hands. ‘Arlequin’ just jumped from his hands as impish pomposity was played with knowing sarcasm only to be interrupted by a ‘Valse’ that was truly ‘noble’ and passionately involved on a wave of emotion. ‘Eusebius’ appeared on the scene with a gentle melodic line of perfect legato shaped with a knowing breathing rubato. ‘Florestan’ suddenly appearing with dynamic energy only calmed by looking back and reminiscing the ‘Papillons’ left seven steps behind! Paul really acted the part of ‘Coquette’ and it was a joy to watch his antics that were translated into sounds of irresistible shyness and charm, even more so with ‘Réplique’.

I have never heard the ‘Sphinxes’ played with such fantasy and incorporated so wonderfully into the structure of which they are the ‘nuts and bolts’. Even Rachmaninov could not match what Paul did today. Most other performers leave them out altogether, finding them an unnecessary intrusion. Suddenly the third Sphinx high in the top of the piano was transformed into the opening of ‘Papillons’.

A quite extraordinary discovery from a master musician with an open and questioning mind.

‘Papillons’ was played with dynamic drive and a bustling energy leading to ‘Dancing Letters’ that literally jumped all over the keys with Paul’s athletic participation. A gently passionate outpouring of ‘Chiarina’ building to a sumptuous climax out of which entered ‘Chopin’ with a robust and fervent ‘bel canto’. Paul played with breathtaking style and a rubato that had us following every phrase with baited breath, especially when the whispered repeat was barely audible or at least only to those whose heart was beating at the same pace as Paul’s. ‘Estrella’ entered with determination before the delicate buoyancy of ‘Reconnaissance’ where the duet between the voices reached heights of sublime beauty in the central episode .The busy no compromising chatter between ‘Pantalon’ and ‘Colombine’ was played with fingers of steel as they dissolved into friendly disagreement with a charming nod and a wink . ‘Valse allemande’ was played with all the style of a Viennese waltz and created the framework for Maestro ‘Paganini’ and his diabolical trickery. An extraordinary ‘tour de force’ of dynamic mastery from Paul in a chapter that strikes terror even into the most experienced virtuosi. Whispered beauty of ‘Aveu’ lead to the heart renching nostalgia of the ‘Promenade’ that Paul played with ravishing colour and fantasy. The final ‘March of David against the Philistines’ was played with breathtaking authority and mastery .The same that I had experienced from Paul’s ‘Pictures’, but that here was bathed in the romantic style of the great pianists of a past age.

A quite extraordinary performance and after that only one voice could be heard – that of J.S. Bach. And here another surprise with Paul’s own transcription of the ‘Sicilienne’ from a flute and organ sonata. Simplicity and glowing beauty was Paul’s way of thanking us for listening together with him today, and allow him to fly high on his magic carpet.

Interesting to hear the Fauré preludes played with such conviction and musicianly understanding. Able to unravel Fauré’s very individual voice and make sense with an architectural understanding and a sense of line of sumptuous beautiful sounds . It was the same intelligence and aristocratic nobility he brought to the Theme and variations. I remember Perlemuter telling me that Fauré, director of the Paris conservatoire where he was studying at the age 14 with Alfred Cortot, Fauré would send the music down for him to try out with the ink still wet on the page. With sentiment but never sentimental playing with clarity and simplicity. If Debargue allowed himself a little freedom or enjoyed his technical prowess it was because of youthful exuberance and did not interfere with the architectural shape or grandeur of Fauré’s unique musical voice.

There were disquieting signs, though, that showmanship could take the upper hand from his musicianship.This became more apparent and quite disconcerting in the Beethoven and Chopin that filled the first and second half of the programme. Some beautiful things in the first movement of Beethoven’s two movement op 90 sonata where the dynamic contrasts in the first movement and the sense of improvised finding his way overcame his rather harsh exaggerated exclamatory chords. But the second movement that Beethoven specifically asks to be played not too fast and in a singing style was played at breakneck speed with a coda that sounded more like a Moszkowski study ( who incidentally Perlemuter had also studied with ) and jumping up at the end in a crowd pleasing way was surprisingly disconcerting.

