Mese: gennaio 2026

A room with a view for Nikita Burzanitsa’s birthday in Florence this evening in the Harold Acton Library of the British Institute. Some superb playing, from the absolute clarity of Bach where an improvisatory freedom made the entry of the Toccata even more of a surprise. Ravishing colours in Ravel with an extraordinary control of sound and a kaleidoscope of colours that allowed him to create the mellifluous beauty of ‘Ondine’ passing through the desolation of whispered mystery in ‘Le Gibet’ to the devilish antics of ‘Scarbo’. All played with a poetic mastery that brought these poems of Bertrand vividly to life.

Liszt’s Paganini study n 2 was played with such grace and charm that Nikita’s transcendental command of the keyboard passed almost unnoticed.

The last work on the programme was Prokofiev’s 7 th Sonata. One of his three war sonatas where again Nikita’s astonishing palette of sounds were of a real poet of the keyboard . Transforming this usually brittle sounding sonata into an evocative lament as well a ferocious scream for help and then a fight to the finish.

No encore could follow after such a harrowing and breathtaking experience and it was time for Nikita to let his hair down and enjoy this special day marking his first quarter of a century .

Programme: 

Bach – Toccata in E minor 

I. Toccata. II. Un Poco Allegro III. Adagio IV. Allegro – Fuga

Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit  Ondine – Le Gibet – Scarbo

Liszt – Grand Etudes de Paganini No.2 

Prokofiev – Sonata No.7 Op.83. Allegro inquieto – Andante caloroso – Precipitato

Here is a video of Nikita playing  Prokofiev – Sonata No.7 

Born into a musical family in Donetsk, Ukraine, pianist Nikita Burzanitsa began his studies at seven and trained at the Special Music School for Gifted Children under Professor Nataliya Chesnokova. Awarded a full scholarship to Wells Cathedral School in the UK, he continued his development with John Byrne. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Lang Lang, Steven Hough, Imogen Cooper, Angela Hewitt, and Igor Levit. Nikita has performed across Europe, earning acclaim for his technical mastery and expressive musicality.Bach likely composed the toccata while working as the court organist for Duke Johann Ernst of Weimar, depicted above.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxmAOb8F58Ydjv6Q0VICzNbODiuphQZn09?si=mMmoyXgEMcz1kvzm

This is the first of four recitals organised by Simon Gammell and his team, in partnership with the Keyboard Trust supported by the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/06/15/kasparas-mikuzis-at-la-mortella-creating-magic-sounds-in-waltons-paradise-on-ischia/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/11/13/tomos-boyles-at-steinway-hall-for-the-keyboard-trust-intelligence-and-poetic-artistry-combine/ https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/03/09/alexander-doronin-at-steinways-for-the-keyboard-trust/ Alexander has recently been awarded the Gold Medal at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition

The back of beyond -Bright future for the class of Dmitri Alexeev -Jacky Zhang-Alexander Doronin-Nikita Burzanitsa-Thomas Kelly -JunLin Wu

Bach wrote the Toccata in E minor alongside six other keyboard toccatas, BWV 910-916 , between 1707 and 1710 or 1711, before the age of 30 The Toccata in E minor was likely composed in 1710.Some scholars have suggested potentially later dates of composition His toccatas were influenced by the Italian model of toccata, with varying lively and expressive tempos across each section of the composition, and with between two and six sections per toccata.The toccatas are typically opened by a short, striking toccata section, followed by a fugue, and then a recitative imitating the Italian aria  or German fantasia  forms. One section is always a fugue and fugues frequently conclude the toccatasFugal passages are often considered the most cherished features of the toccatas.

The name Gaspard ” is derived from its original Persian form, denoting “the man in charge of the royal treasures”: “Gaspard of the Night” or the treasurer of the night thus creates allusions to someone in charge of all that is jewel-like, dark, mysterious, perhaps even morose.

Of the work, Ravel himself said: “Gaspard has been a devil in coming, but that is only logical since it was he who is the author of the poems. My ambition is to say with notes what a poet expresses with words.”

Aloysius Bertrand , author of Gaspard de la Nuit (1842), introduces his collection by attributing them to a mysterious old man met in a park in Dijon , who lent him the book. When he goes in search of M. Gaspard to return the volume, he asks, “ ’Tell me where M. Gaspard de la Nuit may be found.’ ‘He is in hell, provided that he isn’t somewhere else’, comes the reply. ‘Ah! I am beginning to understand! What! Gaspard de la Nuit must be…?’ the poet continues. ‘Ah! Yes… the devil!’ his informant responds. ‘Thank you, mon brave!… If Gaspard de la Nuit is in hell, may he roast there. I shall publish his book.'”Gaspard de la Nuit — Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot is the compilation of prosa poems  by Italian-born French poet Aloysius Bertrand Considered one of the first examples of modern prose poetry, it was published in the year 1842, one year after Bertrand’s death from tuberculosis , as a manuscript dated 1836 by his friend David d’Angers The text includes a short address to Victor Hugo and another to Charles Nodier r, and a Memoir of Bertrand written by Sainte – Beuve was included in the original 1842 edition.

This suite of three pieces for piano was inspired by the prose poems of Aloysius Bertrand (1807 – 1841), which were first published posthumously in 1842 under the title Gaspard de la nuit: fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot; they are works of an intense romanticism, fascinated by the mediaeval and the mysterious. Ondine is a water-nymph who seeks a mortal spouse in vain before disappearing in a spray of water drops. Le Gibet depicts an eerie scene at sunset as the corpse of a hanged man swings to and fro on the gibbet. Scarbo is the malevolent gnome who appears in the middle of the night furiously spreading fear and disorder.

Ravel was first introduced to the work by his friend, the pianist Ricardo Viñes who subsequently gave the work’s first performance in Paris on 9 January 1909.

Ravel said that his intention had been “to write piano pieces of transcendental virtuosity which are even more complicated than [Balakirev’s] Islamey“. (Roland – Manuel  [1947] p.54.) Speaking of the third movement Scarbo, he told a pupil, “I wanted to make a caricature of romanticism, but perhaps I let myself be taken over by it.” (Perlemute [1989] p.35). His friend Hélène Jourdan-Morhange was struck however by the classical form to be found in the work: “The three poems chosen by Ravel are quite dissimilar, but because of their perfect musical realisation, they seem to have been intentionally gathered together by the poet. The structure is almost that of a sonata: Allegro, Adagio and a dazzling Finale“. (Perlemuter 1989] p.31).

The author tells an introductory story of how he sat in a garden in Dijon , and fell into conversation with a dishevelled old man who sat near him leafing through a book. The stranger recognizes him to be a poet, and speaks of how he has spent his life searching for the meaning of Art (‘L’art est la science du poète’), and for the elements or principles of Art. The first principle, what was sentiment in Art, was revealed to him by the discovery of some little book inscribed Gott – Liebe (‘Dieu et Amour’, God and Love): to have loved and to have prayed.

Then he became preoccupied by what constituted idea in Art, and, having studied nature and the works of man through thirty years, at the cost of his youth, he wondered if the second principle, that of idea, might be Satan. After a night of storm and colic in the church of Notre-Dame of Dijon, in which clarity shone through the shadows (‘Une clarté piqua les ténèbres’), he concluded that the devil did not exist, that Art existed in the bosom of God, and that we are merely the copyists of the Creator.

Then the old stranger thrusts into the poet’s hand the book, his own manuscript, telling all the attempts of his lips to find the instrument which gives the pure and expressive note – every trial upon the canvas before the subtle dawn-glow of the ‘clair-obscur’ or clarity in shadow appeared there – the novel experiments of harmony and colour, the only products of his nocturnal deliberations. The old man goes off to write his Will, saying he will come back to collect his book tomorrow. The manuscript is, naturally, Gaspard de la Nuit. Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot. The next day the poet returns to restore the book to its owner, who does not come: he asks after M. Gaspard de la Nuit, to which the answer is that he is probably in Hell unless he is out on his travels – for he is, of course, the devil. ‘May he roast there!’ says the poet. ‘I shall publish his book.’

