London Piano Festival

Pianists and co-Artistic Directors

Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen reveal another dynamic line-up for the eighth London Piano Festival.

Thu 5 Oct Hall One 7.30pm

Rachmaninov 150

London Piano Festival

Rachmaninov Suite No. 1, Op. 5 (Fantaisie-Tableaux) Suite No. 2 Op. 17

Eleanor Alberga Two-Piano Suite (1986)

Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

Katya Apekisheva & Charles Owen piano

We celebrate Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversary with his masterpiece the Symphonic Dances The work combines a vigorous rhythmic drive with an aching nostalgia. The Two Suites were composed in pre-revolutionary Russia, the spirit of Tchaikovsky a guiding influence. Both pieces demonstrate Rachmaninov’s unique gift for creating breath-taking piano textures and unforgettable melodies. As a complimentary contrast, Katya Apekisheva & Charles Owen will also play Eleanor Alberga’s vibrant Two-Piano Suite, written to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence in 1987.

£19.50-£44.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Fri 6 Oct | Hall One | 7pm

Vadym Kholodenko

London Piano Festival Handel Suite in B flat, HWV 440 Haydn Sonata in C sharp minor, Hob. XVI No. 36

Beethoven Sonata No. 27, Op. 90

Valentin Silvestrov Bagatelles, Op. 1

Thomas Adès Traced Overhead Liszt Années de pèlerinage II (Italy) No. 7: Après une lecture de Dante No. 3: Tarantella in G minor Kholodenko is renowned for his individual interpretations, acute musical mind and extraordinary virtuosity. Winner of the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition, he has since established a worldwide reputation as a uniquely gifted musician. For this debut recital he has chosen a wideranging programme centred around three of the best-loved of all pianistcomposers: Haydn, Beethoven and Liszt.

£19.50-£44.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Sat 7 Oct Hall One | 12pm

Ligeti 100

The Devil’s Staircase

London Piano Festival

Ligeti Sonatina (duet) CO/KA

En Suspens, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Entrelacs CH

Nancarrow, arr. Thomas Adès

Player Piano Study No. 6 KA/DD

Ligeti Fém, Galamb Borong DD

Unsuk Chin In C, Sequenzen, Scherzo ad Libitum CH

Ligeti Arc-en-ciel, Autumn in Warsaw, Fanfares DD

Three Wedding Dances (duet) CO/KA

Chin Scalen, Toccata, Grains CH

Ligeti Cordes à vide, The Devil’s Staircase DD

Nancarrow, arr. Thomas Adès

Player Piano Study No. 7 CO/DD

Danny Driver (DD) piano

Clare Hammond (CH) piano

Charles Owen (CO) piano

Katya Apekisheva (KA) piano

Guest-curated by Danny Driver one of today’s leading Ligeti interpreters, this immersion concert will take six mesmerising études by Ligeti’s most famous pupil, Unsuk Chin. Also included are two of American maverick Conlon Nancarrow’s études arranged by Thomas Adès. This music originally conceived for player-piano was one of the inspirations behind Ligeti’s own groundbreaking études.

£22.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Sat 7 Oct | Hall Two | 3pm

Ligeti Masterclass with Danny Driver

London Piano Festival listeners into the fascinating world of the composer, his influences and legacy. Clare Hammond will bring her exceptional playing to

Focusing on the music of Ligeti, Danny Driver will reveal and share his wide knowledge of this extraordinary music, offering rare insights and guidance. A perfect way to delve deeper into the inner workings of a pianist’s life. See website for more information as we announce the repertoire that will be explored in this masterclass. This event is supported by Help Musicians.

£15 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Sun 8 Oct | Hall One 11.30am

Elégie: Rachmaninov

A Heart in Exile

London Piano Festival

Lucy Parham piano

Tim McInnerny narrator

Pianist Lucy Parham presents Elégie, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rachmaninov. The narrative, scripted from letters and diaries and read by actor Tim McInnerny follows Rachmaninov from his youth in Russia, through his subsequent self-imposed exile in 1917 and finally to California, where he died in 1943. The concert features many of his best-loved works for solo piano, including the haunting Elégie and some of his own transcriptions, as well as works by Scriabin and Tchaikovsky.

£22.50 with Under 30s and Concessions

Tickets

Sun 8 Oct | Hall Two | 2pm & 4pm

Inner Temple

Christina McMaster & Tom Middleton

Sound Unwrapped

A unique electro-acoustic collaboration between pianist Christina McMaster and wellness music pioneer and ambient composer Tom Middleton that you will listen to while lying down, enabling you to indulge in conscious listening. The sources of inspiration for this performance are the vision, eco-activism and art of the 12th-century abbess Hildegard of Bingen. Expect to experience sound in new dimensions with real-time transformations across multiple modes via immersive surround speakers to fully envelop you as Tom leverages the d&b Soundscape system, while sculpting the acoustic piano.