It was the same with Chopin’s Fourth scherzo with a middle section that he allowed to sing so naturally with sumptuous sound.The outer episodes , on the other hand, where Chopin’s wonderfully delicate embellishments flower so magically into wondrous bel canto were played like Liszt transcendental studies and loud chords were played with sledgehammer vehemence that had me jump in my seat.

It was the same in the second half where Beethoven’s ‘Moonlighting’ became so prolonged as Lucas chose to ignore Beethoven’s indication to play in two, and played in twelve – Moonlighting indeed ! The charm and simplicity of the minuet and trio were followed by a Presto agitato that the only thing we could hear were the two top sledgehammered chords at the end of a non existent run. I was surprised at the freedom he gave himself with the chordal passages and even more surprised by the misreading in the cadenza! The ending owed more to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 than to Beethoven’s Moonlighting!

Chopin’s 3rd Ballade was so grotesque and exaggerated with a crowd pleasing flourish at the end that it belied the remarkable scholarly musicianship of his Fauré.

Of course the audience rose to the bait and there were cries for more which Debargue very eloquently and charmingly offered with three encores.The first his own transcription of Fauré ‘Après un rève’ which owed more to piano bar than the refined finesse of one of Fauré ‘s most hauntingly touching songs .Another two paraphrases one of an early work again by Fauré and by great request a third encore, a paraphrase of Spanish idiom. Ravishing sounds and the jeux perlé we had been denied all evening were played with an improvised freedom and beauty that made one wonder why he had so distorted the works of others.

An ovation from the ‘Wiggies’ but I could not help feeling sad that a musician of his standing could become an entertainer, instead of the interpreter and master he obviously could be, as he demonstrated with his Fauré today and in his recent complete recordings .Fauré shunned virtuosity in favour of the classical lucidity often associated with the French. He was unimpressed by purely virtuoso pianists, saying, “the greater they are, the worse they play me.” Q.E.D Beware the temptation Monsieur Debargue!

“Since Glenn Gould’s visit to Moscow and Van Cliburn’s victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition in the heat of the Cold War, never has a foreign pianist provoked such frenzy.”

Olivier Bellamy, THE HUFFINGTON POST

incredible gift, artistic vision and creative freedom” of Lucas Debargue was revealed by his performances at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow in 2015 and distinguished with the coveted Prize of the Moscow Music Critics’ Association.

Today, Lucas is invited to play solo and with leading orchestras in the most prestigious venues of the world including Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Philharmonie Paris, London’s Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Cologne Philharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo, the concert halls of Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, and of course the legendary Grand Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg and Carnegie Hall in New York. He also appeared several times at the summer meetings of La Roque d’Anthéron and Verbier.

Lucas Debargue regularly collaborates with Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrey Boreyko, Tugan Sokhiev, Vladimir Spivakov and Bertrand de Billy. His chamber music partners include Gidon Kremer, Janine Jansen, and Martin Fröst.

Born in 1990, Lucas forged a highly unconventional path to success. Having discovered classical music at the age of 10, the future musician began to feed his passion and curiosity with diverse artistic and intellectual experiences, which included advanced studies of literature and philosophy. The encounter with the celebrated piano teacher Rena Shereshevskaya proved a turning point: her vision and guidance inspired Lucas to make a life-long professional commitment to music.

A performer of fierce integrity and dazzling communicative power, Lucas Debargue draws inspiration for his playing from literature, painting, cinema, jazz, and develops very personal interpretation of a carefully selected repertoire. Though the core piano repertoire is central to his career, he is keen to present works by lesser-known composers like Karol Szymanowski, Nikolai Medtner, or Milosz Magin.

Lucas devotes a large portion of his time to composition and has already created over twenty works for piano solo and chamber ensembles. These include Orpheo di camera concertino for piano, drums and string orchestra, premiered by Kremerata Baltica, and a Piano Trio was created under the auspices of the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.  As a permanent guest Artist of Kremerata Baltica, Lucas has been commissioned to write a chamber opera.

