Pianist Siqian Li: “Being well-behaved in music is not a compliment.”
Tag: Pianist
Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony – music for war and resistance
This week it was off to the Philharmonie de Paris, a state-of-the-art concert hall in the north-eastern periphery of the French capital. Paris may be my second home, but this was my first visit to this musical institution designed by the architect Jean Nouvel. Opened in 2015, after a six year wait, there was a lot…
Horton takes advice from the old Master and gets a standing ovation for his Chopin Scherzos
Tim Horton’s six-concert Chopin Cycle started back in 2024 and sadly the series is nearly at its end. I was thrilled to be able to catch Horton’s penultimate concert at the Wigmore on January 16th this year, where Ravel’s revolutionary waltzes were judiciously sandwiched between several late Chopin nocturnes and four Scherzos. Throughout his Chopin…
Argentinian pianist, Ingrid Fliter, dazzles her audience at the London Piano Festival King’s Place
As part of the wonderful London Piano Festival which takes place every year at King’s Place, Argentinian pianist, Ingrid Filter performed a romantic programme of Beethoven and Chopin works. Filter came to the stage in dazzling silver jacket and spangled shoes, her starry appearance under the stage lights suggesting more tango than Beethoven or Chopin. Despite her bold…
Exploring the Beauty of Chopin’s Nocturnes with Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks, piano Complete Chopin Nocturnes (Divine Art Records) It’s rare to come across a recording, or indeed a live concert, where one thinks “yes, that is how it should be played!”, but this was my reaction on listening to Tom Hicks’ new recording of Chopin’s Nocturnes. I cannot fault this performance; it is wonderful…
Roman Rabinovich plays Goldberg Variations in a live stream at Wigmore Hall
The Goldberg Variations has done more to widen the circle of appreciation for classical music than perhaps any other musical work. It certainly gets the youth vote, and one can see why. Regarded as the holy grail for professional pianists, it’s been interpreted by many young, world-class, artists, often male, but not exclusively so –…
Exploring Stephen Hough’s ‘The World of Yesterday’: A New Piano Concerto
‘The World of Yesterday’ – written & performed by Sir Stephen Hough, Halle orchestra, Sir Mark Elder British pianist Sir Stephen Hough hadn’t intended to write a piano concerto. But during the dark days of the COVID pandemic, he was approached to write a score for a film about a concert pianist writing a piano…
Pianist Joanna Kacperek produces a captivating album with ‘Variations’
With ‘Variations’, pianist, Joanna Kacperek, has chosen to focus on the humble variation. Like many other composers before them and since, Beethoven, Robert and Clara Schumann, Brahms and Chopin, composed many variations. On this album, Kacperek artfully displays the creative possibilities of these variations, which were a way of exploring a theme for these composers,…
“a warm tribute” – Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes & Fugues
“a warm tribute” – Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes & Fugues
András Keller, conductor of Concerto Budapest, in conversation with ArtMuseLondon
Karine Hetherington of ArtMuseLondon caught up with busy conductor András Keller, ahead of his 6-concert UK and Ireland tour with the Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra. András – you have forged a brilliant career in music, first as a solo violinist, a concertmaster and chamber musician – and you are now touring the UK with the Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra…
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