Your events at Classical Events
Details
World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens
3 Ponton Road
Nine Elms, Battersea
London
SW11 7BD
England
Programme
Leoš Janáček – Sonata for Violin and Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven – Violin Sonata no.9 in A major 'Kreutzer', Op.47
Johannes Brahms – Sonata No. 3 in D minor Op.108
Performers
Michael Foyle – violin
Maksim Stsura – Piano
Programme Note
At the age of 31, Michael Foyle is already proving to be a violinist of great class and elegance on the concert platform. His total commitment to the musical integrity of each score combines with a constant pursuit of beauty of expression, resulting in a powerful communication style that has won over audiences internationally.
"Full of sparkling detail, with tonal beauty and incisive rhythmic clarity, balancing wit and poetry" (The Strad)
Michael Foyle debuted in London with a recital at the Wigmore Hall and since then he has performed recitals in the UK’s most prestigious venues, including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall, regularly being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Recent concerto appearances include with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Mozart), English Chamber Orchestra (Prokofiev), Polish Baltic Philharmonic (Elgar), Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Brahms) and a return to the Rotterdam Philharmonic (Korngold). He gives recitals at festivals worldwide, including St. Magnus International Festival, New York Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Cervantino Festival (Mexico) and Mravinsky Festival (St. Petersburg).
His debut CDs, The Great War Centenary - Debussy, Janacek and Respighi Sonatas on Challenge Records and Lutoslawski and Penderecki: Complete Violin and Piano Works on Delphian Records were both critically acclaimed (‘vividly and beautifully conceived and executed - BBC Music Magazine, ‘richly detailed and impassioned performances’ - The Daily Telegraph). In 2021, he released the Complete Beethoven Sonatas with pianist Maksim Stsura (‘Foyle produces an absolutely gorgeous sound ... The recording is excellent' - Fanfare).
Alongside his solo career, Michael is violinist of Trio Balthasar and Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London (the youngest appointed in the institution's 200-year history) and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne.
Michael plays a Gennaro Gagliano violin from 1750 on private loan.
Maksim Štšura (piano) won First Prizes at the Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition (2013), the Estonian Piano Competition (2008), the Steinway-Klavierspiel Wettbewerb in Germany (2004) and the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Estonia (2000). He has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Kammersymphonie and the Chester Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician he is in great demand, collaborating with Jakobstad Sinfonietta (Finland), Mediterranean Chamber Brass (Spain) and Florin Ensemble (UK).
Maksim studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Ivari Ilja and on exchange at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, before moving to London to complete his Masters and Artist Diploma degrees with Gordon Fergus-Thompson at the Royal College of Music. He has additionally received masterclasses from Dmitri Bashkirov, Stephan Hough, John Lill and Eliso Virsaladze. Alongside his performing career, Maksim has a DMus from the RCM, where his research was focused on the piano transcriptions of the twenty-first-century orchestral scores. He is also a Trustee of the Mills Williams Foundation.
In 2020, Maksim was appointed Lecturer in Piano, Chamber Music, and Music History at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. He is a recipient of the 2021 Annual award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