A short preface attributed to Gaspard himself  explains that the artists Paul Rembrandt^] and Jaques Callotrepresent two eternally reverse or antithetic faces of Art: one the philosopher absorbed in meditation and prayer upon the spirits of beauty, science, wisdom and love, seeking to penetrate the symbols of nature, and the other the showy figure who parades about the street, rows in the taverns, caresses bohemian girls, always swears by his rapier, and whose main preoccupation is waxing his moustache. But in considering Art under this double personification he has included studies upon other artists among his poetic meditations, which he has not presented as a formal literary theory because M.Séraphin  has not explained to him the mechanism of his Chinese shadow-plays, and Pulchinello conceals from curious viewers the thread which makes his arm move.

Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7 in B♭ major, Op. 83 (occasionally called the “Stalingrad”)is , the second of the three “War Sonatas”, composed in 1942. The sonata was first performed on 18 January 1943 in Moscow by Sviatoslav Richter.

On June 20, 1939, Prokofiev’s close friend and professional associate, the director Vsevolod Meyerhold, was arrested by the NKVDjust before he was due to rehearse Prokofiev’s new opera Semyon Kotko; he was shot on 2 February 1940. Although his death was not publicly acknowledged, let alone widely known about until after Stalin’s reign, the brutal murder of Meyerhold’s wife, Zinaida Raikh, less than a month after his arrest was a notorious event. Only months afterwards, Prokofiev was ‘invited’ to compose Zdravitsa(literally translated ‘Cheers!’, but more often given the English title Hail to Stalin) (Op. 85) to celebrate Stalin’s 60th birthday

Later that year, Prokofiev started composing his Piano Sonatas Nos, 6 , 7, and 8 Opp. 82–84, widely known today as the “War Sonatas.” These sonatas contain some of Prokofiev’s most dissonant music for the piano. Biographer Daniel Jaffé has argued that Prokofiev, “having forced himself to compose a cheerful evocation of the nirvana Stalin wanted everyone to believe he had created” (i.e. in Zdravitsa) then subsequently, in these three sonatas, “expressed his true feelings” The sonata was awarded a Stalin Prize (Second Class)

The sonata has three movements :

1. Allegro inquieto (in B♭ major)
2. Andante caloroso (in E major)
3. Precipitato (in B♭ major)

Nikita Burzanitsa surprises and thrills at St Pancras Church Euston

Nikita Burzanitsa in Perivale with refound authority and mastery

Derek Wang in London today and tomorrow ( St John’s at one ) with a moving recital in words and music about Liszt’s travels around Switzerland with the Countess Marie d’Agoult (The future mother of Liszt’s three children ).

Derek a superb pianist and a prize winner of the Hastings, who had invited Derek to London into the beautiful salon of Bob and Elisabeth Boas is also an extraordinary actor creating the atmosphere of their discovery of beauty and nature and also about themselves and their innermost feelings.

But it was the music that was played with renewed poetic sensibility together with astonishing mastery that held us mesmerised as we re lived the magic of discovery together. Opening with ‘William Tell’ played with aristocratic control and searing tension. Liszt was to say he had never been able to think of Lake Wallenstadt without weeping. Derek played it bathed in pedal as the melodic line flowed on the lapping waves with refreshing freedom. This was the last piece to be played by Alfred Brendel as an encore in Vienna after his farewell performance with Mozart Concerto K291 ( Jeunehomme !!) .

Derek followed this with the joyous outpouring of ‘Pastorale’ with its questioning ending. ‘Au bord d’une source’ is one of those jewels that was to pour from Liszt’s fingers with refined delicacy and poetic meaning. Derek played it with a wondrous sense of balance playing with beautiful grace and delicacy.

Now Derek was ready to unleash his mighty technical arsenal with ‘Orage’, that he played with passion and startling virtuosity, with extraordinary clarity and burning excitement. At this point Derek abandoned the script that he had on the stand and looked us in the eye as he delved ever deeper into the profound world of poetic beauty with the ‘Vallée d’Obermann’. It was on this wave of emotion that the beautiful tenor melody was floated into the room with innermost intensity. Derek opened up this world of self questioning, turbulent emotions and searing passion, in a performance of masterly architectural control and conviction.Veiled octaves this time, as opposed to ‘Orage’, were merely vibrations of sound to describe the agitation and turbulence of a disturbed soul. ‘Eclogue’ was a refreshing interlude full of radiance and sunshine. ‘Le Mal du pays’ on the other hand was where Derek found sombre sounds of great suggestion and nostalgia – rumblings from within or without ? As Liszt was to say, quoted by Derek : ‘The life of an artist is a long dissonance with no resolution’. However Derek finished with the glorious radiance of hope and beauty that is in ‘Les cloches de Genève’, creating with mastery another masterpiece from this suite of nine scenes of travel.

Derek Wang at the Fazioli Concert Hall – A master musician and poetic virtuoso.

Robert Mc Duffie – The Devil in disguise ignites the Vatican with his annual RCMF Festival

Années de pèlerinage S.160/161/162/163 is a set of three suites  for solo piano by Franz Liszt. Much of it (the first suite in particular) derives from an earlier work, Album d’un voyageur, his first major published piano cycle, which was composed between 1835 and 1838 and published in 1842 Années de pèlerinage is widely considered as the masterwork and summation of Liszt’s musical style. While the first two offerings are often considered music of a young man, the third volume is notable as an example of his later style. Composed well after the first two volumes, it displays less virtuosity and more harmonic experimentation.

Première année: Suisse” (“First Year: Switzerland”), S.160, was published in 1855. Composed between 1848 and 1854, most of the pieces (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9) are revisions of Album d’un voyageur: Part 1: Impressions et Poesies and Part 2: Fleurs mélodiques des Alpes. “Au lac de Wallenstadt” (No. 2) and “Au bord d’une source” (No. 4) received only minor revisions, while “La Chapelle de Guillaume Tell” (No. 1), “Vallée d’Obermann” (No. 6), and especially “Les cloches de Genève” (No. 9) were more extensively rewritten. “Églogue” (No. 7) was published separately, and “Orage” (No. 5) was included as part of the definitive version of the cycle.

1. Chapelle de Guillaume Tell  in C major – For this depiction of the Swiss struggle for liberation Liszt chooses a motto from Schiller as caption, “All for one – one for all.” A noble passage marked lento opens the piece, followed by the main melody of the freedom fighters. A horn call rouses the troops, echoes down the valleys, and mixes with the sound of the heroic struggle
2. Au lac de Wallenstadt in A♭ major – Liszt’s caption is from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage  (Canto III, stanza 85): “Thy contrasted lake / With the wild world I dwell in is a thing / Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsake / Earth’s troubled waters for a purer spring.” In her Mémoires, Liszt’s mistress and traveling companion of the time, Marie d’Agoult, recalls their time by Lake Wallenstadt, writing, “Franz wrote for me there a melancholy harmony, imitative of the sigh of the waves and the cadence of oars, which I have never been able to hear without weeping.”^[6]
3. Pastorale in E major – This piece is a revision of the third from the second book of the earlier Album, with its central section removed in the process.
4. Au born dune source  in A♭ major – Liszt’s caption is from Schiller: “In the whispering coolness begins young nature’s play.”
5. Orage  in C minor – Liszt’s caption is again from Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage  (Canto III, canto 96): “But where of ye, O tempests! is the goal? / Are ye like those within the human breast? / Or do ye find, at length, like eagles, some high nest?”
6. Vallée d’Obermann (Obermann’s Valley) in E minor – Inspired by Étienne Pivert de Senancour’s novel of the same title, set in Switzerland, with a hero overwhelmed and confused by nature, suffering from ennui and longing, finally concluding that only our feelings are true The captions include one from Byron’s succeeding canto 97, (“Could I embody and unbosom now / That which is most within me,–could I wreak / My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw / Soul–heart–mind–passions–feelings–strong or weak– / All that I would have sought, and all I seek, / Bear, know, feel–and yet breathe–into one word, / And that one word were Lightning, I would speak; / But as it is, I live and die unheard, / With a most voiceless thought, sheathing it as a sword”) and two from Senancour’s Obermann, which include the crucial questions, “What do I want? Who am I? What do I ask of nature?”
7. Eglogue  in A♭ major – Liszt’s caption is from the next canto of the Pilgrimage: “The morn is up again, the dewy morn, / With breath all incense, and with cheek all bloom, / Laughing the clouds away with playful scorn, / And living as if earth contained no tomb!”
8. Le mal du pays (Homesickness) in E minor –The work is prefaced by a quotation from the ‘Troisième fragment’ of Senancour’s Obermann: ‘De l’expression romantique, et du ranz des vaches’ (‘on Romantic expression, and the Swiss pastoral melody employed in the calling of the cows’)—‘Le romanesque séduit les imaginations vives et fleuries; le romantique suffit seul aux âmes profondes, la véritable sensibilité …’ (‘The Romanesque attracts those of lively and florid imagination; the Romantic satisfies only profound souls, real sensitivity …’).
9. Les cloches de Genève: Nocturne in B major – Liszt’s caption is from stanza 72, earlier in the Byron’s Pilgrimage: “I live not in myself, but I become / Portion of that around me”.

