NewsLast revised: August 15th 2008RTE Vanbrugh Quartet
2007 marked the 21 years since The Vanbrugh Quartet took up its residency with RTE in 1986 and the year was marked in style
with appearances all over Ireland and their picture on an Irish stamp!
Their November Wigmore Hall concert (the second in 2007) was reviewed thus in the March 2008 Strad:The Wigmore hall was packed for the Vanbrugh Quartet, with audience and even staff clamouring to stand at the back. There was manifestly no problem with the group’s famed ensemble and the usual warmth of its sound was evident in all its comforting glory. This was particularly clear in the fugue of the second movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C minor op 18 no 4, whose intelligent restraint as just enough to stamp the performance ‘Vanbrugh’ but not to overpower the music, treading an elegant line between interpretation and respect. The performance of the Beethoven as a whole was suffused with the same kind of momentum that had earlier been present in Schubert’s ‘Rosamunde’ Quartet, which more than did justice to its variation in styles. In the concert’s electrifying encore, John Adams’s Alleged Dances movement, ‘Toot Nipple’, the Vanbrugh players reminded everyone in the room just what they can really do. The quartet return for an Autumn UK tour in November this year.  Leslie Howard
Concert pianist LESLIE HOWARD may be collecting his bus-pass on 29th April, but he will celebrate his 60th birthday a day
late with a recital at the Wigmore Hall, on Wednesday 30th April in which he will play all 12 of Liszt's monumental Transcendental
Etudes. No allowances for decrepitude will need to be made; Howard is fighting fit, intellectually as well as physically, and has
just returned from a gruelling concert tour of the United States, where he played programmes requiring the maximum stamina
and mental fortitude. Leslie Howard carries one of the largest repertoires of any artist in musical history: the complete works of
Liszt [which he so famously recorded for Hyperion Records on 97 CDs], every important Russian piano work, and all the
works of Beethoven are three areas of intensive activity, but there is scarcely an area in solo piano, concertante or chamber
music in which he has not been deeply involved in a career of more than 40 years' music-making.Leslie Howard's Wigmore recital will open with two Beethoven offerings: the Six Minuets - everybody's grandmother played no. 2 in G major, but almost nobody plays the other five gems - and the opus 34 Variations, where Beethoven takes an original theme and, for the only time in his life, sets each variation in a different key. Then the Liszt Transcendental Etudes will follow as Liszt intended them: complete - in two sets, one of seven, the other of five etudes - in a key sequence which, coincidentally, mirrors that of the Beethoven variations. A concert not to be missed Sarah Williamson
In February 2008 Sarah Williamson gave two highly successful concerts, one in the Wigmore Hall where her programme included
a world premier by Joseph Phibbs, commissioned especially by Sarah for this concert, and secondly, a performance of the
Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Orchestra of the Swan conducted by David Curtis in the wonderful newly-restored
Birmingham Town Hall.Both concerts were critically acclaimed: Michael Church described Sarah in the Independent as a “superb player” The Birmingham Post described Sarah’s’ playing as: “phrasing subtly nuanced, tempi perfectly set, and her ornamentation of melodic lines entirely in keeping with the operatic conventions of the period. Her tone was appropriately forward and rustic- coloured, and her stamina in the finale remarkable” Sarah continues to have a busy schedule of chamber concerts and in the past few months her duo concert venues include Bedford, Canterbury, Mold and Morpeth. She has a successful relationship with the Carducci Quartet with recent quintet concerts in London’s Conway Hall, Barnstaple, and Bradford. She has also performed with both the Navarra and Sacconi quartets. Another successful concert included the work “Shepherd on the Rock” in which she was joined by pianist Catherine Milledge and soprano Mary Nelson. In February 2008 Sarah was fortunate to have the opportunity to perform in the new London venue, the beautiful 12th century church which is St Mary’s Perivale with Margaret Fingerhut and Pauline Lowbury. Sarah is a member of the newly formed Sally Pryce Ensemble, harp, strings and clarinet, which has just given concerts in Leighton House and Goldsmith’s College and will give a Wigmore Hall concert on 3 March at 7.30pm. Sarah has much to look forward to this year. In May she will make her debut with the Academy of St Martin’s in the Field with whom she will play the Finzi Clarinet Concerto as part of the Spring Sounds Festival in Stratford–upon-Avon. She will then embark on a concert tour of Spain with the European Union Chamber Orchestra. Sarah’s festival appearances this summer include Brighton, Exeter, Bledington and Gregynog. She also has quintet concerts with the Doric Quartet in Luton, Taunton and Newport. Libor Novacek
Libor’s third CD for Landor Records was launched at his Wigmore Hall recital on 4 June this year as part of the
YCAT/Landor piano festival and Libor’s farewell concert to YCAT. This CD has received a 5 star review in the August