Sony Classical has released five of his albums with music of Scarlatti, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Ravel, Medtner and Szymanowski. His monumental four-volume tribute to Scarlatti, which came out at the end of 2019, has been praised by The New York Times and selected by NPR among “the ten classical albums to usher in the next decade”. August 2021 sees the release of an album devoted to the Polish composer Miłosz Magin. A true discovery of a fascinating yet unknown composer recorded with Kremerata Baltica and Gidon Kremer.

Lucas’s breakthrough at the Tchaikovsky Competition is the subject of the documentary To Music. Directed by Martin Mirabel and produced by Bel Air Media, it was shown at the International Film Festival in Biarritz in 2018.

Olivier Bellamy, Le HUFFINGTON POST

 The pianist Alfred Cortot  said, “There are few pages in all music comparable to these.” The critic Bryce Morrison has noted that pianists frequently prefer to play the charming earlier piano works, such as the Impromptu No. 2, rather than the later piano works, which express “such private passion and isolation, such alternating anger and resignation” that listeners are left uneasy.In his piano music, as in most of his works, Fauré shunned virtuosity in favour of the classical lucidity often associated with the French. He was unimpressed by purely virtuoso pianists, saying, “the greater they are, the worse they play me.” Fauré’s stature as a composer is undiminished by the passage of time. He developed a musical idiom all his own; by subtle application of old modes, he evoked the aura of eternally fresh art; by using unresolved mild discords and special coloristic effects, he anticipated procedures of Impressionism; in his piano works, he shunned virtuosity in favor of the Classical lucidity of the French masters of the clavecin ; the precisely articulated melodic line of his songs is in the finest tradition of French vocal music. .Fauré’s stylistic evolution can be observed in his works for piano. The elegant and captivating first pieces, which made the composer famous, show the influence of Chopin, Saint-Saëns, and Liszt. The lyricism and complexity of his style in the 1890s are evident in the Nocturnes nos. 6 and 7, the Barcarolle no. 5 and the Thème et variations. Finally, the stripped-down style of the final period informs the last nocturnes (nos.10–13), the series of great barcarolles (nos. 8–11) and the astonishing Impromptu no. 5.

9 Préludes, Op. 103

The nine préludes are among the least-known of Fauré’s major piano compositions. They were written while the composer was struggling to come to terms with the onset of deafness in his mid-sixties. By Fauré’s standards this was a time of unusually prolific output. The préludes were composed in 1909 and 1910, in the middle of the period in which he wrote the opera Pénélope, barcarolles Nos. 8–11 and nocturnes Nos. 9–11.

In Koechlin’s view, “Apart from the Préludes of Chopin, it is hard to think of a collection of similar pieces that are so important”. The critic Michael Oliver wrote, “Fauré’s Préludes are among the subtlest and most elusive piano pieces in existence; they express deep but mingled emotions, sometimes with intense directness … more often with the utmost economy and restraint and with mysteriously complex simplicity.” Jessica Duchen calls them “unusual slivers of magical inventiveness.” The complete set takes between 20 and 25 minutes to play. The shortest of the set, No. 8, lasts barely more than a minute; the longest, No. 3, takes between four and five minutes.

Prélude No. 1 in D♭ major

Andante molto moderato. The first prélude is in the manner of a nocturne.Morrison refers to the cool serenity with which it opens, contrasted with the “slow and painful climbing” of the middle section.

Prélude No. 2 in C♯ minor

Allegro. The moto perpetuo of the second prélude is technically difficult for the pianist; even the most celebrated Fauré interpreter can be stretched by it. Koechlin calls it “a feverish whirling of dervishes, concluding in a sort of ecstasy, with the evocation of some fairy palace.Prélude No. 3 in G minor

Andante. Copland considered this prélude the most immediately accessible of the set. “At first, what will most attract you, will be the third in G-minor, a strange mixture of the romantic and classic ,it might be a barcarolle strangely interrupting a theme of very modern stylistic contour”.