I have heard Nicolas Ventura many times during his studies in London with varied repertoire and even a magnificent performance of Prokofiev’s 3rd Concerto at Cadogan Hall . But I never thought that his inquisitive musicianship would lead to a recital of works that I have never heard before.

Nicolas just added (en passant!!!) ‘ By the way, I just noticed in the programme it was not mentioned that the Suite is my transcription and was the premiere of it (first time playing it live). That’s why you couldn’t have heard it anywhere else before’

Prokofiev’s ‘Old Grandmother Tales’ I had heard from Iso Elinson when I was a child but never since.

Nicolas is now being mentored by Dina Parakhina whose advocacy of the works of Medtner is much appreciated by a discerning public . Nicolas following in her footsteps bringing us today neglected works of Prokofiev and Bloch with masterly performances of astonishing poetic conviction

This vintage Bosendorfer at St Olave’s in the shadow of the ‘Tower of London ‘ not to say the ‘Guerkin’ and ‘Shard’, I have heard many pianists play with differing success. Today Nicolas found the noble pedigree of this instrument imbuing it with colours and pedal effects that I would not have thought possible until today .

Brendel was fond of saying there are no such things as bad pianos only bad pianist! Brendel was never wrong!

Nicolas Ventura takes Cadogan Hall by storm with the YMSO under James Blair

Nicolas Ventura an artist of maturity and stature at St James’s Piccadilly .

Nicolas Ventura at St Mary Le Strand Elegance and Beauty combine with intelligence and mastery

Tales of an Old Grandmother . op.31 (Russian: Сказки старой бабушки, romanized: Skazki staroy babushki) is a set of four piano pieces composed in 1918 and premiered by the composer himself on January 7 the following year in New York City.It was composed during Prokofiev’s exile in the United States after the outbreak of the Russian Revolution. An arrangement for orchestra also exists. Prokofiev’s pianistic output of this period is scarce since he put all his efforts into composing his opera The Love of Three Oranges . He also composed, around that time, Four Pieces, Op. 32. Both were written in order to mitigate his economic situation because of the delay of the opera’s premiere; however, he did not obtain the money in royalties he expected for them.

The set of works describes an old grandmother narrating tales to her young grandson who listens carefully in her lap. It is full of nostalgia, with all the movements written in minor keys Tales of Old Grandmother, Op. 31 by Prokofiev is based on a fairy tale theme and can be considered as both a most valuable pedagogical piece for young students and as a piece for the concert repertoire. However, this piece was under-appreciated by most piano performers and piano pedagogues for many years, even though it was praised by several well-known composers and was often played by other pianists and Prokofiev himself. The main aim of this study is to promote the Tales so that they will be performed and taught more often. All of the complex harmonic language, unique unforgettable lyricism and Prokofiev’s typical compositional elements are presented in this score, allowing it to serve as a great concert repertoire choice. At the same time, the simple format setting, less demanding technique and the fairy tale theme can easily catch and hold a children’s interest. Therefore, Tales of Old Grandmother contains both performance value and pedagogical value. This premise is achieved through a discussion of Prokofiev’s unfailing interest in fairy tales and comparisons between Tales of Old Grandmother with Prokofiev’s advanced piano works and with his Music for Children, Op. 65.

The Scythian Suite, Op. 20 is an orchestral suite written in 1915.

Prokofiev originally wrote the music for the ballet Ala i Lolli, the story of which takes place among the Scythians . Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev , the ballet was written to a scenario by Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky . But when Diaghilev rejected the score even before its completion, the composer reworked the music into a suite for concert performance.

The suite was premiered on 29 January 1916 at the Marinsky Theatre  in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer.

A scheduled Moscow performance of the suite that December was cancelled at the last minute due to the difficulty of finding musicians to play the piece; it called for an enlarged orchestra and, as many performers had been mobilized due to World War 1 enough players could not be found. Nevertheless, the Moscow music critic Leonid Sabaneyev gave the music a scathing review. Prokofiev responded that the supposed performance must have been a product of Sabaneyev’s imagination, as the only copy of the score was in the composer’s hands and thus he had not even been able to see it.

The suite is in four movements and lasts around 20 minutes.

1. Invocation to Velesand Ala – barbaric and colourful music describing the Scythians’ invocation of the sun
2. The Evil God and the Dance of the Pagan Monsters (also known as “The Alien God and the Dance of the Evil Spirits”) – as the Scythians make a sacrifice to Ala, daughter of Veles, the Evil God performs a violent dance surrounded by seven monsters
3. Night – the Evil God harms Ala; the Moon Maidens descend to console her
4. The Glorious Departure of Lolli and the Cortège of the Sun – Lolli, the hero, comes to save Ala; the Sun God assists him in defeating the Evil God. They are victorious, and the suite ends with a musical picture of the sunrise

Although it is not a strictly programmatic work per se, Bloch’s 1936 Visions and Prophecies—a five-movement piece for solo piano—is an emotional, spiritual, and dramatic evocation of sentiments, incidents, proclamations, or characters in the Hebrew Bible. For the pianist on this recording, David Holzman, the movements representing biblical visions are clearly distinguishable from those reflecting prophecies. And in Bloch’s own interpretation of the work, he identifies or intuits—albeit admittedly tentatively (“to some extent”)—specific biblical personalities:

After the portentious introduction (the modal scale clearly gives the work a “Jewish color”), the wailing melody evokes Jeremiah. The motionless twinkle of the second movement hints at the vision of Jacob’s ladder. The harsh violence of the third summons up Micah reviling the sins of the tribes of Israel. The beauty and tranquility of the fourth movement prepares the way for the final movement, a complex war among all the conflicting motives, and ends with the eternity of the universe, unswayed by the passions and hatred which embroiled the world.

The first movement is marked Moderato; the second, Poco lento; the third is also Moderato; the indication of the fourth movement is Adagio, piacevole; and the final movement is Poco agitato. 

The writing throughout the piece is characterized by an interplay between pianistically idiomatic tone clusters (prominent from the outset in the first movement) and expositions of continuously unfolding melody—especially in the second and fourth movements. Elsewhere, there are shorter, biting melodic and rhythmic motives, as in the third movement, where a mood of controlled fury is portrayed. The fourth movement is generally reflective and meditative in spirit—almost dreamlike, and lean in its clarity. All these elements are juxtaposed against one another in the finale, as the agitation ebbs and flows and as the movement builds to a penultimate climax that fades to a calm, resolute conclusion.

Some superb playing from Jeremy Chan in that oasis of beauty and peace that is St Mary’s Perivale

The beauty of the surrounding countryside was enhanced by the beauty of Mozart, Bach Shostakovich and Franck . If music be the food of love play on………..!

I have heard Jeremy play on many occasions, the first in Angela Hewitt’s masterclasses in Perugia when he had just obtained his degree in English Literature at Durham University. He has since gone on to dedicate himself, without distraction, to music, obtaining his Artist’s Diploma last summer from the Guildhall in London. His playing has now grown quite considerably in stature since that very first time in Italy https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/08/24/angelas-generosity-and-infectious-song-and-dance-inspires-her-illustrious-students/

He ended the concert in Perivale with the ‘Prelude Chorale and Fugue’ by César Franck, which is a work that I have heard him play in concerts previously. It was played with great authority as the improvised ‘Prelude’ was sustained from the bass that gave an architectural shape to a movement that in lesser hands can seem very fragmented. The ‘Chorale’ unwound with great beauty the chords finding a glistening radiance with the top notes shining brightly. There was an ease and naturalness to his playing that allowed the climax and glorious exultation of the ‘Chorale’ to grow from the deep bass notes that were the anchor on which this work is based. The ‘Fugue’ was played with simplicity and clarity as it built up ever more intensely with passionate conviction and sumptuous full sounds. Out of this climax emerges the magic cloud of sounds with which the ‘Prelude’ had opened and which Jeremy played with such unforced simplicity . Never underlining the melodic line but allowing it to magically emerge as gradually Franck combines all three melodic strands together in a tumultuous climax of strength and exhilaration. But above all from Jeremy’s hands a sense of exultation and revelation.

