WEBERThe Invitation to the Dance BACH

French Suite No.6 in E BEETHOVEN

Polonaise Op.89 SCHUBERT

German Dances D.783 RAVEL

Valses Nobles et Sentimentales

SMETANA

Polka in A minor MARTINU

Polka SZYMANOVSKI

2 Mazurkas Op.62 CHOPIN

Mazurka in A minor Op.17/4 CHOPIN

Polonaise-Fantaisie Op.61

RVIPW Launch Concert 2018 – 9th May 7:30pm

Join us for a magical evening of Polonaises, Waltzes, Gavottes, Mazurkas and Polkas!  Artistic Director, Martin Roscoe, invites the audience to explore the world of dance in this carefully constructed programme of short and popular pieces.

We begin, appropriately enough, with the first “concert” waltz ever written (music to listen, rather than dance to) – we can imagine watching the graceful dancers themselves in this evocative piece which Weber wrote for his new wife, Caroline. There follows an evening of music composed for nobility and for merry-making, from Bach’s French Suites in the early 1700’s to Vienna in 1815, where Tsars and Aristocracy mingled to the sound of Beethoven performing this Polonaise. Next we are transported to the more intimate salons of Vienna, where people came together to chat, to laugh and even to dance, where we hear the German dances which Schubert played for their delight, before concluding the first half in Paris with Ravel’s beautiful “Valses nobles et sentimentales”, titled in homage to Schubert. Onwards to Czechoslovakia, where Smetana and Martinu’s strong senses of identity and National pride are reflected in these Polkas, before a Mazurka by that master of the dance, Chopin – finishing with the Polonaise-Fantasie which is surely one of Chopin’s greatest and most effective pieces. (more…)

RVIPW Launch Concert 2017

Piano Recital by Martin Roscoe

Ribble Valley International Piano Week and Westholme School unite for a special concert by celebrated pianist, Martin Roscoe, for the launch of the 30th Ribble Valley International Piano Week.

Join us for an evening which brings the beauty of nature and music together in perfect harmony.  Artistic Director, Martin Roscoe, invites the audience to explore Europe’s varied landscapes. The musical tour begins with Beethoven’s exquisite Pastoral Sonata then winds its way through Schumannʼs evocative Forest Scenes, Dohnányiʼs Pastoral Hungarian nativity tale, Ireland’s melancholic Darkened Valley and Liszt’s dashing escape to the lakes and mountains of Switzerland. Debussy’s contrasting works depict the solitude of the Scottish Highlands before a violent west wind brings in a destructive storm from the sea and the concert finally finds peace in the luminous sound world of Schubertʼs Sonata in G.

Programme

BEETHOVEN – Sonata in D Op. 28 “Pastoral”
SCHUMANN – Waldszenen Op. 82 Nos 3 & 7
DOHNÁNYI – Pastorale on a Hungarian Christmas Song
IRELAND – The Darkened Valley
LISZT – Au Lac Du Wallenstadt; Pastorale (Annes de Pelerinage Premiere Annee: Suisse)
DEBUSSY – Preludes: Bruyeres; Ce Qu’a Vu Le Vent D’Ouest
SCHUBERT – Sonata in G D. 894

RVIPW 2017

Celebrate Piano Week’s 30th Birthday this summer with our friends Martin Roscoe, violinist Tasmin Little and an array of fantastic pianists, including international names alongside emerging artists. Full details of and leaflets for RVIPW 2017, running from 19th July to 22nd July, will be available at this launch concert, with booking for the main festival opening straight afterwards here on our website.

 

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Programme

Schubert - Moment Musical (D 780 No 2) Debussy - Images (series I), Children's Corner, D'un Cahier d'esquisses, L'Isle joyeuse Rachmaninov - Études-Tableaux Op 33; Études-Tableaux Op 39 Nos 2 and

Piano Recital by Steven Osborne

We are completely delighted that Steven Osborne will close the Piano Week for us, his first visit in a very long time. One of the pre-eminent pianists of his generation, he begins with a haunting curtain-raiser by Schubert, followed by a group of evergreen pieces by Debussy, ending with the joyous abandon of his L’Isle joyeuse. Finally powerful, rich tone-poems by Rachmaninov bring this year’s Piano Week to a close.

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Tonight’s pre-concerrt talk will be given by Steven Osborne.

