9 October 2016
Ultimate Beethoven
Vanbrugh String Quartet
Mozart Adagio and Fugue in C minor K546
Shostakovich String Quartet no 3 in F op 73
Beethoven String Quartet no 15 in A minor op 132
Beethoven's 'Hymn of Thanks', Mozart and Shostakovich at their most expressive - The Vanbrugh Quartet: 'Awe-inspiring and infinitely moving' (The Strad)
Mozart's Adagio and Fugue is a piece of inspiring power and gravity. Shostakovich's epic Third Quartet is ostensibly about the Great Patriotic War but with sleight of hand explores the tensions of a totalitarian society.
Beethoven's Opus 132 is perhaps the most sublime of his five late quartets, with its Holy Song of Thanks, composed on recovery from an illness. Played by this great Irish Quartet it should not be missed.
Programme notes for this concert [PDF]
Vanbrugh String Quartet: Gregory Ellis, Keith Pascoe, Simon Aspell, Christopher Marwood
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30 October 2016
The Archduke & the End of time
Grier Piano Trio with Joseph Shiner (Clarinet)
Beethoven Piano Trio in B flat op 97: Archduke
Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps
The outstanding Grier ensemble play a much-loved Beethoven trio and is joined by a star young clarinettist in Messiaen's twentieth century masterpiece
Francis Grier used to be organist of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and gave the first ever Prom concert given over to a solo performer in 1985. Most of his appearances now are with his brilliant violinist and cellist daughters. Their performance of the Archduke Trio of Beethoven will assuredly be a delight.
In the second half of the programme they are joined by Joseph Shiner in the coruscating colours, rhythmic trances and endless rapt melodies of Messiaen's 'Quartet for the End of Time'.
Grier Piano Trio: Francis, Savitri and Indira Grier, with Joseph Shiner
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20 November 2016
Metamorphosen
Gagliano Ensemble
Brahms Piano Quartet no 3 in C minor op 60
Brahms Scherzo in C minor from the FAE Violin Sonata
Strauss Capriccio: Prelude for string sextet
Strauss Metamorphosen arr string septet
Intimate and gravely beautiful Strauss prefaced by intense and powerful Brahms - richly rewarding repertoire performed by award winning solo and chamber musicians
The Gaglianos return by popular request to perform the exquisite string sextet prelude to Strauss's last opera, Capriccio, and the septet version of Metamorphosen, the composer's gravely beautiful lament which is seen as his commentary on the destruction arising from Nazi rule and the second World War.
Before the interval we hear Brahms's magnificent C minor piano quartet and the scherzo he contributed to a three composer sonata collaboration.
Gagliano Ensemble: Galya Bisengalieva, Robert Ames, Oliver Coates, Petr Limonov & others
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29 January 2017
Mozart inspires
London Conchord Ensemble
Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds K452
Poulenc Trio for Oboe Bassoon and Piano
Poulenc Clarinet Sonata
Beethoven Quintet for Piano and Winds op 16
Beethoven inspired by great Mozart with delightful, contrasting Poulenc - 'The London Supergroup… playing with panache, wit and discreet sensitivity... a constant joy' (Gramophone)
It's a rare treat to hear both the great Piano and Wind Quintets by Mozart and Beethoven, the former (quite supreme Mozart) inspiring the latter.
The very fine London Conchord Ensemble players also bring the delights of two works by Poulenc, the whimsical 1920s Trio for oboe, clarinet and piano, where you will find both Mozart and Duke Ellington, and the Clarinet Sonata, his last piece 'his swan-song, as delightful as ever', as one critic put it.
London Conchord Ensemble: Maximiliano Martin, Emily Pailthorpe, Nicolas Korth, Julian Milford, Andrea de Flammineis
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19 February 2017
Beethoven's Ghost
Skazki Piano Trio
James MacMillan Fourteen Little Pictures
Beethoven Piano Trio in D opus 70 no 1 Geister
Liszt Funérailles (piano solo)
Shostakovich Piano Trio no 2 in E minor op 67
Beethoven's celebrated 'Ghost' Trio is a work of beauty and discovery, Shostakovich is, as ever, strident and satirical; the Liszt performance promises to be something special
Beethoven's much-loved 'Ghost' Trio is so-called because of the haunted, darkly mysterious quality of the slow movement. It's prefaced by James MacMillan's enigmatic, emotionally contrasted, but continuous, focussed fragments.
Liszt's Funérailles is an elegy written in response to the crushing of the 1848 Hungarian revolution. Shostakovich's E minor Trio was composed as news of the liberated concentration camps began to appear; the piece is an indictment of anti-Semitism of riveting power.
Skazki Piano Trio: Kamila Bydlowska, Alisa Liubarskaya, Maria Razumovskaya
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5 March 2017
Quintessential Franck
Tring Chamber Music
Beethoven Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu op 121a
Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte (piano solo)
Bridge Three Idylls for string quartet
Franck Piano Quintet in F minor
Franck's passionate Piano Quintet is prefaced by popular and attractive pieces; the musicians include the sought after violinist Paul Barritt and the pianist James Lisney for whose playing (The Telegraph) 'has nothing but praise'
Among chamber music's best kept secrets are the concerts organised in and around Tring in Hertfordshire; they sell out immediately.
The meat of this concert after the interval with the passionate, explosive, nothing-else-quite-like-it Piano Quintet by Franck. In the first half we hear entertaining variations by Beethoven, one of Ravel's most popular piano pieces and Bridges' Three Idylls which explore the wide tonal canvas of the string quartet.
Tring Chamber Music: Paul Barritt, Catherine Yates, Louise Williams, Josephine Horder, James Lisney
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23 April 2017
Death and the Maiden
Castalian String Quartet
Haydn Quartet in D op 20 no 4
Ravel String Quartet
Schubert String Quartet in D minor Death and the Maiden
A famous Haydn quartet, Ravel's luminous masterpiece of musical impressionism and Schubert's great D minor quartet performed by one of the finest of the younger UK ensembles
Winner of the First Prize at the 2015 Lyon International Chamber Music Competition, the Castalian String Quartet is fast becoming a favourite with audiences in the UK and abroad for its 'richly romantic energy and passion' (Strad Magazine). They perform three contrasting and popular pieces.
Ravel's Quartet is an early work but it brings the excitement and colour of French impressionism to that very Germanic structure, the string quartet. Schubert's D minor work, though written in the shadow of his final years, owes its nick-name 'Death and the Maiden' to the second movement, a set of variations based on his song of the same name.
Castalian String Quartet: Sini Simonen, Daniel Roberts, Charlotte Bonneton, Christopher Graves
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Artists and programmes subject to alteration