BBC Music Magazine and is the Music Choice for the month:BRAHMS Piano Sonata No. 2; Eight Piano Pieces, Op. 76; Three Intermezzi, Op. 117 Libor Novacek (piano) Brahms’s official Piano Sonata No. 2 was largely composed before the official No. 1, and it’s a fascinating revelation of the ultra-Romantic road that the young composer decided not to take. A kind of ‘Fantasy-Sonata’, it’s abrupt and extreme juxtapositions of emotion, dynamics and contrasted gesture are as daring as anything that Liszt’s ‘New German’ followers could have produced. Libor Novacek, who has already recorded an estimable Liszt recital, well understands this: if anything he accentuates the contrasts, with battering fortissimos giving way to silky, whispered pianissimos – but this is to enhance the turbulent nature of the piece, and Brahms’s achievement of equivocal balance in the almost Schubertian main tune of the finale. Novacek brings out, too, the awkward, uncompromising nature of the op. 76 pieces his wide range of accent and touch emphasizing their strangely experimental nature as well as their lyric underlay. It’s in the first two of the op. 117 Intermezzi that his approach seems fairly conventional (if very slow) – but then in No. 3 (slower still!) he conjures an ambience of half-lights and emotional hesitancy that is much less comforting than the melodious nostalgia that lesser players weave from the notes. The Sonata is among Brahms’s least-recorded piano works, and though there are excellent versions available from, among others, Katchen and Richter (both on Decca), I feel Novacek may have set a new benchmark here, while his op. 76 stands out strongly from other accounts. Altogether an impressive release. Calum MacDonald, PERFORMANCE SOUND ***** www.ycat.co.uk Carducci String Quartet
The Carducci Quartet has won the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in the USA. Following two
rigorous auditions in New York the quartet was chosen from over 350 original applicants. They will receive prizes including
a debut concert at the Carnegie Hall and a comprehensive management and marketing programme with CAG, including
recording and commissioning opportunities. They will tour the USA for the first time next autumn.The Carducci Quartet is recognized as one of Europe’s top young string quartets. This Anglo-Irish quartet, made up of two married couples, has won prizes at no less than six international chamber music competitions including First Prize at the 2004 Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and major awards at the Bordeaux, London, Osaka and "Charles Hennen" Competitions. Highlights this season include performances at Wigmore Hall, tours of Ireland, Japan and Portugal and three further releases on its own Carducci Classics label. The Strad has described the Quartet as "playing with constant variety, a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose." David Curtis
MMM is delighted to be working with David Curtis, conductor and artistic director of the Orchestra of the Swan, who continues
champion new work this season with numerous performances of commissions by Paul Patterson, Errollyn Wallen, Joseph Duddell,
Joe Cutler and others. His most recent premiere was of a new concerto for Oboe and Strings by the Birmingham based
composer John Joubert, this year celebrating his 80th birthday, the premiere being given in Lichfield Cathedral as part of the
2007 Lichfield Festival. The programme opened with Strauss' Metamorphosen and concluded with Schoenberg's masterpiece
Verklarte Nacht which brought a rapturous response from audience and critics alike with a 5***** review in the Birmingham
Post. David will be conducting further performances of the work next season in Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham.
A couple of months ago David was conducting more mainstream repertoire but in less familiar surroundings when he was invited to conduct the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir in two concerts in the Czech Republic. The first concert was in Olomouc, as part of the annual Dvorak Festival and the second was in the annual Martinu Festival. This takes place in the composer's home town, Policka, where David was delighted to be invited to visit the room at the top of the church tower where the young Martinu lived with his family until attending the local school. Marina Nadiradze
The exciting Georgian pianist, Marina Nadiradze has recently joined MMM. Marina Nadiradze’s playing has been compared to
that of the great Mitsuko Uchida (Michael Church, The Independent 2006).Her early studies were at the State Conservatoire in Tbilisi, Georgia, Having won a major award in Vilnius, Lithuania, Marina then went on to take 2nd Prize in the inaugural Tbilisi International Piano Competition in 1997, 1st Prize in the highly prestigious LASMO Staffa Award in 2000, and 2nd Prize and the Lawrence Glover Silver Medal at the Scottish International Piano Competition in 2001, where she also won the prize for the best performance of the specially composed work by John McCabe. In November 2006, Marina gave her first recital at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, followed in February 2007 by her debut at Wigmore Hall, London. Marina is both a Yamaha and a Bosendorfer artist. Geoffrey Norris in the Daily Telegraph said: “Marina Nadiradze chose the most daring concerto of the evening, Mozart’s D minor K466. The many facets of Mozart are notoriously difficult to fathom, but here, there was poise and stylish acumen, fluency and elegance.” The Katona Twins
The Katona Twins have just released a further CD, another collaboration with the Carducci Quartet, this time featuring the music of