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Programme

Haydn - Sonata in E flat (H XVI 52) Chopin - Three Nocturnes Op 15 Rachmaninov - Études-Tableaux Op 39 Nos 5 and 8; Sonata No 2 (1931 version)

Piano Recital by Tyler Hay

After early studies at the Purcell School Tyler Hay is now at the RNCM; he’s already performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Queen Elizabeth and the Purcell Room, so Westholme will be another tick on his list!  As well as Haydn’s majestic last piano sonata, he will perform three favourite Chopin nocturnes before concluding his recital with the virtuosic grandeur of Rachmaninov.

 

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Programme

Schubert - Nachtstück, Die Sterne, Abendstern, Auf dem wasser zu singen, Abendrot Mahler - Rückert-Lieder Debussy - Chanson de Bilitis George Crumb - Three early songs arr. Britten - Salley gardens, The last rose of Summer, O come ye not from Newcastle, Ca’ the yowes, O Waly Waly, Oliver Cromwell

Ruby Hughes soprano, Martin Roscoe piano

With her clear, warm, honeyed voice, Ruby Hughes is as much at home on the opera stage as the concert platform – from Scottish Opera to the Proms and around the world. She treats us to five songs by Schubert exploring the night and its mysteries, the beauty of Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, and the sensuality of Debussy’s Chansons de Bilitis. George Crumb’s Three Early Songs also feature the night, and nature, and the evening ends with five beautifully crafted folk song settings by Britten.

 

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Tonight’s pre-concert talk will be given by our piano technician Marianne Bailey, continuing her fascinating insight in to the world of preparing concert pianos and the complexity of the role which goes far beyond tuning.

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Piano Recital by Yundu Wang

American Yundu Wang is currently studying for her doctorate at the Guildhall, and studies piano with Martin Roscoe. Her programme begins with one of Mozart’s early sonatas written when he was still a teenager, before moving on to late intimate miniatures by Brahms. Berg’s Sonata was his first published work from the height of Romanticism, and Yundu ends with Chopin’s stormy Polonaise-Fantaisie.

Programme

Mozart – Sonata in B flat (K 281)
Brahms – Three Intermezzi Op 117
Berg – Sonata
Chopin – Polonaise-Fantaisie

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Moricosta String Trio, Martin Roscoe piano

The Moricosta Trio (Lucy Baker violin, Steven Burnard viola, Jessica Burroughs cello) was formed when they were working with the BBC Philharmonic. Now they’re in demand around the country, and here they are joined by Martin Roscoe; firstly with their violinist and cellist for the Haydn Piano Trio, and then with the full trio for the two Piano Quartets. Fauré’s is dark and impassioned, whilst the Brahms quartet is more fiery and full of Hungarian gypsy influences, particularly in the Finale.

Programme

Haydn Piano Trio in G (H XV 25) (Gypsy Rondo)
Fauré Piano Quartet No 1
Brahms Piano Quartet No 1

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

The members of the Moricosta trio will give tonight’s pre-concert talk.

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Piano Recital by Jinah Shim

Jinah Shim has been winning prizes and scholarships since her early teens, and currently studies at the Guildhall with Martin Roscoe and Noriko Ogawa. She begins with the crisp and elegant world of Bach’s suite of dances, before the lingering melodies and more free spirit world of Schubert’s Impromptus. Contrasting Rachmaninov Preludes – one reflective, the other intense, lead us towards Chopin’s exhilarating Fantasy to close her performance.

Programme

Bach – French Suite No 5 in G
Schubert – Impromptus (D 899 Nos 2, 3 and 4)
Rachmaninov – Preludes Op 23 Nos 4 and 7
Chopin – Fantasy

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Piano Recital by Peter Donohoe

One of our favourite visitors, Peter Donohoe returns for a solo recital to open this year’s Piano Week, with a programme of music to show the full range of his mastery at the keyboard. Mozart’s sparkling Sonata leads the way, followed by some favourite late Schubert.  Scriabin’s dark drama and sense of upheaval characterise the 6th Sonata, one of his greatest works, and the evening ends with Rachmaninov’s Preludes, by turns melancholy, romantic and joyful, and always intensely so.

Programme

Mozart – Sonata in F (K 332)
Schubert – Four Impromptus (D 935)
Scriabin – Sonata No 6
Rachmaninov – Preludes Op 32

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Tonight’s pre-concert talk will be given by Peter Donohoe.