£27.50 with Concessions Tickets

Sun 8 Oct | Hall One | 6pm

Strings from the Royal Opera House

with Kristina Blaumane

London Chamber Music Society

R. Strauss String Sextet from Capriccio

Mozart String Quintet in G minor Brahms String Sextet No. 1 in B flat

Members of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, led by concertmaster Sergey Levitin, perform a selection of string chamber music classics. The magical string sextet from Strauss’s late opera Capriccio is followed by Mozart’s beautiful String Quintet in G minor. Their concert concludes with Brahms’s ever-popular First String Sextet, with its famous themeand-variations slow movement.

£14.50-£29.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Wed 11 Oct | Hall One | 7.45pm

Diotima Quartet

Master Series

Janáček String Quartet No. 1

Kreutzer Sonata

Ligeti String Quartet No. 2

String Quartet No. 1 Métamorphoses nocturnes

Janáček String Quartet No. 2

Intimate Letters

In this programme, Diotima bring together Janáček’s famous quartets, whose electrifying mastery was inspired by his love for Kamila Stösslová, with those of Ligeti. Métamorphoses nocturnes Ligeti’s first quartet, reaches back to folk-inspired elements in a work of teeming nocturnal enchantment, while the second quartet of 1968 combines thrilling rhythmic energy with expansive sonic landscapes of great beauty, creating in Diotima’s own words, ‘an alphabet for the future’.

£25 with Under 30s and Concessions

Tickets

Thu 12 Oct

St Martin in the Fields 7.30pm

Programme to include: Tallis O nata lux, Dum transisset Sabbatum

Alec Roth Night Prayer

Owain Park Phos hilaron

Hildegard of Bingen O gloriosissimi

Donna McKevitt Lumen

Deborah Pritchard The Light Thereof

James MacMillan O radiant dawn, In splendoribus sanctorum

Vocal consort The Gesualdo Six join forces with trumpeter Matilda Lloyd to present a stunning programme that explores different sonorities and spatial relationships within the church of St Martin in the Fields. Works from the Golden Age of polyphony by Tallis are juxtaposed with new compositions by Alec Roth and Donna McKevitt.

This concert will take place at St Martin in the Fields. Please contact the SMITF Box Office team on 020 7766 1100 or by emailing BoxOffice@smitf.org or by visiting www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org.

£20-£35 with Under 30s Tickets

Sun 15 Oct | Hall One | 11.30am

The Genesis Quest Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Bach the Universe & Everything

JS Bach Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen (Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?), BWV 48

Michael Marshall speaker

The OAE’s Sunday morning series continues its search for life and meaning beyond our planetary boundaries. The first concert features Bach’s cantata Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV 48, first performed in October 1723. They are joined by Michael Marshall, journalist and author of The Genesis Quest

£19.50 with Under 30s and Concession Tickets

Sun 22 Oct | Hall One 6pm Rosamunde Trio

London Chamber Music Society

Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 70 No. 2

Lili Boulanger D’un soir triste

D’un matin de printemps

Smetana Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15

The celebrated Rosamunde Trio perform piano trios from Vienna, France and the Czech Republic. Beethoven’s pair of Op. 70 trios were composed during his 1808 stay at Countess Marie von Erdödy’s estate, just north of Vienna. Two beautiful, characterful pieces from 1917-18 by the French composer Lili Boulanger follow, and to end, Bedřich Smetana’s passionate piano trio from the 1850s.

£14.50-£29.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets

Thu 26 Oct | Hall One | 7.30pm

The Sixteen’s Choral Pilgrimage

William Byrd 400th Anniversary

Byrd Arise Lord into thy rest Ne irascaris / Civitas sancti tui Van Wilder O doux regard Monte O suavitas et dulcedo Dobrinka Tabakova Arise Lord into thy rest; Turn our captivity Clemens non Papa Tristitia et anxietas; Ego flos campi Byrd Tristitia et anxietas Turn our captivity Monte Super flumina Babylonis Byrd Quomodo cantabimus? Vigilate

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers conductor 2023 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance. The Sixteen’s 2023 Choral Pilgrimage is is exploring some of William Byrd’s most moving works and introducing audiences to the music of his influences and colleagues, bringing his legacy firmly into the modern day with performances of two new specially commissioned works by Dobrinka Tabakova.

£19.50-£49.50 with Under 30s and Concessions Tickets