You can read a more detailed review in the articles below.

The ‘little’ D major Sonata by Mozart I have not heard Jeremy play before and it was a surprise that he could play with such simplicity but also bringing such operatic character to the first and last movements A brilliance as one phrase answered another in a beguiling musical conversation of spirited energy and eloquence. Whilst the ‘Allegro con spirito’ was all brilliance and extraordinary musical invention,not least the quiet calming final bars of refined elegance after such scintillating ebullience.There was a charm and grace to the Rondó, which is by far the longest of the three movements, because Mozart could not contain his inventive genius. Jeremy brought to it a sense of discovery every time the Rondó theme reappeared and there was a real operatic feel to the scene that was being played out with such enjoyment before our very eyes. The ‘Andante con expressione’ central movement is one of those sublime moments that marks Mozart out as a Genius. It was played with a refined beauty of poignant meaning with a subtle palette of colours which enhanced this extraordinary movement.

It is rare to see just one Prelude and Fugue on a concert programme but Jeremy had cleverly combined it with two by Shostakovich that were directly inspired by Bach. Shostakovich was on the jury of the Bach Competition in Leipzig when he was inspired by Tatyana Nikolaeva’s playing to write his own which he dedicated to her. The Bach in E flat Book 1 was played with radiance as Jeremy used freely the pedal to add to the mellifluous beauty of the prelude almost as an improvisation before the great character he brought to the fugue.

Its was the same improvised freedom that he brought to Shostakovich op 87 n. 3. It’s great opening declamation played in unison between the hands with it’s majestic opening of reverberating sounds. It was in startling contrast with the Fugue that was a frenzy of knotty twine played with scintillating clarity and rhythmic energy. The sonorous bass of op 87 n. 12 was contrasted with the bold contours of the fugue that was played with dynamic drive and searing conviction.

Jeremy Chan is an award-winning concert pianist based in London. He holds an Artist Diploma as well as a Masters degree with Concert Recital Diploma from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He also obtained a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Durham University. In 2023 and 2024, Jeremy won both the Guildhall Beethoven Prize and the Guildhall Romantic Prize. He also won second prize at the Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition. In July 2023, he made his concerto debut at St John’s Smith Square with the London City Orchestra playing Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. In the summer of 2023, he was invited to work with pianist Angela Hewitt for a week in Italy. He has made appearances in festivals such as the London Piano Festival and Un Piano Sous Les Arbes in France. 

Jeremy has performed in different venues including Kings Place, Steinway Hall London, St John’s Smith Square, Silk Street Concert Hall, Milton Court Concert Hall, Salle Gilles Lefebvre, Durham University Concert Hall and City Lit Recital Room. Jeremy has worked with and received great insight from world-renowned musicians such as Angela Hewitt, Dame Imogen Cooper, Sir Stephen Hough, Jonathan Biss, André Laplante, Jean Saulnier, Dmitri Alexeev, Ilya Poletaev, Graham Scott and Katya Apekisheva. Jeremy is also an avid chamber musician and is currently a member of the Wayfarer Trio with cellist William Lui and clarinettist Kosuke Shirai. In 2025, Jeremy completed his Artist Diploma at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Noriko Ogawa, Charles Owen and Ronan O’ Hora.

Alongside his performing career, Jeremy is an active writer on classical music. He publishes regularly on his Substack newsletter On Music & Making   featuring concert reviews, essays, and conversations with leading musical figures. 

Jeremy Chan ‘Miracles at Milton Court’

Jeremy Chan Young Artists Recital at Bechstein Hall ‘Intelligence and Artistry combine with words in music’

Jeremy Chan at Steinway Hall for the Keyboard Trust

Anna Bonitatibus and Adele D’Aronzo with courage bringing Rossini to the Wigmore Hall. Bringing many unusual and even unpublished works including a world première of a work discovered at an auction at Christie’s in 2023 . ‘L’esule’ was just one of the rarities of the genial outpouring of Rossini. He may have retired from writing opera in return for the good life , but he could never stop his musical invention . Péchés de Vieillesse and many miniatures, album leaves and even solo piano slipped from his pen with ease .

Of course his genius was in creating a completely new genre of Opera.

Anna singing with a sumptuous radiance from the whispered beauty of his very first composition of the ‘Mill girl’s wishes’ passing through the ravishing beauty of Metastasio’s ‘Lament in silence’ to the grandiosity of Rossini’s Farewell (Vienna was genially changed to Paris!) as he was Honoured in Paris with the Legion of Honour just after the première of ‘William Tell’. The artists from the Paris Opéra serenaded him beneath his window when he was at the height of his fame .

Three salon pieces for solo piano were performed by Adele whilst Anna got her breath back!

One of them was dedicated to a pupil of Chopin and daughter of the banker de Rothschild . Adele playing with great style as you might expect from the school of Sergio Perticaroli in Rome

What a week at the Wigmore ‘Academy’ with Nelson Goerner bringing the sunshine of Spain with Albeniz’s complete Iberia

Nelson Goerner at the Wigmore Hall The magic world of Albeniz revealed in all its glory

And Graham Johnson with Christopher Maltman with a Schubert Lieder recital

Christopher Maltman and Graham Johnson at the Wigmore Hall.A Schubertiade of radiance and beauty

Now this great Italian diva bringing the glories of the world of Rossini.

The Wiggies may flock to hear their favourites but the eclectic choice of programmes these days at the Wigmore Hall is unique and is a continual voyage of discovery.

Imogen Cooper on Sunday with her farewell tour of the complete Schubert Impromptus too .

Imogen Cooper a Shubertiade of radiance and beauty at the National Liberal Club

‘This is the week that is ’ indeed !

Welcome to the web-site of Anna Bonitatibus: news, events, and projects of one of the most acclaimed artists on the international operatic and concert landscape!

https://annabonitatibus.com

The Anti-Diva, as she likes to describe herself, is renowned for the noble passion with which she interprets titles between the most famous of ‘teatro musicale’, as well as the tireless commitment with which she promotes the divulgation of a rarer repertoire.

Premio Abbiati del Disco 2024:  Monologues;  Halle Handel Preize 2023; Bärenreiter Ambassador; winner of the International Opera Awards 2015 for Semiramide — La Signora regale; Best Female Voice nomination, International Opera Awards 2016. Latest recording: MONOLOGUES, Prospero, 2023. and the rare and precious Péchés de Vieillesse  by the ‘pesarese’.

Anna Bonitatibus is renowned for the noble passion with which she interprets titles between the most famous of ‘teatro musicale’, as well as the tireless commitment with which she promotes a rarer repertoire. More than seventy operas performed, from Claudio Monteverdi’s masterpieces to titles back to proscenium by Francesco Cavalli (Didone, Ercole amante, Calisto) crossing Händel’s operatic production (Agrippina, Deidamia, Giulio Cesare, Orlando, Tamerlano, Tolomeo, Ottone, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno) as well as composers from the Neapolitan school, from Pergolesi to Cimarosa, and her beloved Gioachino Rossini: La Cenerentola, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L’Italiana in Algeri, Il Viaggio a Reims, Tancredi, and furthermore Cantate, Masses and the rare and precious Péchés de Vieillesse  by the ‘pesarese’.

As the embodiment of Cherubino from the Daponteian Le Nozze di Figaro, she has become one of the most acclaimed performers of Mozart. Then follows Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Mitridate Re di Ponto, La Clemenza di Tito, as well as sacred and profane repertoire by the Salzburgian composer. The Mezzo-soprano’s wide repertoire includes Messa da Requiem, Giuseppe Verdi, Ginevra di Scozia, Simon Mayr, Enrico di Borgogna by Donizetti interpreted with great success at the Donizetti Opera, Bergamo (2018). The French repertoire includes Carmen, a role brilliantly debuted in Madrid (2018) and L’Enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel, Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz and Gounod as well as Les contes d’Hoffmann by Offenbach, Werther and Don Quichotte by Massenet.