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RVIPW Launch Concert 2016

Piano Recital by Martin Roscoe

Westholme School and Ribble Valley International Piano Week invite you to our annual joint concert by the Festival’s Artistic Director Martin Roscoe, for a programme of things French: the four French composers at the end of the concert provide effervescence, wit and understated charm whilst the first three pieces pay their homages more obliquely. Chopin wrote his Barcarolle in France, while the publishers of the Bach and Beethoven pieces provided their titles. Bach’s French suites are suitably cosmopolitan and this G major one is a beguilingly memorable set of dances. Beethoven’s Sonata is his farewell to one of his patrons in the first movement, whose absence and eventual return are the subject of the rest of the work.

Programme

Bach – French Suite No.5 in G
Beethoven – Sonata in E flat Op.81a “Les Adieux”
Chopin – Barcarolle Op.60
Ravel – Sonatine
Faure – Barcarolle No.6 Op.70
Poulenc –  3 Novelettes
Debussy – Suite: Pour Le Piano

RVIPW  2016

The Ribble Valley International Piano Week runs from Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th July. Full details and leaflets will be available at this concert, with booking for this main festival opening straight afterwards.

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Piano Recital by Martin Roscoe

Our Artistic Director closes this year’s Piano Week in style. For the centrepiece of his programme we enter a world of fantasies, dances and things that go bump in the night, by Grieg, Schumann and Debussy. His programme is framed by two great Romantic sonatas, one marking Beethoven’s barnstorming arrival in Vienna, the other, one of Schubert’s great celebrations of life. This tells a supple, bright, and mellifluous tale, written whilst journeying to Salzburg through the Salzkammergut mountains.

Programme

Beethoven   Sonata in F minor Op 2 No 1
Grieg   Dance of the Elves; The Little Troll; March of the Trolls (from Lyric Pieces)
Schumann     Fantasy-Dance and Elf Op 124 Nos 5 and 17; Arabesk Op 18
Debussy     Two Preludes; Masques
Schubert   Sonata in D (D 850)

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Martin Roscoe talks with piano technician Marianne Bailey; back by popular request following last year’s fascinating discussion, we are promised further glimpses into the world of concert piano preparation.

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Piano Recital by Mishka Rushdie Momen

‘Mishka Rushdie Momen – a really compelling talent’ – says Imogen Cooper. Richard Goode agrees with her and so do we. Winning the Dudley Piano Competition was only one of the awards she garnered last year, and she is still only 23. Beginning with Mozart’s great Fantasy – a serious and even demonic journey, her programme takes us through one of Janacek’s most impressionistic and haunting works, and finishes with a dramatic and powerful Schubert sonata completely compelling from beginning to end.

Programme

Mozart  Fantasy in C minor (K 475)
Janáček  In the Mists
Schubert  Sonata in C minor (D 958)

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Piano Recital by Alexandra Dariescu

Romanian-born Alexandra Dariescu is one of the most charismatic of young pianists, combining great musicianship with a warm personality and stage presence. We’re delighted she’s returning to the Piano Week, with a programme of contrasting emotions and moods; from the sombre-tinged Mendelssohn, Pletnev’s sparkling arrangement of Nutcracker Suite, through the tenderness and love of two Chopin favourites, to the restraint of Fauré’s Preludes

Programme

Mendelssohn  Variations serieuses Op 54
Szymanowski  Nine Preludes Op 1
Chopin  Scherzo No 2
Tchaikovsky arr Mikhail Pletnev Nutcracker Suite
Fauré  Three Preludes from Op 103
Chopin  Polonaise in A flat Op 53

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Alexandra Dariescu will be in conversation with Martin Roscoe.

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Piano Recital by Natalia Sokolovskaya

Russian Natalia Sokolovskaya is currently studying piano and composition at the Royal College of Music. It is not often we hear music from 1724 at the Piano Week, but that’s where we begin for her recital this lunchtime. We stay in the 18th century for Haydn and C P E Bach, with music of elegance and refinement, followed by Janacek’s intense and moving two movement Sonata, and Natalia ends her recital with a favourite Chopin Mazurka and a virtuoso Rondo.