Prélude No. 4 in F major

Allegretto moderato. The fourth prélude is among the gentlest of the set. The critic Alain Cochard writes that it “casts a spell on the ear through the subtlety of a harmony tinged with the modal and its melodic freshness.” Koechlin calls it “a guileless pastorale, flexible, with succinct and refined modulations”.

Prélude No. 5 in D minor

Allegro. Cochard quotes the earlier writer Louis Aquettant’s description of this prélude as “This fine outburst of anger (Ce bel accès de colère)”. The mood is turbulent and anxious; the piece ends in quiet resignation reminiscent of the “Libera me” of the Requiem.

Prélude No. 6 in E♭ minor

Andante. Fauré is at his most classical in this prélude, which is in the form of a canon . Copland wrote that it “can be placed side by side with the most wonderful of the Preludes of the Well-Tempered Clavichord.”Prélude No. 7 in A major

Andante moderato. Morrison writes that this prélude, with its “stammering and halting progress” conveys an inconsolable grief. After the opening andante moderato, it becomes gradually more assertive, and subsides to conclude in the subdued mood of the opening.The rhythm of one of Fauré’s best-known songs, “N’est-ce-pas?” from La bonne chanson , runs through the piece.

Prélude No. 8 in C minor

Allegro. In Copland’s view this is, with the third, the most approachable of the Préludes, “with its dry, acrid brilliance (so rarely found in Faure).”Morrison describes it as “a repeated-note scherzo” going “from nowhere to nowhere.”

Prélude No. 9 in E minor

Adagio. Copland described this prélude as “so simple – so absolutely simple that we can never hope to understand how it can contain such great emotional power.” The prélude is withdrawn in mood; Jankélévitch wrote that it “belongs from beginning to end to another world.” Koechlin notes echoes of the “Offertoire” of the Requiem throughout the piece.

Thème et variations in C♯ minor, Op. 73

Written in 1895, when he was 50, this is among Fauré’s most extended compositions for piano Copland wrote of the work:

‘Certainly it is one of Faure’s most approachable works. Even at first hearing it leaves an indelible impression. The “Theme” itself has the same fateful, march-like tread, the same atmosphere of tragedy and heroism, that we find in the introduction of Brahms’s First Symphony. And the variety and spontaneity of the eleven variations which follow bring to mind nothing less than the Symphonic Studies . How many pianists, I wonder, have not regretted that the composer disdained the easy triumph of closing on the brilliant, dashing tenth variation. No, poor souls, they must turn the page and play that last, enigmatic (and most beautiful) one, which seems to leave the audience with so little desire to applaud.’

POINT AND COUNTERPPOINT

Pianist Lucas Debargue is the real deal – Jessica Duchen writes :

Pianist Lucas Debargue is the real deal

Marylene Mouquet, Artistic director writes : ‘Sono certa che continui a suonare splendidamente e mi rallegro di sentirlo nuovamente da noi in quel programma!
OP.101 di BEETHOVEN
Préludes op 28 CHOPIN’

Shunta Morimoto playing Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto in Los Angeles last January :

‘I received the video of the Brahms 2nd concerto I play in January.’
‘He’s fantastic !!!! ‘ Jed Distler

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CuCN-MZaqYY9uDeQAsJDyJxOt5lHNkcV/view?usp=sharing_eip&invite=CN2jg-IC&ts=67e2cc37&sh=g_KuLNtwL9xD5eEg&ca=1

‘Grazie mille Chris per questi video…
Come hai fatto per averli??
Shunta è stato davvero grande! Una 101 di Beethoven tra il sublime e il titanesco …..
Preludi di Chopin commoventi di sensibilità poetica e ricchi di contrasti dinamici, oltre che di Potenza e tumultuosità dell’animo, nello spirito chopiniano….
Enorme successo di pubblico, In bis Debussy, l’île joyeuse,
Sala colma!
Sono felice per lui….
Grazie a te di avercelo fatto conoscere!
Torna presto,
Un abbraccio grande.’ Marylene Mouquet

Après un merveilleux concert, une tablée fort sympathique pour remercier shunta de nous avoir enchantés.