Vivaldi, a wonderful mixture of concertos and sonatas. This CD was chosen as Classic FM CD of the Week on the Simon Bates
morning programme and most recently Classical CD of the Week in the Saturday Telegraph:“The brilliant Katona Twins mingle the familiar (a Double Concerto and the solo D major Concerto RV93, with its dreamy Largo) with rarities such as a pair of trio sonatas, both marked by Vivaldi's characteristic melancholy lyricism and raw, percussive energy. They also throw in a mildly agreeable, sub-Bachian sonata, originally for two lutes, by the famous lutenist-composer Silvius Weiss. While none of the music here stretches the Katonas' formidable virtuoso technique, their performances, crisply supported by the Carducci Quartet, could hardly be bettered for charm, zest, wit and colouristic flair.” The twins continue to perform extensively in both this country and abroad. Appearances this year in the include Petworth, Dillington, Hong Kong and Pollensa Festival in Majorca plus a visit to Japan. Jason Thornton
Jason Thornton made a successful debut with the Oregon East Symphony Orchestra in America earlier this year and he has just
appeared in the Exeter Festival, making a well-acclaimed debut with the RPO and soloist Jennifer Pike. This year he is also
working with Natalie Clein, Michael Collins, Tasmin Little, Carlos Bonell, Peter Donohoe and Claire Booth.Melanie Marshall
After finishing her successful run in Trevor Nun’s Porgy and Bess at the Savoy Theatre, London, Melanie was invited to sing the
part of Anita in Universal Classic’s new anniversary recording of West Side Story. She has also recorded The Messiah with the
RPO.She took part in a wonderful concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in june, performing in Mark Antony Turnage’s exciting new work About Water. Melanie continues to perform John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit with choirs around the country and she has also given solo concerts with pianist Jason Thompson, most recently in the Llandeilo festival. Melanie will be singing with the RPO again this year, this time in Milton Keynes on 30 November and she will be bringing her inimitable style to Blackheath halls on 9 December. Lucy Wakeford
Lucy Wakeford has just returned from a week in the Lofoten festival, a beautiful island off the northern coast of Norway where
she gave a solo recital and performed chamber music with top musicians from around the world. Lucy continues to receive superb
reviews for her performances. This year she gave the London premiere of Birtwistle’s “Crowd” for solo harp:‘Harrison Birtwistle’s “Crowd”, played by Lucy Wakeford, was eloquent, imaginative and incisive’ The Independent ‘Lucy Wakeford had its music deep within her mind and fingertips, recreating its coppery modality and its beautiful dialogue between movement and resonance, sound and silence’ The Times James Barralet
James Barralet is the joint winner of the Abstract Securities
Landor Competition 2007. This prestigious award will enable James to make a debut CD and will open up performance
opportunities in many of the major UK festivals. James was featured in the January edition of Gramophone Magazine as the “
One to watch”In January this year James performed in the Purcell Room as part of the Park Lane Group contemporary music young artist series. He received the following accolades: “Britten’s Suite was given a solid outing by James Barralet. Barralet’s moment to show technical prowess came with Kenneth Hesketh’s Die Hangende Figur ist Judas, a solo work that saw Barralet accompanying a bowed line with steady pizzicato in his left hand, among other tricks.” Strings Magazine, May 2008 “Cellist James Barralet chose well in Edwin Roxburgh's concentrated, jolie-laide Partita (1970), Kenneth Hesketh's Britten-indebted triptych, Die Hangende Figur ist Judas (1998), and Britten's own Suite No. 3 (1974). The influence of Barralet's teacher, Thomas Demenga, was evident in his clear sound, fluent bowing, and broad dynamic range. The musical imagination was all his own.” Anna Picard, The Independent, January 2008 “James Barralet’s delivery supplied its own fascinations… No doubting the strength of feeling from the desolate wastes of Britten’s third Suite to the febrile kaleidoscope of Kenneth Kesketh’s Die Hangende Figur ist Judas.” Geoff Brown, The Times January 2008 James has been interviewed by Strings Magazine HERE Galliard Ensemble
Former BBC New Generation Artists and now one of the leading wind quintets in the UK, the Galliard Ensemble will give a
concert in the Purcell Room, SBC on Monday 17 December at 7.45pm entitled Youth and ReflectionThe programme will be: Mozart (C Minor); Tinoco (O Curso das Aguas); Arnold (Shanties); Janacek (Mladi); Grainger (Walking Tune, Lisbon) and Jim Parker (Mississippi 5) This is a charity concert for Newbridge special school, Ilford, to enable the Galliard Ensemble to continue their music projects there with children with special educational needs. There will be a display of paintings in the foyer by Ashley Davies, inspired by Tinoco’s piece, which has been recorded by the Galliard Ensemble. Luis Tinoco was an early winner of the Galliard Ensembles’ annual composition competition. His commissions include a work for the RPO and his pieces have been recorded by the Arditti Quartet, Apollo Saxophone Quartet and Ensemble Lontano. Information and tickets HERE. The evening is sponsored by Edwards Duthie, Solicitors. |