Martinů String Quartet
Lubomír Havlák violin and Adéla Štajnochrová violins
Martin Stupka viola, Jitka Vlašánková cello
with Simon Wallfisch baritone
and Gemma Rosefield cello
Krása String Quartet
Tauský Coventry
Sylvie Bodorová Terezín Ghetto Requiem
Schubert String Quintet in C D956
The Festival’s final concert includes Vilém Tauský’s Coventry, written in 1940 after visiting the recently ruined cathedral.
Sylvie Bodorová’s Terezín Ghetto Requiem (premièred in Holy Trinity Church in 1998) will be played here for the fifth time, after numerous performances in England, North America, and on the continent. Simon Wallfisch was the impressive baritone soloist last time, in 2016, and Gemma Rosefield also returns to play Schubert’s masterpiece with the Martinů String Quartet.
Join us after the concert for a celebratory glass of wine!
Generously supported by Diane Holt and Peter Robinson
£27 | £22 | £17
(£1 children / students)
Kofron Horn Sonatina
Mahler Urlicht from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Janáček On an Overgrown Path selections
Kaprálová April Preludes
Punto Adagio from Horn Concerto No 5
Beethoven Horn Sonata in F Op 17
Ben Goldscheider’s stunning performance in the final concert of the 2023 Festival, plus his family’s Czech background, made an invitation to return inevitable. Finalist in the BBC Young Musician Competition in 2016, he plays regularly now in leading continental concert halls and with major orchestras, including his BBC Proms debut in 2022. Richard Uttley, Ben’s regular recital partner, comes to Leamington for the first time.
Generously supported by Stan & Helen Ireland
£18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
Martinů String Quartet
Lubomír Havlák violin and Adéla Štajnochrová violins
Martin Stupka viola, Jitka Vlašánková cello
with Vilém Veverka oboe
and Martin Kasík piano
Bohemian Pot Pourri
Martinů Quartet for oboe, violin, cello & piano H315
Haas Suite for oboe and piano Op 17
Klein Wiegenlied
Smetana From My Homeland
Dvořák Silent Woods Op 68
Dvořák Humoreske Op 101 No 7
Dvořák Terzetto in C Op 74
Martinů Mazurka-Nocturne H325
Imagine being part of a relaxed Sunday evening in a spacious drawing room in a palace in Prague and enjoy, with the Festival’s Czech musicians in residence, an eclectic mix of works ranging from Dvořák’s ever-popular Humoreske, to some lesser-known Martinů for discovery, and other well-chosen bonbons.
Generously supported by Hugh & Jane Beale, Malcolm & Jenny Burns, and Jennifer Lorch
£27 | £17
(£1 children / students)
Martinů String Quartet
Lubomír Havlák and Adéla Štajnochrová violins
Martin Stupka viola, Jitka Vlašánková cello
with Vilém Veverka oboe
and Martin Kasík piano
Mozart Oboe Quartet in F K370
Sylvie Bodorová Psalms and Exhortations for Oboe Quintet (Première)
Dvořák Piano Quintet in A Op 81
The Martinů Quartet returns to Leamington for three concerts, two of them with the leading Czech oboist Vilém Veverka with whom the Quartet often works. Mozart’s Oboe Quartet is a gem to be followed by the commission from The Dvořák Society of a new work by Sylvie Bodorová. Martin Kasík joins the Quartet after the interval for Dvořák’s much loved and evergreen Quintet.
Generously supported by The Dvořák Society
£27 | £17
(£1 children / students)
Kukal String Quartet
Eliška Kukalová and Klára Lešková violins
Daniel Macho viola, Filip Rufer cello
Coffee Concert
Schulhoff Five Pieces
Sylvie Bodorová String Quartet No 4 ‘Shofarot’
Smetana Quartet No 2 in D minor
Dvořák Cypresses – a selection
The Kukal Quartet is making its UK debut on this visit, having been specially chosen by The Czech Centre. Named after a leading Czech composer, Ondřej Kukal, the Quartet, founded in 2020, was winning prizes at the Prague Spring Competition within a year. The Quartet brings a programme that embraces many of the Festival’s strands, whetting the appetite for Sylvie Bodorová’s première later in the day and building it around Smetana’s last chamber music work, premièred in 1884
The visit by the Kukal Quartet to the United Kingdom is part of the Year of Czech Music 2024 organized in partnership with The Czech Centre London and supported by Czech Recovery Plan, Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, European Union, Arts and Theatre Institute, SoundCzech and Vážný zájem Society.