Grande Shunta avanti sempre con la testa alta

Shunta Morimoto at Brighton Festival The sublime inspiration of a poet of the piano

Shunta Morimoto takes Hastings by Storm

Shunta Morimoto’s all or nothing performance of Liszt with aristocratic nobility and brilliance

Shunta Morimoto takes London by storm ‘I have a dream’ a poet speaks through music

Shunta Morimoto- Pitti Piano Festival Florence – The inspired recreation of a great artist

Shunta Morimoto – A colossus bestrides Villa Aldobrandini as it had when Liszt was in residence – complete review with Tokyo link to Schumann op 13

Homage to Ravel with a 150th Anniversary Tribute by Seong-Jin Cho of the complete works for solo piano. Many of the smaller lesser known works added in between the five recognised masterworks of a composer who wrote with a clockwork precision seen through a multicoloured prism. A pianistic perfection from an artist who with humility and mastery acts as a medium between the composer and the public.This youthful looking young man plays with such effortless mastery but also a musicianly intelligence where every note has an important part to play like the bricks of a great Gothic cathedral. A full hall listened in complete silence to over two hours of music and greeted this young man with an ovation and whistle calls more often seen in the sports stadium than in the concert hall !

There comes a very rare moment when in the face of pure genius ,criticism or commentating become superfluous .As Maude Tortelier said to me they are Angels lent to us for a short period on earth to light the way for us mortals.

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

Chopin Galore! Bryce Morrison and Seong-Jin Cho on Sunday in London

Some very interesting music making from the British Croatian pianist Irena Radić at the Royal Albert Hall . A classical coffee morning given by musicians from their next door neighbours of the Royal College of Music .

Irena playing a work by her great uncle that she found in the archives of the RCM and had learnt especially. Kenneth Jones’s very spiky sonata of 1950 Irena played with great authority and rhythmic drive .The knotty fugato of the Rondo Burlesca was unravelled with clarity and a forward insistence

The Prelude of 1948 by another ex RCM student ,Madeleine Dring owed more to Rachmaninov than Herbert Howells or Ralph Vaughan Williams with whom she had studied. A Reichian insistence of almost improvised repetition revealed a palette of sounds of clarity and beauty.

Chopin’s B minor Sonata op 58 was played with grandeur end eloquence. Solid,musicianly playing as you might expect from the class of Dina Parakhina with the repeat in the first movement unusually respected, and the second subject ringing out with noble radiance. A Scherzo that just flew from her fingers, but it was the Trio where she found a sense of line as the music was kept continually flowing. The Largo opened with imperious authority and was an introduction to cantabile playing of beauty and robust sound that was played with great sentiment but never sentimental. The flowing middle episode was shaped with musical authority where Irena gave the musical line great strength and direction. She also found poignant beauty and subtle colouring with the return of the opening melody. The finale : Presto non tanto was played with musicianly control as she added more weight to the Rondò each time it returned, until the final explosion of exhilaration and transcendental excitement brought this very enjoyable recital to a brilliant conclusion.

Irena Radić is an award-winning pianist known for her diverse and engaging performances, ranging from well-known masterworks to hidden gems. Recent highlights include a sell-out recital in Bath featuring Rachmaninoff’s 10 Preludes on a historic Steinway. She has performed at venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, and Wigmore Hall, with upcoming performances of piano sonatas by Chopin and Kenneth V Jones. As a founding member of Duo Ravellion, Irena collaborates with Swedish guitarist Jonatan Bougt, and she has also worked with various musicians across a wide range of chamber music projects.

A graduate of the Royal College of Music, Irena holds a Master of Performance with distinction and a first-class Bachelor of Music. She is a Musicians’ Company Young Artist and Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellow 2024/25. Irena has won numerous awards, including the Teresa Carreño Piano Prize and the Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition. In addition to her concert career, she is a passionate teacher, drawing from her Suzuki method training, and is a Visiting Music Teacher at St Catherine’s School. Irena also has extensive experience in orchestral piano and celeste, performing with prominent conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Bernard Haitink.