From first steps at the Teatro alla Scala, to Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Opéra comique in Parigi, to the Teatro Real in Madrid, La Monnaie in Bruxelles, Staatsoper in Vienna, to Royal Opera House in London, Festivals (Salzburg, Florence, Munich, Bologna, Grange) and to the most renowned international concert halls (from Russia to United States), Anna Bonitatibus collaborated with the most acclaimed conductors, directors and artists such as: Charles Mackerras, Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, René Jacobs, William Christie, Ivor Bolton, Myung Whun Chung, Alan Curtis, Roberto Abbado, Ottavio Dantone, Marc Minkowski, Raphael Pichon, Stefano Montanari, Angela Hewitt, Andrea Lucchesini and Luca Ronconi, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Dario Fo, David McVicar, Laurent Pelly, David Alden, Jonathan Miller, Kasper Holten, Emilio Sagi, Irina Brook, Ivo van Hove, David Bösch, Mariame Clément, Tobias Kratzer, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Valérie Lesort; among the many colleagues on stage: Michele Pertusi, Christian Gerhaher, Rockwell Blake, Barbara Frittoli, Juan Diego Florez, Cecilia Bartoli, Simon Keenlyside, Sabine Devieilhe, Franco Fagioli, Angela Georghiu, Patrizia Ciofi, Michael Spyres, Thomas Allen, Roberto Alagna, Vivica Genaux, Lisette Oropesa, Magdalena Kožená, Philippe Jarrousky, Aleksandra Kurzac.

Interpreter of numerous Recitals of which she personally curates the programs, the most recent includes: “Beethoven and Rossini”, “Beyond the Borders: Music and Musicians of the New Europe” (Wigmore Hall);  “Prime Donne – from Margherita Durastanti to Adelaide Malanotte” (Händel Festival, Karlsruhe); “Tanti affetti: Rossini e le sue Muse” (Rossini Opera Festival); “Cantori e Maestri” (I Festival Toscanini, Parma).

In 2021 she debuted at the Hamburg’s Staatsoper with Händel’s Agrippina (Barry Kosky’s production), with the same title and production she returned at the Bayerische Staastoper in May 2022 greeted with enormous success. A double debut took place during Summer 2022, at the Aix en Provence Festival in Mozart’s Idomeneo;  during the Autumn of the same year she sung in Verdi’s Messa di Requiem on tour with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano (Italy, Netherlands, Spain). 2023 opens in the name of Händel: debut in Alcina – Ruggiero – on tour with Marc Minkowski and his Les Musiciens du Louvre (Paris, Bordeaux, Hamburg, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia) and which will be concluded in February 2024 at the Teatro alla Scala; inauguration of the Händel Halle Festival with her first Serse : at the end of the performance she has been awarded of the Händel Preis 2023. In the same year, for the First Respighi Festival (Bologna), she performed the lyric poem Il Tramonto.

Alongside her artistic activity, Anna Bonitatibus is engaged in the research and promotion of Lirica italiana da camera through the Publishing House “Consonarte – Vox in Musica”, that she founded in London.

In February 2024 Alcina, with Marc Minkowski and LMDL, will be published (Pentatone); her recent album Monologues, (Prospero, 2023) is dedicated to monologues set to music of characters from mythology, history & literature, recorded with Adele D’Aronzo. Among her most successful recordings: Semiramide – La Signora regale (DHM), International Opera Awards 2015; en travesti (BR Klassik); La Tempesta, Marianna Martines (DHM); «Canti italiani», Beethoven (Consonarte). In DVD: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Hardy-RaiTrade), La Didone & Ercole amante (OpusArte), Così fan tutte (Arthaus), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Virgin Classic). Available in streaming: La Clemenza di Tito & Lucio Silla (La Monnaie, Bruxelles), L’Italiana in Algeri (Staatsoper, Vienna).

Anna Bonitatibus – Bio EN | January 2024

Evelina Antemisari piano

Chopin – Ballade No.3 in A flat major, Op.47
Debussy – Images (Book I) 
Khachaturian – Masquerade Suite

It was nice to hear Evelina Antemisari at St Olave’s today A beautiful church dedicated to helping and following the progress of young musicians studying in London. A church that has a piano of German pedigree still with a noble voice to resound around this historic church surrounded by modern monsters of Guerkins and Diamond shaped high rise office blocks.

A student of Kostantinos Destonis in Greece who I well remember playing here when he was studying for his PHD.

And now his student filling this same space with Chopin, Debussy and Khachaturian as she too pursues a musical pedigree at the Royal College under the guidance of the distinguished pianist Dina Parakhina.

Early days yet but playing of great musicianship and style . Despite her small hand she allowed Chopin’s third Ballade to flow with luminosity with a flowing tempo and playing of great delicacy and timeless beauty.

Debussy’s first book of Images where her reflections in water were of great sensitivity and a kaleidoscope of colour. Streams of notes out of which emerged the melodic line with passionate conviction before dying away to a mere whisper. Her ‘Homage a Rameau’ was played with aristocratic nobility and control with a very atmospheric ending . A remarkable sense of line allowed her to steer her way with authority through the continuous outpouring of notes that cover the entire keyboard in the final ‘ Mouvement ‘

Ending with Khachaturians ever popular Masquerade Suite she brought each of the five pieces vividly to life with verve and style.

An encore from an enthusiastic public was her way of thanking a very full church for battling with the elements for a moment of peace and beauty next to the Tower of London in the heart of the city

Evelina Antemisari (Athens, August 30th, 2005). At the age of 6 she started studying Piano with her mother-piano teacher Chrissa Diagourta. Her piano professors: Katerina Papadakou(2014-16), Dimitris Toufexis(2016-22), Konstantinos Destounis(2022-present). At the age of 14 she was awarded a Professor’s and Performer’s Piano Diploma with «Excellent, a 1st prize and the Gold Medal of the Philharmonic Conservatory». She also plays the Violin and the Alto Saxophone at a high level. Other music Diplomas: Diploma of Harmony with a grade of «Excellent» (Philharmonic Conservatory, T.Broutzakis, 2020) Grade 6 Music Theory Diploma (T.Broutzakis,ABRSM,2021) Grade 8 Violin Diploma (G.Mandylas,ABRSM,2021). She studied at Pierce -The American College of Greece with a Music Scholarship (2017-23) She has been a member of Pierce’s Orchestra and of the award winning Rosarte Choir. She is currently studying piano performance at the Royal College of Music with Prof Dina Parakhina

Sofia Sacco swimming in sounds of radiance and questioning beauty. From the fluidity of Couperin through the improvisations of Bach to the magical world of Kurtág and surprisingly Shostakovich.

There was a beautiful fluidity to the first of the pieces by Couperin with the whispered sounds that she brought to ‘Les barricades’ before the Scarlattian clarity and brilliance of ‘L’anguille’. Brilliance too with ‘Le tic -toc-choc’ but also a beguiling rhythmic energy. Finishing this group with the refined delicacy and beauty of the whispered asides of ecstatic radiance of ‘Les ombres errantes’.

An opening that immediately showed the beauty of sound and refined musicianship that she was to bring to the entire recital. Her loose flowing gown allowed her to swim in musical waters with florid horizontal movements that could caress the keys with great sensitivity giving access to a kaleidoscopic sound world of chameleonic beauty.

A timeless improvisatory world opened up with Bach’s E minor Toccata. An opening declaration was followed by a whispered fugato of radiant beauty and a moment of silence before a searching recitativo of extraordinary sensitivity. Another long pause and silence before the complete change of character with the Toccata that at first seemed at breakneck speed but which she keep under complete control and also sotto voce with an exhilarating rhythmic impetus as it built up into joyous almost outrageous Busonian glory. A very original interpretation of sensitivity, imagination and scholarship showing the technical command that were the very raison d’être of Bach’s seven Toccatas.