Programme

Rameau  Allemande, Le Rappel des Oiseaux, Gigue en Rondeau
Haydn  Sonata in A (H XVI 12)
C P E Bach  Variations on La folie d’ Espagne
Janáček  Sonata 1.x.1905
Chopin  Mazurka in E minor Op 41 No 2; Introduction and Rondo in E flat Op 16

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Gwilym Simcock

Gwilym Simcock is one of the UK’s most gifted pianists and composers, able to move effortlessly between jazz and classical styles and also to inhabit both at once. His skill in dovetailing different musical traditions, and his dazzling keyboard skills will, we’re sure, result in one of the most exciting performances we’ve ever heard at the Piano Week. It is a little different for us, undoubtedly – but we think you’ll be enthralled by his astonishing talent. You may hear glimpses of Ravel or of Stravinsky as he takes us on an original journey through jazz standards and his own compositions.

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Gwilym will be in conversation with Steve Berry.

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Jennifer Pike (violin) and Martin Roscoe (piano)

Since winning Young Musician of the Year in 2002, Jennifer Pike has developed a musical breadth and intensity which outstrips her peers, at home whether at Proms in the Park or our slightly smaller scale affair. She and Martin begin with one of Mozart’s sunniest Violin Sonatas, an engaging conversation. Dvorak’s four Romantic Pieces have a haunting quality and the variations by Miklos Rozsa (of Ben Hur fame, among many film scores) are soulful and virtuosic. A trio of well-loved lollipops by Kreisler completes this wide ranging programme.

Programme

Mozart  Sonata in G K.301
Kreisler  Liebesleid
Kreisler  Schön Rosemarin
Kreisler  Tambourin Chinois
Dvorak  4 Romantic Pieces Op.75
Rosza  Variations on a Hungarian Peasant Song Op.4

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Piano Recital by Paul Lewis

It is a great pleasure to welcome Paul Lewis to open this year’s Piano Week. Internationally regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation, his recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas are widely regarded as world class. For us then, the final three Sonatas, perhaps Beethoven’s final testament. They are musically intense, a conclusion – and with Op 111 described by Thomas Mann in “Doctor Faustus”, as the sonata fulfilling its destiny, resolving itself, and taking its leave.

Programme

Beethoven  Sonata in E Op 109
                     Sonata in A flat Op 110
                     Sonata in C minor Op 111

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Paul Lewis will be in conversation with Martin Roscoe

Spot the difference!

You may have noticed, if you have browsed through one of our leaflets, that there was a blank under Wednesday 15th July 6.30pm. We apologise for this mistake, which was due to a printing error. We hope you might have deduced that details of a pre-concert talk, as per the other evenings at this time, were missing! We hope to welcome you to the talk which precedes this wonderful recital!

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RVIPW Launch Concert 2015

Piano Recital by Martin Roscoe

Westholme School and Ribble Valley International Piano Week invite you to a great opportunity to hear the Artistic Director of  Piano Week in a solo recital of uplifting works by four great composers from central Europe. One of Haydn’s wittiest Sonatas opens the evening, and Beethoven’s Sonata is driven by a fiery energy, as well as possessing a beautiful tranquility. Dohnanyi’s Ruralia Hungarica is full of folk tunes from his native country and the concert ends in a world of peace and luminosity, for the most sublime of Schubert’s late Sonatas.

Programme

Haydn – Sonata in D (H XVI 37)
Beethoven – Sonata in C minor Op 10 No 1
Dohnanyi – Four Pieces from Ruralia Hungarica Op 32b
Schubert – Sonata in G (D894)

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Pre-concert talks 2014

We have held pre-concert talks with performers during Piano Week before, but this year we will also be revealing a little of what happens behind the scenes, with further pre-concert talks between Martin Roscoe and two music professionals, both experts in their fields. He will also be in conversation with the much-loved and acclaimed violinist Tasmin Little, ahead of their concert on Saturday evening, which rounds off this year’s festival. Piano and music enthusiasts alike will want to be sure not to miss what promise to be illuminating and informal chats. All of these talks are free to ticket holders of each relevant event as detailed below.

On the 16th July at 6.30pm, before his own concert, Martin will be “in conversation” with Piano Week’s other Artistic Director, Producer Mike George. Martin and Mike have recorded and broadcast together many times and they will continue this collaboration with six CDs of music by Schubert. If you have read the fascinating sleeve notes of Questions and Answers between Martin and Mike in their Deux-Elles Beethoven cycle CDs, your interest might be piqued as to what the process of making a CD entails. How are decisions made? How long does it take? Get an inside view of how CDs are recorded from these two musicians at the pinnacle of the profession.