£18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
Includes coffee available from 10.30am in the Conservatory
Guarneri Piano Trio
Čeněk Pavlík violin | Marek Jerie cello | Ivan Klanský piano
Suk Elegy
Smetana Trio in G minor Op 15
Dvořák Trio in F minor Op 65
The Guarneri Piano Trio, founded in 1986, is one of best in the world and has given several memorable concerts in Leamington over the years. Although the three members also have careers as soloists, playing together for nearly forty years brings another dimension to the Trio’s performances.
The ensemble bears the family name of the makers of both string instruments used by the Trio. Cenek Pavlík plays the famous ‘Zimbalist’ violin by Guarneri del Gesù from the precious collection of Luigi Tarisio, while Marek Jerie plays a cello made by Andrea Guarneri in l684.
The Trio’s stunning interpretation of Smetana’s masterpiece on previous visits absolutely had to be included in this programme, along with these wonderful works by Dvořák and his son-in-law, Suk, and will once again demonstrate the Trio’s complete immersion in the rich Czech repertoire.
Generously supported by Michael & Halldóra Blair
£27 | £17
(£1 children / students)
Smetana Bagatelles & Impromptus
Dvořák Suite in A Op 98
Chopin Ballade in G minor Op 23
Chopin Nocturne in D flat Op 27 No 2
Chopin Scherzo in B flat minor Op 31
Concert given in memory of Iain Smith (Leamington Music Chairman, 2006-15) and Teresa Halikowska-Smith.
Iain Smith had a special regard for the leading Czech pianist Martin Kasík, following performances for Leamington Music as well as the Wigmore Hall, in the Leamington Hastings concerts, and the Festival in Stratford. Martin Kasík was Director of the Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně, which Iain and Teresa Smith attended in 2008 and greatly enjoyed. The Fryderyk Chopin Society is based in this Czech spa town where Chopin spent the summer of 1836.
Martin gives performances with the Martinů Quartet and his regular partner on oboe, Vilém Veverka, in the evening concerts on Saturday and Sunday.
Generously supported by Stefan, Milena, and Adrian Smith
£18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
Amici della Musica
Philippe Graffin violin | Elizabeth Wallfisch viola
Raphael Wallfisch cello | Piers Lane piano
Mahler Piano Quartet movement in A minor
Schulhoff Duo for Violin and Cello
Smetana Polkas de salon Op 7 Nos 2 & 3
Smetana Caprice bohemien in F Op 12
Dvořák Piano Quartet in E flat Op 87
Raphael Wallfisch, a favourite and regular Festival performer, brings his newly-formed group to Leamington. Both French violinist Philippe Graffin with Raphael, and Australian pianist Piers Lane with Tasmin Little, thrilled audiences here some twenty years ago, while Raphael’s wife Elizabeth has more often been heard in memorable concerts in Warwick.
The programme sets off the Festival themes admirably with Mahler’s powerful and rare foray into chamber music, Schulhoff’s atmospheric duo from 1925, followed by piano solos from Smetana in his big year, and ending with a glorious Quartet by Dvořák, one of his most attractive chamber works.
Generously supported by Paul & Jane Watts
£27 | £17
(£1 children / students)
Ensemble 360
Robert Plane clarinet, Amy Harman bassoon
Naomi Atherton horn
Benjamin Nabarro & Claudia Ajmone-Marsan violins, Rachel Roberts viola, Gemma Rosefield cello
with guest double bassist
Berwald Grand Septet in B flat
Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K581
Beethoven Septet in E flat Op 20
The Swedish composer Franz Berwald wrote his Grand Septet in 1828, the year after Beethoven died. He had completed his Septet in 1823, just before he embarked on his late string quartets. Between these two works is another opportunity to meet Ensemble 360’s new clarinettist in Mozart’s sublime Quintet.
“…brimming with body and soul with passion, vitality and virtuosity…” – The Independent
Concert generously supported by Murray Campbell, John Hobley, Jonathan Holden, Rose Ledlie, Roger Massie, Margaret Pringle, Peter Sunderland and Julia Winter
£20 unreserved
(£1 children / students)
CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS
2022 Leamington Music Prize Winners’ concert
Félicité Piano Trio
Ricardo Brown Roger violin
Lucy Samuels cello, Lucy Eccleshall piano
Sally Beamish Carnival Samba
Clara Schumann Piano Trio in G minor Op 17
Fanny Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor Op 11
Lili Boulanger D’un soir triste
Lili Boulanger D’un matin du printemps
The winners of the thirteenth Leamington Music Prize perform a concert of music by women composers, one of the Trio’s special interests which so impressed the adjudicators of the competition and which earned the Trio much-deserved attention from the national press upon winning the Prize earlier this year.
Concert generously supported by the Friends of Leamington Music and in memory of Sonia & Harry Hyamson