It was now that Sofia’s fantasy world of colour and imagination could be revealed with a beguiling mix of Kurtág and Shostakovich. An extraordinary multitude of sounds with Kurtág’s ‘Eine Blume’ barely whispered but then bursting into burning intensity with notes ‘pummelled’ with fists, not with violence but with reverberations of vibrating urgency. Shostakovich was to enter sharing the same sound world so naturally with the fugue n. 14, full of mystery and pastoral calm. Little did we suspect that Kurtág’s ‘Perpetuum mobile’ would be streams of glissandi played with varying intensity and great fantasy but finishing like Beethoven with a final definitive ‘clout’ ! Waves of sound were continued with Shostakovich n. 7 as Kurtág’s ‘Quiet talk with the Devil’ entered with whispered bass notes full of mystery and questioning energy only to finish with an astonishing moment of silence. Shostakovich was now ready to make his presence felt with the magisterial outpouring of n. 19 with his dynamic almost punched out fugue. Kurtág playing with infinity as a left hand scale crawled from the top to the bottom of the keyboard with strange reverberations imposed on its infinite journey. This was transformed into the waltz that was Kurtág’s ‘Hommage à Shostakovich’ with fists full of notes bouncing like a ‘kitten on the keys’ in vague waltz time. No one can doubt the impish sense of humour of a musician who could terrify his colleagues with his burgeoning insistence. Now Shostakovich had the field with his spiky almost Prokofiev style fugue. A brilliant mix that made me want to hear more and explore the sound world of Shostakovich and Kurtág.

Nikolaeva to whom the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues were dedicated, gave me her original box set of recordings but I have never had the courage to listen as I am not an admirer of the post revolution Russian violence towards the piano. Sofya today showed me a side of Shostakovich of fantasy and beauty that touched me deeply.

Having broken the spell Sofya was persuaded with two bouquets of flowers and much applause to share with us Kabalevsky’s Prelude and Fugue in C op 61 ‘Becoming a Younger Pioneer’ which she played with remarkable technical ease and conviction. But she was now preaching to the converted!

Sofia Sacco at St Martin in the Fields sensitive artistry combined with technical mastery holds us spell bound

Sofia Sacco at St Mary’s

Kurtág began the composition of Játékok to try to recapture something of the spirit of a child’s play He started with a few ideas set out in the foreword to the first four volumes:

The idea of composing Játékok was suggested by children playing spontaneously, children for whom the piano still means a toy. They experiment with it, caress it, attack it and run their fingers over it. They pile up seemingly disconnected sounds, and if this happens to arouse their musical instinct they look consciously for some of the harmonies found by chance and keep repeating them.

Thus, this series does not provide a tutor, nor does it simply stand as a collection of pieces. It is possibly for experimenting and not for learning “to play the piano”. Pleasure in playing, the joy of movement – daring and if need be fast movement over the entire keyboard right from the first lessons instead of the clumsy groping for keys and the counting of rhythms – all these rather vague ideas lay at the outset of the creation of this collection.

Playing is just playing. It requires a great deal of freedom and initiative from the performer. On no account should the written image be taken seriously but the written image must be taken extremely seriously as regards the musical process, the quality of sound and silence. We should trust the picture of the printed notes and let it exert its influence upon us. The graphic picture conveys an idea about the arrangement in time of the even the most free pieces. We should make use of all that we know and remember of free declamation, folk-music, parlando-rubato, of Gregorian chant, and of all that improvisational musical practice has ever brought forth. Let us tackle bravely even the most difficult task without being afraid of making mistakes: we should try to create valid proportions, unity and continuity out of the long and short values – just for our own pleasure!

Some extraordinary playing of great authority and mastery. Sumptuous sounds of a musician who digs deep into the keys with a limpet type touch and finds golden sounds of ravishing beauty and monumental importance. A fascinating programme too with four short works by lady composers before the F minor Sonata by Brahms that Robert Schumann was to call ‘veiled symphonies’. Such is the monumental importance of all three of his piano sonatas written long before he would dare write his four actual symphonies. Mark Viner has long been an advocate of Cécile Chaminade who wrote an enormous amount of piano music rarely heard in the concert hall these days as it has for too long been considered rather lightweight and dated. Edward chose two of her piano pieces that are full of charm, a ravishing sense of balance and scintillating jeux perlé pianism.

‘Automne’ is one of her best known works and would be on the piano stand of most houses, before the advent of the television. Together with Salut d’Amour, Rustle of Spring and of course Spring Song,little did the amateur pianists realise that there was more to ‘Automne’ than just a beguiling nostalgic melody. Edward showed us today the beauty of the melodic line played with real artistry and a rubato that had us hanging on to every note right to the very last one, at the top of the piano with the left hand coming to the rescue with a teasing last word! But this was also one of six studies and the central episode ( like the second and third movements of the ‘Moonlight Sonata ‘ ) were certainly not for music loving amateur pianists. These outburst of brilliance and passionate abandon were played with authority and clarity of sound as Edward swept across the keyboard with a rotation of his whole body that gave weight to all he played. The return of the poignant opening melody was played with ever more tenderness after such torrents of notes, ending with whispers of ravishing subtle beauty.

Nadia Boulanger was certainly not a salon pianist but one of the most important musicians of her time and a catalyst for so many musicians who passed through her studio in Paris. Woe betide anyone that came to her studio who was not 100% awake and ready to sing fugue subjects or transpose works at the drop of a hat. Composers would flock to her for precious advice given with absolute integrity and honesty. Gershwin asked to join her class and she refused to teach someone whose natural talent might be ruined by a tight jacket of rules and regulations. So it was fascinating to hear a piano work of hers today. Dinu Lipatti was a prodigy of hers and there are recordings of them playing together but mainly Mademoiselle spoke more of her sister ,Lilly, who had died tragically at a very early age leaving many compositions that showed the promise denied her by the cruel destiny that was to await her and also Lipatti https://youtu.be/IdiBa9HhjZ0 This was a fascinating discovery with the thick chords of imposing authority that like Busoni are searching for a new musical language. Giving way to bell like sounds spread over the entire keyboard with a chordal chorale in its midst floating into oblivion.

Edward after this rather serious digression turned to the simple charm and almost nursery rhyme simplicity of Chaminade’s Thème varié. Variations spread over the entire keyboard with Mendelssohnian jeux perlé brilliance always with the charm of the theme ever present until the triumphant final outpouring of mellifluous glory.

Clara Schumann’s Romance ,on the other hand, is a charming outpouring of song with its beautiful legato melody and simple accompaniment and poignant ending of great delicacy. Obviously a work that she would have included in her recitals as the first important lady concert pianist much in demand, even though she bore her husband Robert eight children and was seriously courted by Brahms after her husbands early death in a mental asylum!

The Brahms F minor sonata is a monumental work in five movements, the last of the three that Schumann was to call ‘veiled symphonies’. The difficulty is not so much technical as musical in the first movement. Keeping the tension through taught rhythmic precision whilst allowing for an almost improvised fantasy to unwind is only for masterly musicians. The clarity and rhythmic precision that Edward brought to the sonata allowed him to show us the full architectural shape of this master work. The ‘Andante’ was allowed to unfold with ravishing beauty bursting into passionate outpourings of noble sentiment. The coda is one of those magic moments where the whispered almost religious outpouring gradually builds in intensity to a most passionately exhilarating climax. Dying away to an intense whispered ‘Adagio’ with chords that gradually extinguish themselves with fervent simplicity. The ‘Scherzo’ just shot from Edwards masterly hands with dynamic drive and uplifting excitement. A purely orchestral Trio was soothing balm before the return of the Scherzo. The Intermezzo that follows is really a link between the third and fourth movements but it contains music of searing passion and powerful emotions with the throbbing of the bass like a heart beating ever more intensely. The Allegro moderato finale was played with an extraordinary range of colour and emotion. A technical mastery that allowed Edward to abandon himself to the passionate outpouring of nobility and scintillating excitement that Brahms was to bring to the ever more exciting last pages of this monumental work.

Hailed for his “taut succinctness with emotional expansiveness and a striking capacity for invention” ( BBC Music Magazine) , American pianist Edward Leung is a sought-after recitalist and chamber musician. Edward is a 2025-2027 Making Music Recommended Artist and a Bösendorfer-Amadeus Young Artist. His debut album with violinist Usha Kapoor Beach • John Corigliano: Violin Sonatas [Resonus Classics] was longlisted for Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, critically acclaimed by BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, Fono Forum, and Classical Explorer, and was featured on ABC Classic’s Festival of Female Composers and SWR2 Treffpunkt Klassik. This current season features solo and chamber music recitals at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Milton Court, and venues in The Hague, Edinburgh, and Antwerp.