Next, on the 18th July at 6.30pm, before Alessandro Taverna’s recital, Martin will be “in conversation” with Marianne Bailey, Piano Tuner and Technician. Marianne has been preparing the pianos for RVIPW for many years. There will be plenty for them to talk about as her work with Yamaha pianos (at festivals, competitions and on tour) and her role as Head Technician at the RNCM gives her a unique perspective on pianists and pianos. What happens on the day of a concert, and what adjustments can be made beyond tuning? How do modern concert grands generate enough volume to compete with the huge sound produced by a symphony orchestra? All this and more will be revealed and we hope you will have some questions of your own, too!

It’s always wonderful to hear Tasmin Little play, but before her recital on the 19th July at 6.45pm, she will also be joining Martin Roscoe “in conversation” in a pre-concert talk which promises to give us a fascinating insight to the life of one of Britain’s most popular violin players. Her recent CDs have received universal critical acclaim – her recording of The Lark Ascending with the BBC Philharmonic remained in the top 20 classical CD charts for 13 weeks. Before she and Martin play this much-loved Vaughan Williams piece for us in a version for piano and violin, join us for some glimpses into the working lives of two of the most busy and well respected musicians around.

 

These events, held in July 2014 have now past. Please see our “Events” page for future events.

Tasmin Little (violin) and Martin Roscoe (piano)

We’re delighted that Tasmin Little is returning to us; her last visit in 2010 was a great success and this is her first visit to Westholme – and she’s off to Australia next. She begins and ends with Beethoven, with the Kreutzer of course lasting almost forty minutes. In between, we are definitely in a pastoral and outdoor mood, just right for a sunny summer evening, with Delius’ Legende, Elgar’s two Chansons, and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending; the number one choice of all time on Desert Island Discs.

Programme

Beethoven Violin Sonata in A Op 12 No 2
Delius Légende
Elgar Chanson de nuit; Chanson de matin
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending

Interval

Beethoven Violin Sonata in A Op 47 (Kreutzer)

Pre-concert talk at 6.45pm (free to ticket holders)

It’s always wonderful to hear Tasmin Little play, but before her recital tonight, she will also be joining Martin Roscoe “in conversation” in a pre-concert talk which promises to give us a fascinating insight to the life of one of Britain’s most popular violin players. Her recent CDs have received universal critical acclaim – her recording of The Lark Ascending with the BBC Philharmonic remained in the top 20 classical CD charts for 13 weeks. Before she and Martin play this much-loved Vaughan Williams piece for us in a version for piano and violin, join us for some glimpses into the working lives of two of the most busy and well respected musicians around.

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Les Chisnall Trio

Les Chisnall piano, Steve Berry bass, Marek Dorcik drums

Following on from our first steps into jazz at the 2013 Festival, here we have one of the UK’s best jazz pianists, Les Chisnall – strong melodies, interesting harmonies and classical music influences all abound in music which is open, refreshing, warm and lyrical – a delight to listen to. He’s joined by bassist Steve Berry, who lives just around the corner from Westholme, and Marek Dorcik, originally from Slovakia, but now based in Manchester. Les also tutors at the RNCM, Leeds College of Music and Chethams, alongside Steve.

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Piano Recital by Alessandro Taverna

“A magisterial account …. suffused with grave beauty. This Italian is remarkable…50 minutes of flawless poetry” is how the Independent described Alessandro’s prize-winning performance at the London Piano Competition, and since he has performed with the Hallé, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He begins with the most famous piano variations there are, before moving to Italy for Liszt’s songs of gondoliers and furious tarentellas. Liveliness continues with Busoni’s Fantasy on Carmen before the mellifluousness of Ravel. Alessandro finishes the evening with the evocation of the loves and jealousies of Petrushka.


Programme

Beethoven Variations and Fugue on a theme from Prometheus Op 35
Liszt Venezia e Napoli
Liszt Tarantelle di Bravura d’après la tarantella de La muette de Portici (S 386
No 2)
Interval
Busoni Sonatina No 6: Chamber Fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen
Ravel Jeux d’eau
Stravinsky Three movements from Petrushka

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Martin will be “in conversation” with Marianne Bailey, Piano Tuner and Technician. Marianne has been preparing the pianos for RVIPW for many years. There will be plenty for them to talk about as her work with Yamaha pianos (at festivals, competitions and on tour) and her role as Head Technician at the RNCM gives her a unique perspective on pianists and pianos. What happens on the day of a concert, and what adjustments can be made beyond tuning? How do modern concert grands generate enough volume to compete with the huge sound produced by a symphony orchestra? All this and more will be revealed and we hope you will have some questions of your own, too!

