Sunday Sundown concerts
|
SUNDAY SUNDOWN CONCERTS
Sunday 12 February 2023 at 6:00pm TRIO NOTTURNO Eine Kleine Tortemusik
Trio Notturno present a recital of music for the delectable combination: flute, viola and guitar. Popular in the Viennese salons of the early 19th century, this genre inspired works by Diabelli and Molino, as well as arrangements of Beethoven and Schubert by Matiegka. Virtuosic passages for all three instruments contrast with lyrical melodies and lively instrumental dialogue. Trio Notturno combine intimate chamber music with spoken poetry of the period, following a practice which was in vogue at that time. Their programme includes a new work composed for them in the autumn of 2022, based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin. Also part of the Little Things in Odd Shapes unusual chamber music concert series at the church. Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here. Sunday 19 February 2023 at 6:00pm RACHEL CHAPLIN AND EVI DOBNER WITH SUPPORT FROM FLORA CURZON Music from an Inner Space
Rachel Chaplin (piano) and Evi Dobner (vocalist) showcase an intimate selection of sacred songs written by UK oboist/composer Rachel Chaplin. Setting psalms and liturgy, as well as her own sacred poetry, the songs bring new perspectives to familiar texts and offer a uniquely personal response to hymn and sacred song traditions. The music is contemplative and spacious, drawing on a range of influences, often minimalist in feel but with a striking lyrical surface. Evi Dobner's ethereal vocal is central to the sound world, evidence of the artists' collaboration over five years. Violinist Flora Curzon is emerging as a solo writer and performer. She presents the first performance of music from her recent EP, 'Hold Still Liminal' (released in February 2023), which weaves together fragments of music and field recordings into an ambient and intimate collection of tracks. The EP was her first venture working almost completely solo, from arranging, composing, engineering and producing the music, to creating the artwork, all of which brought much joy and self-discovery. Of course, nothing exists completely in a vacuum: Grateful thanks to Dietrich Strause, Rachel Weston and Colin Fleming, as well as the many greats whose music features on the recordings - Bingen, Telemann, Vilsmayr, O'Carolan, and Ida Smith to name a few - for their help and inspiration. Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here. Sunday 26 February 2023 at 6:00pm ARIANA KASHEFI AND PETR LIMONOV Vanitus Vanitatum
Ariana Kashefi (cello) and Petr Limonov (piano) will begin their recital with Schumann 5 Stucke im Volkston (1849). These pieces were written towards the end of Schumann's life and are the only surviving pieces for cello and piano. (Schumann wrote also wrote 5 romances for cello and piano which Clara Schumann burned after the composers death as she feared they showed traces of his husbands final mental collapse.) The five pieces in popular style begin with the title 'vanitus vanitatum' (vanity of vanities, all is vanity'). Schuamann most likely took inspiration from Goethe's poem, with the same name, which depicts a drunken soldier out at sea. The second piece is a beautiful lullaby, the third a sort of mysterious waltz, the fourth piece is rather triumphant celebration and the last piece is, as Steven Isserlis describes, the portrait of a monster perhaps? They move on to France, with Faure's beautiful Elegy for cello and piano, published in 1880 and Faure's Papillon (the Butterfly). They will finish their recital with Prokofiev's cello sonata, dedicated to Rostropovich. The great pianist Sviatolsav Richter, who accompanied Rostropovich in the first performance of the sonata, recalls the background to the sonata’s premiere: "Before playing it in concert, we had to perform it at the Composer’s Union, where these gentlemen decided the fate of all new works. During this period, more than any other, they needed to work out whether Prokofiev had produced a new masterpiece or, conversely, a piece that was ‘hostile to the spirit of the people.’ Three months later, we had to play it again at a plenary session of all the composers who sat on the Radio Committee, and it wasn’t until the following year that we were able to perform it in public, in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on March 1, 1950." Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here. Sunday 5 March 2023 at 6:00pm HANOVER SQUARE QUARTET Listen to Her - Women by Women