After studies at Princeton University and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with Francine Kay and Pascal Nemirovski, Edward is currently the Staff Pianist at The Yehudi Menuhin School. He frequently gives masterclasses internationally and has previously taught at the Junior Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Westminster School.

Edward Leung at St Mary’s A complete artist of maturity and stature.

Edward Leung beauty and introspection at St Mary’s

Some extraordinary playing of great authority from this young Italo Romanian pianist Herman Med Cerisha studying at the Royal Academy with Florian Mitrea. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/03/02/florian-mitrea-born-free-at-st-marys/

A distinguished colleague had heard him in a prize she was judging and told me he was good. In fact he won the Beethoven Prize at the RAM .

‘I think he will be one of these unique pianists! He stands out in my mind for the originality and sincerity of his playing.’ Deniz Gelenbe

She did not tell me how good, until I heard him today playing Brahms op 119 , Schubert ‘ little ‘ A minor Sonata and Prokofiev 7th Sonata. Playing of overwhelming authority and poetic beauty but also of passionate intensity and fearless brilliance.

Brahms of sumptuous beauty but also of refined elegance and aristocratic authority. The Intermezzo in B minor was played with crystalline clarity and touching beauty. A radiance that comes from delving deep into each note and extracting a multitude of sounds from each one. The E minor entered with a whisper as it gradually grew in intensity only to be resolved with an ‘Andantino grazioso’ of pastoral beauty. The C major could almost be called a capriccio such was the beguiling elegance and teasing mastery of art that conceals art and which I have only heard similarly from Clifford Curzon and Myra Hess. Sumptuous sonorities in the final E flat ‘Rhapsodie’ were played with driving aristocratic energy with streams of notes just thrown off as they accompanied the noble outpouring of the chorale. Passionate pulsating rhythms were played with remarkable architectural shape and led so beautifully into the simple beauty of the ‘grazioso’ central episode. A complete change of timbre where Herman produced a liquid fluidity of sounds contrasting so well with the glorious nobility of its surrounds.

Schubert that reminded me of Gilels where the golden sounds and rare monumental beauty had moments of heart rending delicacy without ever loosing sight of the great architectural outline. Gilels had arrived in London to find a poorly attended concert in the Festival Hall! A programme of Schubert and Shostakovich which obviously was not box office but which I will remember for the rest of my life!

I was reminded of his playing of this A minor Sonata D 784 as I listened to Herman today. Playing of beauty but also of solidity and never dwelling on detail but letting the music speak for itself without any unwanted assistance from interpreters eager to point out or underline the beauty that is already there. After the etherial opening, Beethovenian declamations and following dotted rhythmic chords were played with a limpet type touch never vertical but always horizontal and deep into each key. The touching vibrancy of the second subject must be one of the most beautiful things that Schubert ever wrote. Herman played it with whispered glowing delicacy but never altering the rhythmic undercurrent that holds the structure together. The ‘Andante ‘ sang with simple beauty and the rhythmic comments that could interrupt the flow were played with extraordinary rhythmic precision so the melody was allowed to flow on one level whilst being comment on from afar. The radiance and beauty of the shadowing of the melodic line when it appears in the tenor register was one of those magic moments of ravishing monumental beauty, never sugar sweet or sentimental, but deeply moving. It showed a remarkable technical control of a pianist who actually listens to himself and can find the beauty that is hidden within every piano for those that care to seek. The ‘Allegro vivace’ was streams of sounds chattering away to each other with delicacy and brilliance. Bursting into dynamic outbursts with sumptuous fullness of sound never hard but rich in sonority. And it was noticeable that Herman rarely played vertically but his fingers clued to each key and arms wading like in water with horizontal strokes of natural elegance. There was a crystalline beauty to the lyrical episodes of grace with insinuating undulations.The final notorious double octaves were played with the same horizontal attack with the four final chords phrased by a musician who is also a poet of sound.

A savage demonic attack in Prokofiev ‘s most bombastic of the three war sonatas was breathtaking in its audacity and daring. The pulsating rhythm of the last movement was maintained heroically to the very last terrifying note. But it was the ‘Allegro inquieto’ that was quite remarkable for the intensity where his fearless abandon and fiery temperament was matched by his extraordinary technical mastery. Again never hard or ungrateful sounds but even if the attack was often vertical it was a blow given from a musician listening and feeling the music with searing conviction. The ‘Andantino espressivo e dolente’ was a magical moment of calm before going to the front again with even more ferocity. The ‘Andante caloroso’ was of Hollywoodian beauty and simplicity before bursting into flames of imploring beauty dissolving into glowing whispers of bewitching bewilderment. The ‘Precipitato’ began as a murmur and finished with all the guns ablaze. A control of tempo and sound that was remarkable and his total abandon at the end was a tour de force of daring of breathtaking excitement.

This is a young man to watch and nice to know he comes from a land kissed by the Gods. Puglia is where many great musician were born from Muti to Rana , Rota to Lupu, De Barberiis to De Vita ,Libetta to Grassi. Lecce the capital of Puglia ( the heel of Italy ) is quite rightly known as the Florence of the south. Putignano, Herman’s hometown, is renowned for its famous Carnaval procession forty days before Easter.

Thanks to the tireless promotion of Canan Maxton’s Talent Unlimited I was able to hear this great talent for myself at last. It was streamed live and the recording is in the link under the poster above.

Herman Med Cerisha, a 20-year-old pianist from Putignano, Italy, began studying piano at age 6. At 8, he was accepted into the top piano class at the George Enescu National College of Music in Bucharest after achieving full marks in the entrance exam. There, he trained under Elisa Barzescu, receiving a strong foundation rooted in the Eastern European musical tradition.

In 2020, Herman won a scholarship to study at The Purcell School and, in 2021, was named Bechstein Scholar Student of the Year. In 2024 he received multiple offers from leading UK conservatories and accepted a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music under Professor Florian Mitrea.

Herman has claimed over 40 international competition titles, including distinctions in the Chopin Junior Competition, Berman Competition, and Orbetello Competition. His 2019 win at the Pianisti i Ri competition in Kosovo led to a solo performance with the Philharmonic of Priština, where he performed Grieg’s piano concerto.

He has participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Boris Petrushansky, Dmitri Alexeev, and Noriko Ogawa. He has also worked with Leonid Margarius and Franco Scala at the Imola Piano Academy.

He has performed in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall playing Beethoven’s 3rd piano concerto, the Romanian Athenaeum, and Moscow’s Svetlanov Concert Hall. Between 2018 and 2022, he collaborated annually with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania as a soloist. In 2025, Herman became a Talent Unlimited Artist, where they kindly support his musical journey.

www.hermancerisha.com

Interview

1- Aged 8 you began training under Elisa Barzescu, receiving a strong foundation rooted in the Eastern European musical tradition. How do you recall your time under this master?

Training with Elisa Barzescu was a huge part of how I understand music today. It was a really solid and sometimes quite strict education, but it taught me discipline and how to really approach new pieces with depth.

2- Is your family musical?

My dad and brother are both violinists — that’s actually why I started with violin before switching to piano.

3- You have recently embarked on a full scholarship studying at the Royal Academy of Music under Professor Florian Mitrea. How is this progressing?

It’s going really well! The Academy offers so many opportunities to learn new things, especially with such incredible teachers around. I’m learning a lot from my wonderful teacher, Professor Florian Mitrea.

4- You have won an impressive number of competitions and have held Young Musician titles. Does any one of these particularly stand out for you?

Every competition has been special in its own way, but the Chopin Competition for children and youth stands out — that’s when I first thought, “maybe I want to do this for real.”

5- Between 2018 and 2022, he collaborated annually with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania as a soloist. How enriching was this experience?

Playing with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra was unbelievable. You learn so much from working with conductors and other musicians — it’s a completely different kind of listening. Since pianists often play solo, those collaborations really feel like a celebration.

6- What are your fondest musical memories, privately or performing?

My favourite musical memories include performing with orchestra for the first time, and moments in practice when something finally clicks or a piece suddenly makes sense.

7- How often do your practice?

I try to practice every day, aiming for about 5 hours on average — but it really depends on the week!

8- Would you consider teaching in the future?

Yes, absolutely. I think teaching and sharing what we’ve learned to the next generations is one of the most meaningful things a musician can do.