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Piano Recital by Alexander Panfilov

Alexander Panfilov has won many competition prizes across Europe – two first prizes in 2013 alone – and after finishing his studies at the Moscow Conservatoire, won a scholarship to study at the RNCM. Beethoven’s 32 Variations are by turns deft and reflective, and are followed by the first piece in Albeniz’s ‘Iberia’, the opening reflective reminiscence of Spain. Finally, Rachmaninov’s Études-Tableux are also evocations of places – in a more dramatic style – though Rachmaninov chose not to reveal where.

Programme

Beethoven Variations in C minor (WoO 80)
Albeniz Evocación (Iberia, Book 1)
Rachmaninoff Etudes-tableaux Op 39

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Sir Andrew Motion (Reader) and Ian Buckle (Piano)

Anthem for Doomed Youth

The Anthem for Doomed Youth is a rich tapestry of words and music, commemorating the centenary of the start of World War I. Sir Andrew Motion reads his own work, alongside poems by Wilfred Owen and Geoffrey Hill. Owen was the leading British poet of WW1, killed in its final days. Geoffrey Hill is one of Britain’s greatest living poets, his writing characterised by ‘the noble application of scruples to life’. The readings, reflecting on the futility of war, are interwoven with music by Ravel, Elgar, Bridge and Ireland and Edgar Bainton, who spent 1914-18 as a Prisoner of War in Germany after an innocent visit to the Bayreuth Festival. We will hear pianist Ian Buckle play the crystalline Piano Variations by Webern, killed by accident in the last days of the Second World War and also Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin.

Andrew Motion is President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and co-founder of The Poetry Archive. His latest project is Poetry By Heart.

Andrew Motion’s poetry has received the Arvon/Observer Prize, the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway and co-founded The Poetry Archive. Andrew Motion was knighted for his services to literature in 2009.

‘Motion’s greatest and most distinctive gift…is to look squarely at the world and describe it with a plain and unsentimental eloquence that makes world value seem all the more questionable.’ Independent on Sunday

The Customs House is a stunning new collection from the former Poet Laureate. The book is in three sections, and opens with a sequence of war poems, Laurels and Donkeys, which draws on soldiers’ experiences from the First and Second World wars, through to the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan

The Customs House follows hard on the heels of his acclaimed sequel, Silver ~ Return to Treasure Island (Jonathan Cape), in which Long John Silver’s daughter and Jim Hawkins’ son return to the scene of their fathers’ adventures. Featuring a cast of noble seamen, murderous pirates and tales of love, valour & terrible cruelty, it’s a storm-tossed, tempest-wrack’d, suspenseful thriller of a book.

“Like Stevenson, Motion has achieved that very difficult thing: a children’s novel that works even better for adults. Look to your laurels, Rowling” John Sutherland, The Times

“There are sequels and prequels aplenty, but this follow-up to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure island by the former Poet Laureate reeks of authenticity, cunning, intrigue, suspense and adventure. It’s brilliant, and for all ages” Henry Sutton, Daily Mirror

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Piano Recital by Erdem Misirlioglu

 

A concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2008, Erdem has since given recitals in prestigious venues including the Wigmore Hall, Snape Maltings, and at the Croston Theatre as soloist with the Blackburn Symphony Orchestra! After the gentle introduction of Bach’s Siciliano, the Beethoven is more energetic. For the Debussy Preludes we begin with Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest and finish with Minstrels, going, of course, via La cathédral engloutie. Finally, Chopin’s Ballade No 1 begins simply but grows to one of the most dramatic and difficult (to play!) endings.

