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Details
St John's Smith Square
Smith Square
City of Westminster
London
SW1P 3HA
England
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach – Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639
Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata no.30 in E major, Op.109
Cesar Franck – Prelude, Fugue et Variation, Op.18
~ Interval ~
Johannes Brahms – Es ist ein ros entsprungen, Op.122 no.5
Cesar Franck – Prelude, Choral et Fugue, FWV 21
Johann Sebastian Bach – Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
Johann Sebastian Bach – Partita no.2 in D minor, BWV 1004: Chaconne (tr. Busoni)
Performers
Sylvia Chan – Piano
Warren Lee – Piano
Other concerts in this Series (+)
Programme Note
"BEETHOVEN, FRANCK and romantic dreams of the COUNTERPOINT"
Come join this concert with a most delightful programme of piano music (2-hands and 4-hands) inspired by romantic dreams of the counterpoint. Beethoven’s Op.109 sonata, one of his late sonatas and certainly one of the most loved by pianists, is on the menu, so is the majestic Bach-Busoni Chaconne in D minor, as well as two of Franck’s major triptychs for the keyboard, the much-loved Prélude, Chorale and Fugue (Op.21), and the slightly less often-performed piano transcription of the Prélude, Fugue & Variation (Op.18).
Warren Lee will bring half of his Carnegie Hall programme (“ingenious” and “compelling”) (the Beethoven and the Bach-Busoni Chaconne) from New York, and he will be joined by Sylvia Chan who is also making her first appearance at St John's this December after more than 15 years with this programme where she will be interpreting Franck’s vision of romantic counterpoints with what can be described as finger dances around B minor (and many other keys) on the chromatic scale, both of them and both very much Bach-inspired, but always looking to reach the stars and the heavens, as we also celebrate the composer’s 200th birthday this December.
The two pianists (who combined for “the 3 song-inspired pianists” programme in Hong Kong earlier this year) will join together to play two 4-hands pieces too, one a better-known and very beautiful Bach transcription, the other a 4-hands transcription of a much lesser-known Brahms piece that was very much Bach-inspired, written for the organ and one of his final compositions, while Sylvia will start the concert with a most songful (and perhaps also soulful) Bach-Busoni transcription.
“Ingenious” ...... “Compelling"
The Classical Group presents its first programme in the “Beautiful juxtaposition” concert series, to take place in the beautiful setting of St John's, Smith Square, London, on Tuesday 6 December at 7.30pm. Entitled “Beethoven, Franck and romantic dreams of the counterpoint”, it will be an evening of piano music in celebration of the imaginativeness and brilliance of these great composers as they developed their own thinking around and personal statement of the counterpoint.
This is an exciting opportunity to hear 2 prizewinning musicians, Warren Lee, a pianist with "a wonderful sense of colour and impeccably controlled articulation”, with a much-praised discography including 10 acclaimed solo and chamber music albums on Naxos and who is appearing in Cambridge for the first time, and Sylvia Chan, who is returning to Trinity once again, who applies her creative intelligence to both her piano playing and her programming ideas, with the two pianists also collaborating on 2 short 4-hands pieces in a beautiful programme, the first being a Brahms Chorale Prelude, op.122, no 8, Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, one of his last compositions and arranged for 4-hands, and the second being a 4-hands arrangement of Bach's Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit.
[You can download the concert full flyer here ].
We cannot think of a more perfect setting for a concert presenting some of the most spectacular and virtuosic pieces in the pianistic repertoire that reflect romantic dreams of the counterpoint, from Beethoven to Franck to Busoni and others. Setting aside, what would happen if we enlist the help of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Busoni to celebrate Franck's 200th birthday this December?
We start the concert with the more introspective pieces: first the Bach-Busoni "Ich ruf zu dir" that is almost a prayer, to be followed by perhaps the most songful of Beethoven's piano sonatas, the no 30, Op.109, with its third movement being a "theme and variation" with lots of counterpoints (and the final variation being a "variation on a variation"). The concert also presents a rare opportunity to hear two of Franck's large (and spectacular!) keyboard pieces on the piano, both consisting of a Prelude and a Fugue as well as a third movement and can be described as quais-sonatas, and both in B minor (though ending in B major), with these two pieces spanning the intermission. We intersperse with two very interesting even if short (though still counter-point filled) 4-hands pieces (in major keys!) before ending with the spectacular transcription (or re-imagination) of Bach’s Chaconne from the D minor Violin Partita by Busoni, that can well be described as counterpoint romanticized on steroids.
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£25 and £15
Young friends: £5
A detailed programme booklet is included in the ticket price.
More concert info and ticketing at:
https://www.sjss.org.uk/events/warren-lee-sylvia-chan
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This is also a rare opportunity to hear the collaboration of two brilliant musicians, both with strong interest in creative re-imaginations of the counterpoint, whether songful or chorale-based or not, in Cambridge - not to be missed.
Warren Lee’s pianistic artistry has brought him to five continents, gracing stages of all sizes and forms and in collaboration with international artists and leading orchestras in Asia and beyond. Hailed by The Straits Times as a musician with “a wonderful sense of colour and impeccably controlled articulation” and lauded by critics of his recital-presentation at Carnegie Hall in celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s Centennial as “ingenious” and “compelling”. Warren made his televised début with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of six and was the first-prize winner at the 1995 Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition and Grand Prix Ivo Pogorelich. A Steinway Artist since 2009, Warren’s discography includes 10 acclaimed solo and chamber music albums on Naxos. His recent recording of Beethoven’s transcription of his own ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus, was warmly received by The BBC Music Magazine, while his most recent Rubinstein recording was called “stunning and imaginative” and voted deezer’s Classical Album of the week. The American Record Guide calls him a “first-rate artist” on his recording of piano music by Tan Dun and Bernstein. Off stage, Warren is an educator and an award-winning and versatile composer with over a hundred works in print and his choral works gaining an international reputation. Warren received an Associateship from the Royal Academy of Music in 2015 and the Ian Mininberg Distinguished Alumni Award by the Yale School of Music in 2017.
Anyone who has heard Sylvia Chan on the piano knows her performances are not to-be-missed. Sylvia gained her PhD from Trinity College Cambridge while also studying with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Having started both the piano and voice training at the age of 7, her teachers also included Eleanor Wong in Hong Kong and Hamish Milne in London, and she performed as a solo pianist and in a duo with cellist Miriam Kirby (The Hague String Trio), including in St John’s Smith Square, London, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, and recorded as a soloist (Bach, Brahms and Liszt). Sylvia is one of the most fascinating pianists performing today, having decided to return to practising and performing after a break of more than 15 years, a pianist known for her highly accomplished playing, musical flair and keen understanding of the music, and having also studied Natural Sciences at Trinity, now honing this craft with a mind that often enables fresh perspectives and connecting dots in unexpected or adventurous ways.