Kenneth Victor Jones FRCM (14 May 1924 – 2 December 2020) was a British composer of film scores and concert works, and a conductor

After the war he enrolled at the Royal College of Music (1947-50), where his teachers included R.O.Morris ,Bernard Stevens and Gordon Jacob . He became a professor at the RCM in 1958.

Jones was appointed as conductor to the London Metropolis Symphony Orchestra in 1957, and was the founder and original conductor of The Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra in 1961, where he stayed for ten years. He made his Royal Festival Hall  conducting debut that year. He was also principal conductor at the Sinfonia of London (from 1966), the Hill Singers (1954-60), and the Reigate and Redhill Choral Society (1956-1964).

Jones married a teacher, Anne Marie Heine, in 1945 and there were two children, Frances (born 1949) and Anthony (born 1953). In 1966 he acted as one of the Governors of Rokeby School, helping to raise the £50,000 that was needed to save it from closure in 1966. In the late 1960s their address was 121, Church Road in Wimbledon. By the early 1970s the family had moved away from London and settled in Bishopstone, East Sussex. His wife died in 2009. He died in December 2020 at the age of 96, survived by his daughter and son.

Jones composed many film scores (mostly at Shepperton  and Ealing  studios and for British Transport Films). Among his best known scores are How to Murder a Rich Uncle  (1957), Oscar Wilde  (1961) and The Projected Man  (1966). He also composed incidental music for television and theatre and many concert works, including four sonatas, 44 piano works and six song cycles.Lyrita  released recordings of some of his chamber music for the first time in 2024.

His concert compositions include :

Hesperides, song cycle Piano Sonata, Op.4 (1950) String Quartet No.1, Op.6 (1950) Wind Quintet No.2, Op.2 (1952) Concerto for string orchestra (1956) Concerto for oboe and strings (1963) The Pollock,) orchestral prelude (1963 O Light Invisible, cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1963) Sequences, chamber ensemble (1964) Concert Overture (rev. 1966) Quintet for piano and string quartet, Op.26 (1967) Violin Sonata (1967) Two Contrasts for solo cello (1971) Dialysis, for violin and harpsichord (1973) A Gay Psaltery, harpsichord (1975) Quaquaverse, for saxophone quartet (1979) Quinquifid for brass quintet (1980) Paean for organ (1983) Organ Sonata (1985) Three Sinfonias for orchestra Symphony Violin Concerto song cycles church music

Madeleine Winefride Isabelle Dring (7 September 1923 – 26 March 1977) was an English composer,pianist,singer and actress. Showing talent at an early age and was accepted into the junior department of the Royal College of Music  where she began on her tenth birthday. She was offered scholarships for violin  and piano and chose violin. She studied piano as a secondary instrument, with RCM students guiding her studies for the first several years.She continued at the Royal College for senior-level studies where her composition teacher was Herbert Howells . She had occasional lessons with Ralph Vaughan Williams  (an official substitute for Howells). She dropped the violin study after the death of her instructor, W.H.Reed, at the end of the first year. She focused on piano and composition and studied mime, drama and singing. Dring’s love of theatre and music co-mingled; many of her earliest professional creations were for the stage, radio , and television .

In 1947, she married Roger Lord who was Principal Oboist  with London Symphony Orchestra  for over thirty years. She composed several works for Roger, including Dances for solo oboe. Soon after her marriage, her first pieces were published with Lengnick and with Oxford (1948). The Lords had one son in 1950.Dring’s favourite composer in her youth was Rachmaninov  and she owned much piano and vocal sheet music by Rachmaninov, which is now in the possession of Ro Hancock-Child. Dring studied with Herbert Howells  but her own work shows no debt to his musical style. Occasionally she was taught by Ralph Vaughan Williams  but again there is little obvious influence, and her music does not reflect the English folk song  tradition, although she studied this genre as a singer. She sometimes set a text she had encountered in a solo or choral work, leaving her mark on it. She looked further afield.