Programme

Bach arr. Kempff Siciliano (from BVW 1031)
Beethoven Sonata in D Op 10 No 3
Debussy Preludes Book 1, Nos 7-12
Chopin Ballade No 1

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Piano Recital by Martin Roscoe

Martin Roscoe opens the Piano Week with an evening of Beethoven Plus … featuring some of the maestro’s shorter works. Although they don’t make it onto the concert platform as often as they should, they are not mere Bagatelles. They’re interspersed with Impromptus, which are intended to convey a spirit of improvisation and are almost always light and airy, but vary in structure and length – by Schubert, Fauré and Chopin. The programme ends with Chopin’s glorious Fantaisie-Impromptu.

Programme

Beethoven Bagatelles: in B flat (WoO 60); in G minor (WoO 61a); in A minor (WoO
59), Fűr Elise
Schubert Impromptus in A flat and B flat (D 935 Nos 2 and 3)
Beethoven Sonata in A Op 2 No 2

Interval

Beethoven Sonata in F sharp Op 78
Fauré Impromptus Nos 1 and 2
Beethoven Sonata in G Op 14 No 2
Chopin Impromptu No 2; Fantaisie -Impromptu

Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm (free to ticket holders)

Tonight, Martin will be “in conversation” with Piano Week’s other Artistic Director, Producer Mike George. Martin and Mike have recorded and broadcast together many times and they will continue this collaboration with six CDs of music by Schubert. If you have read the fascinating sleeve notes of Questions and Answers between Martin and Mike in their Deux-Elles Beethoven cycle CDs, your interest might be piqued as to what the process of making a CD entails. How are decisions made? How long does it take? Get an inside view of how CDs are recorded from these two musicians at the pinnacle of the profession.

Booking Information

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RVIPW Launch Concert 2014

Piano Recital by Martin Roscoe

Come and hear the Artistic Director of Ribble Valley International Piano Week, Martin Roscoe, for an evening of popular fantasies by the great composers, and with a wide range of moods and characters. Mozart’s short Fantasy in D minor is one of his most popular piano pieces, by turns wistful, dramatic and light-hearted.  Schumann’s Kreisleriana, “8 Fantasias” has similar contrasts – the music is either frenetic and passionate or contemplative and serene. Beethoven’s Sonata quasi una fantasia has four very contrasting movements played continuously, and Brahms’ Op 116 Fantasies, written towards the end of his life are intimate and economical. Finally Chopin’s F minor fantasy is a fifteen minute story of turbulence contrasted with moments of complete calm.  Details of RVIPW 2014, which will run from Wednesday 16th July to Saturday 19th July will be available.

Programme

Mozart Fantasy in D minor K.397
Schumann Kreisleriana (8 Fantasies) Op.16
Beethoven Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia in E flat Op.27 No.2
Brahms 3 Fantasies Op.116 Nos 1,4 and 7
Chopin Fantasy in F minor Op.49

Martin Roscoe and Noriko Ogawa – Four hands at the piano

Martin is joined by Noriko Ogawa, one of our festival favourites. They’ll be sitting side by side for this evening of four hands at one piano (they’re going to swop places occasionally, but not mid-piece). A parade through the centuries begins with gentility and vivacity of Mozart and Schubert, before two transcriptions:  Debussy’s sensual vision of a fawn and finally Stravinsky’s sensational ballet score that changed the course of music history at its premiere a hundred years ago in Paris.

Programme

Mozart Sonata in C, K 521
Schubert Fantasy in F minor, D 940
Debussy arr. Ravel Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring

Piano recital by Richard Uttley

In 2011 Richard Uttley was selected for the Young Concert Artists’ Trust – a great accolade for young musicians, and he has also won numerous other prizes and competitions around the country.  He also holds a Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In this delightful lunchtime recital, he brings us one of Schubert’s most elegant sonatas, and three of Grieg’s much-loved Lyric Pieces, interspersed with a little Debussy and a little Bartok.

Programme

Schubert Sonata in A, D 664
Grieg Solitary Traveller, Op 43 No 2
Bartók 6 Romanian Folk Dances
Grieg Homesickness, Op 57 No 6
Debussy Estampes
Grieg Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Op 65 No 6

A brief history of … Jazz Piano

Trish Ferrarin and Paul Topping will look at the development of piano playing within the genre of jazz including a brief history from the days of ‘ragtime’, the era of ‘stride’ and the transition into swing, bebop and modern jazz. Works by Joseph Lamb, Scott Joplin, Jelly-Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Michel Petrucciani, and Michiel Borstlap will feature. Paul and Trish will also will look at the ‘language’ of jazz and share their approach to learning improvisation. Ends at 9.00 pm approx.