When George Fu lost his father, he turned to Schubert for solace. Fu likened the experience of playing Schubert’s Sonata No 19 in C minor to receiving “a hug from 200 years ago”. Out of this difficult time came a recording, Solitude with Schubert. Impressed with the Schubert project, Karine Hetherington from ArtmuseLondon, went to find…
Tag: Piano
‘Finale with no ending’ Burstein celebrates the diversity of music
In May of this year I attended the premier of Keith Burstein’s new work, Finale With No Ending, a sextet, which offers tango, Jewish folk music with sumptuous classical orchestration. On stage at the Royal College of Music, Burstein gave the audience some insights into its creation. An early memory of his father playing accordion…
Pianist Siqian Li: “Being well-behaved in music is not a compliment.”
Pianist Siqian Li: “Being well-behaved in music is not a compliment.”
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…
Odd Sympathies
Matthew Schellhorn, piano This new release from British pianist Matthew Schellhorn draws together an interesting and eclectic selection of piano pieces. As a long-standing champion of contemporary composers through commissions and premières, Schellhorn brings new music to a wider audience. The pieces on this new album all are by living composers, including Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Michael…
Francis Poulenc’s piano miniatures delight
Paul Berkowitz has built a solid reputation with heavy-duty recordings of German composers. His complete Schubert piano sonatas, in particular, have earned him much praise. The Canadian-born pianist has now turned his hand to very different French 20th century repertoire with Francis Poulenc’s piano works. Poulenc frequented avant-garde music and literary circles and came to…
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…
Unveiling Hidden Treasures: Thomas Pitfield’s Piano Music
Thomas Pitfield Piano Music Duncan Honeybourne, piano Pianist Duncan Honeybourne, indefatigable champion of lesser-known and rarely-performed British piano music, brings another gem to wider attention with his recent recording of music by Thomas Pitfield (Heritage Records, March 2025). Born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1901, Thomas Pitfield was a polymath: a poet, artist, engraver, calligrapher, master…
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