In 2018 three volumes of songs were engraved and published as well as four volumes of cabaret and musical revue numbers. Duets and ensembles were also published.

Instrumental

• Italian Dance  (1960) Oboe and Piano
• Fantasy Sonata in one Movement (1938, published 1948), solo piano
• Three Fantastic Variations on Lilliburlero for Two Pianos (1948), two pianos
• Jig (1948), piano
• Prelude and Toccata (1948), piano
• Tarantelle (1948), piano duet
• Festival Scherzo: Nights in the Garden of Battersea (1951), piano and string orchestra;
• Sonata for two pianos (1951)
• March: for the New Year (1954), piano
• Caribbean Dance (Tempo Tobago) (1959), piano duet or solo
• Dance Suite (1961), piano
• Polka (1962), oboe and piano
• Colour Suite (1963), piano
• Danza Gaya (1965), two pianos or oboe and piano (original score housed at Royal College of Music, London)
• Three Dances (1968; Josef Weinberger), piano
• Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Piano (1968)
• Valse française (1980), solo or duo piano * (original scores housed at Royal College of Music, London)
• Three Pieces: WIB Waltz, Sarabande, Tango (1983), flute and piano*
• Waltz (1983), oboe and piano*
• Suite (1984), harmonica and piano (later arranged by Roger Lord for oboe)*
• Trio for oboe, bassoon, and harpsichord (1986)* (original score housed at Royal College of Music, London)
• Idyll for oboe (viola) and piano (The composer’s husband Roger Lord, disappointed that the piece remained unplayed and unpublished for many years, perhaps because of its chromaticism , decided to transcribe the solo part for oboe, his own instrument, to which it is well suited. Idyll was first recorded in 2007 by Thierry Cammaert , oboist of the Quartz Ensemble, a Belgian winds ensemble. The ensemble has also performed the work as a trio for flute, oboe and piano.)

Vocal

• Three Shakespeare Songs (original score housed at Royal College of Music, London), (1949) (Published by Legnick 1949, republished with 4 additional Shakespeare songs, Thames 1992, published as Dring Volume 1)* First performance 10 May 1944 with Ifor Evans, Baritone, Madeleine Dring, Accompanist, performed at the RCM
• Thank you, Lord (1953), vocal, text L. Kyme (not published as composed – Dring did not approve of this edition)
• An additional four songs with texts by L. Kyme were written in 1953. They have now been published.
• The Pigtail (1963) vocal duet, text A. von Chamisso.
• Dedications: Five poems by R. Herrick (1967), vocal suite (published 1992 by Thames as Dring Volume 2)* (original score housed at Royal College of Music, London)
• Love and time: Four Songs (1970s) (published in 1994 by Thames as Dring Volume 5)*
• Four Night Songs: texts of Michael Armstrong (1976), (published 1985 Cambria (US) 1992 Thames as Dring Volume 3)*
• Five Betjeman Songs (1976) (published in 1980 by Weinberger)* (original score housed at Royal College of Music, London)
• Seven Songs for Medium Voice (various compositional dates, compiled and published by Thames in 1993 as Dring Volume 4)*
• Six Songs for High Voice (various compositional dates, compiled and published by Thames in 1999 as Dring Volume 6)* Includes: My true-love hath my heart, Echoes, The Cherry Blooming, The Parting, The Enchantment, Love is a Sickness
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 1: Art Songs and Arrangements: Lyrics of Shakespeare, Herrick, Rossetti, Ellison, Anon, and Arrangements of Horn, Pinsuti, Kjerulf, and Pattison. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 2: Cabaret Songs: All Music and Lyrics of Madeleine Dring. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 3: More Art Songs: Lyrics of Cibber, Marlowe, Goldsmith, Blake, Dring, Longfellow, and Tynan. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 4: More Cabaret Songs: Lyrics of Madeleine Dring and Charlotte Mitchell. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 5: Still More Art Songs, Arrangements, and Love Songs: Lyrics of Herrick, Campbell, Lord, Dring, and Kyme. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 6: Still More Cabaret and Theatre Songs: Lyrics of Dring, Mitchell, Vanbrugh, and Bridie. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 7: Cabaret Duets: Lyrics of Aitken, Breton, Dring, Howitt, Lear, Mitchell, and Rafferty. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 8: Cabaret Ensembles of 3 or More Voices: Lyrics of Dring, Mitchell, and Aitken. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.
• Previously Unpublished Vocal Works Volume 9: Songs from West End Revues: Lyrics of Dring, Mitchell, and Rafferty. Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR. Published 2018 Copyright Simon Lord.

