Coffee Concert
Gemma Rosefield cello and Tim Horton piano
Beethoven Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” Op 66
Rachmaninov Vocalise Op 34 No 14
Rachmaninov Cello Sonata in G minor Op 19
Two of the Festival’s favourite musicians met as members of Ensemble 360 and, with Benjamin Nabarro, formed the Leonore Piano Trio which opens the Festival.
Gemma Rosefield and Tim Horton bring a gorgeous programme for a Coffee Concert on a Saturday morning starting with Beethoven’s witty and virtuosic variations on Papageno’s aria from The Magic Flute, which are followed by Rachmaninov’s haunting and beautiful Vocalise. His Cello Sonata, written in 1901 is surely the most romantic ever written for the instrument, and no Festival focusing on his works could be complete without it.
Concert generously supported by Jennifer Lorch
£17.50 | £12.50
(£1 children / students)
Includes coffee – available from 10.30am
Leonore Piano Trio
Benjamin Nabarro violin | Gemma Rosefield cello | Tim Horton piano
Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No 1 in G minor
Arensky Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 32
Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor Op 50 ‘In Memory of a Great Artist’
The Leonore Piano Trio has become one of the firm Festival favourites for our audience. Established in 2012, the Trio appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall and other major venues, and their recordings – as with the two Piano Trios by Arensky – are highly praised.
The 2023 Festival is launched with an early work of 1892 by Rachmaninov, and his other monumental Trio (of 1907) features in the lunchtime concert on Monday. Arensky’s First Piano Trio (1894) was dedicated to the celebrated Russian cellist Karl Davidoff, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio (1881-2) was written in memory of his great mentor, Nikolai Rubinstein.
Concert generously supported by Peter Robinson in memory of Gillian
£26 | £16
(£1 children / students)
Lubomír Havlák and Libor Kaňka violins
Zbyněk Paďourek viola, Jitka Vlašánková cello
Mozart Divertimento in D K136
Glazunov Quintet in A Op 39
Schubert Quintet in C D956
The Martinů String Quartet returns to Leamington following an outstanding concert at the end of November and joins up again with Gemma Rosefield to repeat their striking interpretation of Schubert’s ever popular Quintet and to introduce the audience to the Quintet by Glazunov, written in 1892, during the golden age of romantic Russian music. The concert begins with Mozart’s evergreen, Divertimento in D, written in 1772 when the great composer was just 16 years old and already held the post of Court Concertmaster to Hieronymus Coloredo, Prince Archbishop of Salzburg.
Tickets: £24 and £19 reserved, £14 unreserved sides.
Concert generously supported by Paul & Jane Watts
James Pillai horn, Benjamin Nabarro and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan violins,
Rachel Roberts viola, Gemma Rosefield cello, Elena Hull double bass, Tim Horton piano
Howard Skempton Man and Bat
Howard Skempton The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Howard Skempton’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was first performed by Roderick Williams with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and then taken on by him and Ensemble 360 for performances in Sheffield, the Wigmore Hall and the 2017 Leamington Music Festival. The setting of D.H. Lawrence’s Man and Bat by Howard followed in July 2017, premièred in Sheffield, and this will be its first performance here in Leamington.
Tickets: £24 and £19 reserved, £14 unreserved sides.
Concert sponsored by Presto Classical
Benjamin Nabarro violin
Gemma Rosefield cello
Tim Horton piano
Arensky Trio No 1 in D minor Op 32
Schubert Trio No 1 in B flat D898
The members of the Leonore Piano Trio met in Ensemble 360, which has been performing regularly for Leamington Music since it was founded in 2006. The Trio emerged in 2012 and since then has appeared regularly in Leamington Music Festivals and made a series of acclaimed recordings, mostly of composers deserving more exposure such as Arensky, Lalo, David Matthews, Pixis, Rimsky-Korsakov and Taneyev. The Leonore’s rendition of the trio by Lalo in the 2017 Festival went down very well, and this year’s offering of the first of Schubert’s sublime trios is preceded by Arensky’s wonderfully Romantic first trio from 1894.
Tickets: £16 reserved, £13 unreserved sides.
Concert generously supported by Jennifer Lorch