9- How do you balance your time and commitments. What are the biggest sacrifices?

There are definitely many sacrifices — being away from family, lots of travelling, and spending endless hours in a four-wall room with your instrument. Finding balance is really important. I don’t think it’s healthy to only practise or think about music all the time, so taking breaks and stepping away every now and then is essential.

10- What advice would you give to young musicians at the start of their journey?

Believe in yourself and in what you’re doing. And always play because you love music — never because you feel you have to.

Rubinstein. had something to say about that too :

https://youtu.be/gex0sOR7XZ0

Kit Armstrong with playing of Mozart of luminosity and scrupulous attention to detail . Playing a Bechstein piano which gave a radiance and clarity to all he did .

It was in the last Mozart Sonata in D K 540 that he really could show his architectural sense of shape and a musicianship mentored by his close relationship from a very early age with Alfred Brendel.

Beginning with the Adagio in B minor grouped with the Minuet in D and the little Gigue penned late in life, which showed remarkable musicianship and mastery but missed the sense of improvised discovery that he was to find later in the two sonatas. A crystalline clarity and scrupulous attention to detail but seemed a little too earthbound missing the etherial mystery in the Adagio. The Gigue was a ‘tour de force’ of dynamic playing that reminded me of Serkin but it sounded a little too well oiled and breathless at this tempo. However remarkable playing of extraordinary intelligence and sensibility but on this occasion just missed the magical improvised invention and simplicity that Mozart had distilled in the last years of his life.

An eclectic musician of extraordinary mastery and authority. A kaleidoscope of colour of refined good taste and knowing scholarship which he brought in particular to the two main works on the programme: the Sonata in D K 576 and that in F K 533/494.

He brought a fluidity to the D major Sonata giving a beautiful shape to the teasing brilliance that Mozart imbues with such subtle meaning and charm. A sense of phrasing the allowed the music to breathe without interrupting the continual forward flow. There was an absolute clarity that allowed us to appreciate the intricate genius of Mozart as the voices converse with each other before dissolving into a whisper, where the final notes are indeed the two rests in the final bar. A beautifully expressive ‘Adagio’ where Mozart’s Bel Canto was shaped with radiance and teasing beauty. I could almost imagine Brendel listening with a twinkle in his eye as Kit played the last two bars with such a subtle jeux perlé touch. The ‘Allegretto’ was played at a courtly pace that allowed the brilliant passages that followed to be shaped with radiance and style. Mozart is enjoying himself playing with this innocent theme, juggling with it in many different and enticing ways. Kit seemed to relish and understand that this was Mozart at play and was pure opera.

The F major Sonata he played with child like innocence. The intricate counterpoints played with a clarity and brilliance but it was more an intellectual journey than freely inspired . The ending of the first movement was a tour de force of brilliance but owed more to Rachmaninov than Mozart. I found it suddenly became rather overpowering and pianistic rather than charming and operatic. More Serkin than Kempff but nevertheless always remarkable totally committed playing. The ‘Andante’ was played with simplicity and beauty and the extraordinary development almost Beethovenian in the majestic contrasts, making the return so much more beautiful and radiant. The very intricate Rondò was played with beguiling simplicity as it was allowed to flow with charm and grace in two. A tour de force of style and understanding that made this for me the absolute highlight of a very remarkable recital.

The Fantasia in F minor K 608 could almost have been written by Beethoven such was the imposing majesty of the opening. This was a true discovery from a pianist who is above all a musician of scholarship and refined good taste.

In this week when only last Monday we celebrated Alfred Brendel’s 95th at the Barbican, it was refreshing to hear this thirty year old artist continuing the message that Brendel had bequeathed to him of humility, simplicity and dedication to the composers wishes with a selfless technical mastery that rightly passes unnoticed.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2026/01/09/the-age-of-embrendelment-a-celebration-and-thanksgiving-on-alfred-brendels-95th-birthday/

Kit Armstrong writes and performs : ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s work for mechanical organ, faithfully reproduced as a piano piece. The limited compass of the original instrument notwithstanding, I find that the original score is much to be preferred to the various transcriptions generally played (of Clementi, Busoni, et al.). It sets “some amusing problems of digitation”*

.https://youtu.be/YsOY7WXM6g4?si=wuGmxwa8FPnT-cee

And after Mozart this eclectic young musicians chose Liszt’s Eight Variations on an original theme op 1 as an encore which had us all guessing as to who the composer might be.

The very first Liszt work published along with his variation on Diabelli’s theme, composed in 1824. This really sounds more like Mendelssohn , and one could never have imagined that a thirteen-year-old Liszt composed such an extraordinary work written no doubt for his own use and dedicated to Sébastien Erard As Leslie Howard points out the work is also of interest because the theme turns up in the so-called Third Concerto.

Born in 1992 in Los Angeles, Armstrong has been described by Alfred Brendel as ‘the greatest talent’ he has ever encountered, not only demonstrating extraordinary aptitude at the piano but also at the organ and as a conductor, as well as being a composer in great demand.

https://youtu.be/JLu9jt4p7jU?si=-i01SqnFu9PaZUfH

Kit Armstrong collaborates with many of the world’s most sought-after conductors and has been a guest at some of the world’s finest orchestras. In summer 2018, he was Artist in Residence at Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and he is ‘Artist in Resonance’ at the Musikkollegium Winterthur. In the same year, he received the Beethoven-Ring by the German society, Bürger für Beethoven.

Recent and upcoming highlights include concerts with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Münchener Kammerorchester, Stuttgart Kammerorchester and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and piano recitals at Wiener Konzerthaus, Lincoln Center, Rheingau Musik Festival, Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Ruhr Piano Festival and Schubertiade Hohenems, among others. He has appeared as organist with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and Wiener Konzerthaus, and is scheduled to appear at the Bruckner Festival Linz. He gave his acclaimed debut as conductor at Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2018 and recently was guest conductor with the Bochumer Symphoniker.

Armstrong’s debut recording with works by Bach, Ligeti and Armstrong was released in 2013 by Sony Classical, followed two years later by his second album, Liszt: Symphonic Scenes. His own compositions are published by Edition Peters.

Armstrong studied music at the Curtis Institute of Music and continued the Royal Academy of Music. Aged seven, he started studying composition at Chapman University and physics at California State University, followed by chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. He earned a Master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI. At the age of 13, Armstrong met Alfred Brendel, who has guided him as a teacher and mentor ever since. Their unique relationship was captured in the film, Set the Piano Stool on Fire, by Mark Kidel.Ever since Kit Armstrong entered the global music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted an enduring fascination upon music lovers. He performs recitals in major series, appears with the world’s finest orchestras, and has developed close artistic partnerships with leading instrumentalists and vocalists. He has held artist-in-residence appointments incorporating a wide spectrum of musical formats, combining his roles as composer, pianist, conductor, and organist. His project Expedition Mozart, traversing Mozart’s music in various genres with an international group of distinguished chamber musicians and soloists, is a main feature at prestigious festivals and venues.

Armstrong came to classical music through composition at the age of five. He has since created a broad oeuvre of vocal, instrumental, chamber, and symphonic works, many of which have been commissioned by notable European cultural institutions. His compositions are published by Edition Peters. 

Armstrong’s piano recordings include the albums Bach, Ligeti, Armstrong (2013) and Liszt: Symphonic Scenes (2016) on Sony Classical, various live recitals on DVD, such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations and its Predecessors at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Unitel, 2017), Wagner – Liszt – Mozart at the Bayreuth Margravial Opera House (C-Major, 2019), and 1520-2020: A Musical Odyssey (Damis Films, 2023), a double CD dedicated to a panorama of works by William Byrd and John Bull: The Visionaries of Piano Music (2021) on Deutsche Grammophon, and Mozart’s violin sonatas with Renaud Capuçon (2023).

Born in 1992 in California, USA, Armstrong pursued undergraduate studies in physics at California State University, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. Alfred Brendel has guided Armstrong as a musical mentor since 2005. In 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in 2012 a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI.

In 2012, Kit Armstrong purchased the Church of Sainte-Thérèse in Hirson, France, and transformed it into a hall for concerts and exhibitions, and outreach. This cultural centre has become home to interdisciplinary projects, including the yearly Semaine de la Voix, reaching a regional as well as cosmopolitan public.