They are one of the few UK string quartets playing on gut strings, championing the works of female composers. They have all been working as professional musicians for years and have recently come together to join forces as a quartet. They firmly believe that it is important that this music is heard, particularly with the historical awareness that we bring to our performance. As women, they are giving voice to music that has been sidelined by history. As experts in historically aware performance, they give unique expression to these composers. Their repertoire spans the music one plays with gut strings: from the early 1700s to the early 1900s. As this covers four centuries, depending on the repertoire they play on differing set-ups: from baroque and classical to romantic or modern. Often their sex is the only reason women's voices are not as well known. Fanny Hensel is just as able a composer as her more famous brother, Mendelssohn. Emilie Mayer wrote wonderful music, and was far ahead of her time, even though her name is unfamiliar. This particular programme juxtaposes Mayer's quartet with a movement from the more famous Schubert "Death and the Maiden". They also pair Hensel's E minor quartet with a movement by her more famous brother (Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream). The overlap between their musical styles, including direct quotes, is astonishing. It is clear that they were very close and had tremendous respect for each other as composers. Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here. Sunday 12 March 2023 at 6:00pm NOBODY'S JIG 'Twas but a Dream - 17th century songs from the London theatres
Music by Matteis, Purcell, Locke and other composers, and popular folk songs from the day. Yaoré Talibart - violin, Nathan Giorgetti - viola da gamba, Victoria Hodgkinson - soprano, Tara Viscardi - harps and Sergio Bucheli - theorbo and baroque guitar. Also part of the Little Things in Odd Shapes unusual chamber music concert series at the church. Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here. Sunday 19 March 2023 at 6:00pm ELCHIN SHIRINOV TRIO
Azerbaijani virtuoso pianist Elchin Shirinov, internationally renowned for being part of the acclaimed Avishai Cohen Trio, leads here his own trio featuring one of London's finest jazz rhythmic sections with Andrea Di Biase on double bass and Dave Hamblett on drums. They'll perform a selection of their own original compositions and arrangements of pieces from the Azerbaijani folk tradition. "Thoughtful but forceful, imperturbable lyricism. The playing is incandescent." John Fordham, The Guardian Elchin Shirinov - piano, Andrea Di Biase, double bass, Dave Hamblett - drums. Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here. Sunday 26 March 2023 at 6:00pm LINNET BAROQUE O Spring Most Fair!
Linnet Baroque is a collective of talented and experienced early music specialists who have gathered to present virtuosic music from the baroque and early classical eras. There is a strong focus on English music and the ‘bird-song’ genre, where the obbligato instruments and voice are given equal virtuosic opportunities. This hour of music, embracing the joys of Springtime, begins with Quingard’s aria to the nightingale, a role taken by the recorder. Pepusch wrote his invigorating cantata, addressing the Goddess Flora, in 1710, whilst working as music master to the Duke of Chandos. He worked alongside Handel, who was employed as the Duke’s Composer in Residence. Handel composed several roles for Pepucsh’s wife, the soprano Margerite de L’Epine, and also for Faustina Bordogni, Hasse’s wife. In the Hasse aria, the scorned poet warns his lover that the joys of Spring soon turn to the chill of Winter, a metaphor for fading youth and beauty also reflected in the Dutch composer, De Fesch’s song. The title of this programme comes from the Rubbra’s text in his Cantata Pastorale. Rubbra, a most neglected 20thC English composer, had a strong interest in past musical forms, hence this work for baroque ensemble, with a recorder part originally written for Carl Dolmetch. Elin Harries - soprano, Andrew Collis - recorders, Ibrahim Aziz - bass viol and David Wright - harpsichord. Free admission, but you can pre-book advance tickets here.
|
We have temporarily stopped our Tuesday lunchtime concert series due to the building works being carried out at the church. However, join us for our new Sunday Sundown series. All concerts are at 6:00pm and have free admission with a retiring collection for the musicians unless otherwise specified. See below for the current schedule. At Heath Street Baptist Church - see 
 Printable Version |