Roderick Williams baritone | Andrew West piano
‘A taste of exotic’
Schubert Kennst du das Land (Mignons Gesang), D321
W. Denis Browne Arabia
Bliss Siege
Rebecca Clarke A Dream
Amy Woodforde-Finden Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar (Kashmiri Song)
Duparc L’invitation au voyage
Sally Beamish Four Songs from Hafez
Harry T. Burleigh Five Songs of Laurence Hope
The return of another Festival favourite (and a National Treasure to boot!). Roderick Williams never ceases to delight with both his performances and his thoughtful programming. This time he features the music of Leamington-born composer William Denis Browne among other works inspired by distant lands.
Generously supported by Helen & Stan Ireland and Diane Holt
The finer details…
Interval: None
Estimated finish: 1pm
Tickets:
Unreserved Seating
£23 (full price) / £11.50 (under-35s)
£3 (students & children)
Bliss Masks
Ravel Sonatine
Bliss Triptych
Poulenc Improvisation No. XV, “Hommage à Edith Piaf”
Poulenc Napoli – suite for piano
Coventry-born, and a noted pupil of Aldo Ciccolini, The Times has called Mark Bebbington “truly a remarkable pianist”. His international career has taken off in recent years, and we welcome this great champion of British music back to Leamington. Mark continues our Festival Ravel celebrations and begins for us those of Arthur Bliss who died 50 years ago this year.
Generously sponsored by Wiglesworth
The finer details…
Interval: none
Estimated finish: 1pm
Tickets:
Centre section: £18 full price | £3 child/student
Side sections: £13 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
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)
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)
Rachmaninov Preludes Op 32
Tchaikovsky Album for the Young Op 39
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Andrey Gugnin was introduced to the Festival in 2019 by the violinist Tasmin Little and they launched it with a memorable concert. Three days later, Andrey gave a lunchtime concert which ended with a performance of Pictures at an Exhibition, which prompted an immediate standing ovation. He was invited back to repeat this work the following year and the following two, but the pandemic and bureaucracy intervened. He returns this year with important examples of Russian music before repeating the Mussorgsky, which will again lead us to the Great Gate of Kyiv.
Andrey studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and soon after leaving began to win an impressive number of prizes in Vienna, Sydney, Zagreb and many others. Valery Gergiev invited him to appear with the London Philharmonic and Mariinsky Orchestras and he has performed in many of the world’s most important concert halls.
Concert generously supported by Peter Glanfield
£26 | £16
(£1 children / students)
Roman Kosyakov and Tanya Avchinnikova
four hands one piano
Mozart Sonata for Piano duet in D K381
Schubert Ave Maria D839
Glière Douze Morceaux Op 48
Rachmaninov Six Morceaux Op 11
Siberian pianist Roman Kosyakov was a Leamington Music Prize winner in 2019, and stepped in at the last minute to save the day last year giving a stunning concert to close the Festival with Ukrainian pianist Sasha Grynyuk. This year he teams up with his Belarusian wife, Tanya Avchinnikova, for a delightful afternoon duo concert.
Opening with a piece that Mozart regularly included in his own programmes when touring with his sister, Nannerl, as child prodigies, we follow his charm with some of Schubert’s characteristic warmth. Glière was born in Kyiv, of German and Polish descent, and this is a rare opportunity to hear these delightful pieces written in 1909.
Rachmaninov’s Six Morceaux Op 11 are an absolute must for this Festival programme. Written in 1894, they are among the best compositions of his youthful period following his studies at the Moscow Conservatory.
Generously sponsored by Maestro! Touring
£17.50 | £12.50
(£1 children / students)
Includes tea and cake served afterwards
Preludes, Nocturnes and Rhapsody
Bach/Busoni Chorale Prelude “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” BWV639
Chopin Nocturne in E minor Op 72 No 1
Chopin Nocturne in E flat Op 9 No 2
Gershwin Three Preludes
Valentin Silvestrov Nocturne
Rachmaninov Prelude in G Op 32 No 5
Rachmaninov Prelude in G sharp minor Op 32 No 12
Grieg Notturno Op 54 No 4
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Unwind at the end of the first full day of the Festival with a glass of wine in this relaxed late-night concert.
Since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona, Viv has enjoyed an extremely varied career as soloist and chamber musician, performing with most major British orchestras and many leading chamber groups. Viv last appeared in our Festival back in 2018, and one of his many admirers – Howard Skempton – proposed his return with a programme like this for us to round off a truly Festival day. We are pleased to include music by Valentin Silvestrov, who was born in Kyiv but currently lives in Berlin.
Generously supported by Howard Skempton
£16 unreserved
(includes a glass of wine)
Roman Kosyakov and Sasha Grynyuk piano
Mozart Sonata K570
Prokofiev Sonata No 1 Op 1
Purcell Ground in C
Liszt Variations on ‘Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen’
Mozart Andante and Variations in G major K501
Schubert Fantasy in F minor D940
Dvorak Slavonic Dances Op 46
A powerful piano recital ends the 2022 Leamington Music Festival – a Russian and a Ukrainian pianist in harmony.
Generously supported by Peter Glanfield
Tickets: £25 reserved centre | £17 unreserved sides
Sacconi Quartet
Ben Hancox and Hannah Dawson violins
Robin Ashwell viola, Cara Berridge cello
with Emma Abbate piano
Vaughan Williams String Quartet No 1 in G minor
Ravel String Quartet in F
Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor Op 84
We begin the 2022 Festival with a relatively rare gem from Ralph Vaughan Williams. RVW wrote his First String Quartet in 1908 after studying with Ravel for three months; it seems only natural, therefore, to pair this work with Ravel’s only Quartet which was completed in 1903.
Both RVW and Ravel served in World War I in non-combative roles, as ambulance crew and lorry driver respectively. Elgar’s great period was also the years before and during the Great War, writing patriotic music and following with his three great chamber works including the Piano Quintet of 1918.
The Sacconi Quartet return to Leamington after a superb opening concert of the Autumn Season and Emma Abbate, originally from Italy and now a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, makes her Leamington Music debut in this fine Festival opener.
Tickets: £25 reserved centre | £17 unreserved sides