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Details
National Liberal Club
1 Whitehall Place
City of Westminster
London
SW1A 2HE
England
Tickets
Prices: £25 (£10 for Students and Under 30s)
Book Tickets
Programme
Edvard Grieg – Lyric Pieces, Op.71
Franz Liszt – Liebesträume no.3, S.541
Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite no.1, Op.46 (tr. for piano by Alexander Ullman)
Franz Liszt – Nuages Gris, S.199
Franz Liszt – Grandes Etudes de Paganini, S.141: no.6 in A minor
~ Interval ~
Frédéric Chopin – Etude in A flat major 'Aeolian Harp', Op.25 no.1
Frédéric Chopin – Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat major, Op.61
Frédéric Chopin – Etude in F minor 'The Bees', Op.25 no.2
Frédéric Chopin – Ballade no.4 in F minor, Op.52
Performers
Alexander Ullman – piano
Other concerts in this Series (+)
Programme Note
Join Alexander Ullman, the only pianist ever to have won first prize at both of the major international Liszt competitions, in Budapest (2011) and Utrecht (2017), for an evening of music by three of the great masters of the Romantic era: Edvard Grieg, Franz Liszt, and Frédéric Chopin.
His programme opens with Book 10 of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, the final volume in his collection of sixty-six short tone poems for the piano. Written throughout his lifetime, the Lyric Pieces portray scenes, characters, and emotions inspired largely by Norwegian folk idioms and the country's natural beauty. These wonderful miniatures reveal Grieg ("the Chopin of the North")'s remarkable gift for turning the everyday into something poetic and evocative.
“Ullman doesn’t try to make these pieces more spectacular than they are, but his respect and love for them is evident right the way through" – BBC Music Magazine, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Grieg" (Rubicon Classics)
Alexander's new transcription of Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 aims to draw out more of the colour of the orchestra from the piano than the composer’s own transcription. This suite features two of the most instantly recognisable pieces of music ever written, Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King.
“Ullman’s recordings are superb, exhibiting a firm grasp of the originals. He effortlessly ferrets out and highlights the voice parts and creates for each vignette its own characteristic sound world and mood…" – Gramophone Magazine
In 1868, a young Grieg was struggling to establish himself as a composer in Norway when Franz Liszt encountered his music. Liszt was so impressed that he wrote a warm letter of recommendation, an endorsement which helped Grieg secure a Norwegian government stipend to travel abroad. Alexander includes in his programme two of Liszt's most enduringly popular works, the Liebestraum (Dream of Love) No. 3 and a dazzlingly virtuosic set of variations on the theme from Paganini's 24th Caprice, along with the hauntingly modern Nuages gris (Gloomy Clouds).
"Ullman captures with startling clarity and musicality the twin instincts within Liszt of tradition and experimentation" – The Sunday Times
After the interval comes a variety of works by Chopin. Similarly to how Grieg would draw on the folk traditions of Norway to forge a distinctive musical language, Chopin's roots are woven into the Polonaise-fantasie with its Polish dance origins. In the Études, technical studies are transformed into musical gems. And, as a culmination, the extraordinary Fourth Ballade.
"His performance of the Chopin fourth Ballade will live in my mind’s ear for ever: every nuance perfectly judged, poised and placed … His sound is unique." – Seen and Heard International
A recital that promises intimacy and virtuosity, folklore and fantasy, familiar favourites and lesser-known treasures, performed by a pianist whose interpretations have earned international critical acclaim. Not to be missed!
The Artist
Lauded for his “powerful musical intellect and effortless technical facility” (The Scotsman), British pianist Alexander Ullman has captivated audiences and critics worldwide with the depth of his musical vision and the elegance and mastery of his pianism.
Winner of the 2017 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht, Alexander has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Budapest Radio Orchestra and Korean Symphony Orchestra, as well as the New Jersey, Fort Worth and Montreal symphonies, working with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Giancarlo Guerrero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Valentin Uryupin and Cristian Mǎcelaru.
He has performed in the concert halls of more that 40 countries, including Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Seoul Arts Center, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center and the NCPA in Beijing, and has been featured in the Nottingham and Oxford international piano series, on BBC Radio 3, France Musique and MDR Klassik.
In Spring 2019, Ullman’s first album on Rubicon, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Prokofiev’s Six Pieces from Cinderella, as well as Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Firebird suites, received rave reviews. In 2022, the label released a second album featuring Franz Liszt's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton, as well as the Piano Sonata in B minor. October 2025 saw the release of his latest album focused on the solo piano music of Edvard Grieg.
Alexander first came to international attention in 2011 after winning the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest. From 2014 to 2017 he was represented by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT). Born in London, in 1991, he studied at the Purcell School, the Curtis Institute and the Royal College of Music, completing his Artist Diploma as the "Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow" in 2017 (awarded by the Philip Loubser Foundation). His teachers have included Dmitri Alexeev, Leon Fleisher, William Fong, Ian Jones, Robert McDonald, Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Elisso Virsaladze.
The Venue
Designed by Alfred Waterhouse and completed in 1887, the National Liberal Club's Italianate building on the Embankment of the river Thames is the second-largest club-house built in London — located at Whitehall Place, close to the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square. Built on a foundation of inclusivity, the NLC is proud to be one of the most welcoming clubs in London. The David Lloyd George Room is home to our concerts, with a spectacular Steinway Model D piano for artists and audiences to enjoy.
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