Theatre, drama, and television

Incidental music

• The Emperor and the Nightingale (1941) Performed at the RCM 20 December 1941. No score is available at this time.
• Tobias and the Angel (1946) Incidental music and two songs published 2018
• Somebody’s Murdered Uncle (1947) for BBC radio; Duets: “I should have trusted you darling” and “There’s nothing to stop us now” There are also two quartets: “There’s no such thing as a perfect crime” and “Bloggins, Birch, and Frome,” as well as a solo entitled, “J. Allington Slade.” Songs published 2018
• The Buskers (1959), for which she provided music for the Wedding Song, not located at this time.
• Little Laura Cartoons (1960–61), Dring provided and played music for six episodes. Four episodes were broadcast in New Zealand in 1976.
• The Jackpot Question (1961), for Associated TV, repeated in 1962 with another cast.
• The Whisperers (1961), for ITV Season 7, Episode 7.
• The Provok’d Wife (1963), texts by Vanbrugh: Four pieces typeset by Alistair Fisher. Published in 2018
• The Lady and the Clerk (1964), for Associated TV
• I Can Walk Where I Like, Can’t I? (1964), for Associated TV
• When the Wind Blows (1965), for Associated TV
• Helen and Edward and Henry (1966), for Associated TV
• Variation on a Theme (1966), for Associated TV

Musical revues

• Airs on a Shoestring  (1953) Songs: “Model Models,” “Films on the Cheap Side at Cheapside” “Strained Relations,” and “Snowman” (all lyrics by Charlotte Mitchell), “Sing High, Sing Low” (Lyrics by Madeleine Dring). Songs published 2018
• Pay the Piper (1954) “Pay the Piper” (Lyrics at BL) Location of song scores unknown at this time).
• From Here and There (1955) “Resolutions” and “Life Sentence” (Lyrics Charlotte Mitchell) (Lyrics at BL) (Location of song scores unknown at this time)
• Fresh Airs (1955) “Mother knows,” Sketch “Witchery,” and “Miss Spenser,” (Lyricist Madeleine Dring) (Lyrics at BL, but location of song score for Miss Spenser unknown at this time). Mother knows published 2018
• Child’s Play (1958) Overture, “High in the Pines,” “Love Song,” and “Hearts and Arrows” have been recovered. (Location of scores for four other songs missing this time)) (Lyricist Sean Rafferty) These are not at the BL because Players’ Theatre is a private club and was not censored.
• Four to the Bar (1961) “Diedre” was included in this, also known as “Mother knows” from “Fresh Airs”(Lyricist Madeleine Dring.) An LP was produced by Philips of this music. Published 2018.

Ballet

• Waiting for ITMA (1947), for BBC TV
• The Real Princess (1971), scored for 2 pianos

Opera

• Cupboard Love (performed posthumously 19 December 1983, at St John’s Smith Square by Intimate Opera Company). Published in 2017 by Classical Vocal Reprints, Fayetteville, AR, American staged Premiere in April 2018, Florida State University. European staged premiere Byre Opera, St Andrews University scheduled for June 2019. London staged premiere by The Operatists, Tête à Tête Opera Festival 6 September 2023.

Other compositions

The Scarlet Crabapple, Cygnet Company

The Wild Swans (1950), children’s play, Cygnet Company

The Fair Queen of Wu (1951), dance-drama for BBC TV, Score at RCM

The Marsh Kings’s Daughter (1951), children’s play, Cygnet Company