26 March - 31 March 2018 - pianoweek.compianoweek.com/wp-content/themes/DIVI-CHILD/pdf/moreton-hall... · giving master classes and lessons to our ... audience is treated to a spellbinding

1

Moreton Hall School | Musgrave Theatre

D A I L Y F E S T I V A L C O N C E R T S

26 M

arch

- 3

1 M

arch

201

8

For more information visit: www.schottmusiclondon.com/relax-with-piano

YOUR PIANO

£10.99 each

Unwind and enjoy some ‘me time’ with these fabulous collections for piano

Pieces, selected and edited by British concert pianist Samantha Ward, ideal for playing at home, simply for pleasure

Well-known pieces and rare gems, selected for their relaxing qualities, are of easy to intermediate diffi culty

*)3

5

35

28

25

15

15

25

Coda5

251 2 3 *)

51 3 2

32

2 25

2125

14

25

14

13 2

4

5

13

2

5

1815

14

1 24

15

24

35

1

4

5

3

7915

3

dim.

24

1 23

14

15 2

114

25

cresc.

.

52905Heumann:52905Heumann.qxd 2.2.2011 12:16 Seite 79

35

*)3

35

28

25

21

.

*) 3 5

35

28 25

15

15

25

Coda525 1 2 3

*)5

1 3 2

32

225

2125

14

25

14 1

324 5

1 3

2

5

18 15

14 1

24 1

5 24 3

5 1

4

5

3

79

153

dim.

24

1 23 1

4 15 2

1

14

25

cresc.

.


cresc.

Andante = 88

2

cresc.

412

15

25

15 1

415

135 1

35

3 15

14

5

32 1 2 1 2

515

14

25

14

13

25 1

424 1

55 1 3

2

5 24

1 2 3

51 2

34

2 13

15

4 5 4

24 1 2

3

5

2 13 1

3

12

9

5

© 2008 Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz

Leichte Sonate C-Dur

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756 – 1791)

78

Easy Sonata C major / Sonate facile Ut majeur


34

© 2016 SCHOTT MUSIC Ltd, London

Easy SonataC major

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756–1791)

From the Schott edition Pianissimo: Für Elise (ED 20044)

from

Rel

ax w

ith

Cla

ssic

al P

iano

(ED

138

50)

2

I am thrilled to present the inaugural Easter edition of PIANO WEEK in Shropshire to

you, an extension of the festival’s popular summer residency at Moreton Hall, which has

proven to be a tremendous success amongst participants and which forms an important

hub for us in the United Kingdom. As a touring classical music enterprise with residencies

in Germany, Italy and China, we are excited to welcome participants from across the UK,

Italy, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Thailand who are joining us for an intensive week of

music making.

Our series of daily solo and two piano recitals held throughout the week are given by

an acclaimed faculty of concert pianists who hail from all over the world. All artists

performing are highly experienced as pianists and pedagogues and they have all been

giving master classes and lessons to our participants throughout the festival. This makes

the summer school part of PIANO WEEK a truly unique experience for our participants and

audience members alike.

I hope that you enjoy our series of evening concerts in the Musgrave Theatre and that we

will be able to welcome you back this summer, either as an audience member or an active

participant, when the festival visits Moreton Hall again between 22nd July and 5th August.

Welcome

Samantha Ward | Artistic Director & Founder

Samantha Ward in Recital

Duration This concert will last approximately 60 minutes, with no interval.

TICKETS £7/£12FREE ENTRY for the festival’s participants. www.pianoweek.com/whats-on | tickets also available on the door

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

4 Klavierstücke Op. 119Intermezzo in B minor Intermezzo in E minorIntermezzo in C MajorRhapsody in E flat Major

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Arabesque in C Major Op. 18

Symphonic Etudes Op. 13Theme – Andante Etude I – Un poco più vivoEtude II – AndanteEtude III – VivaceEtude IV – Allegro marcatoEtude V – ScherzandoEtude VI – AgitatoEtude VII – Allegro moltoEtude VIII – Sempre marcatissimoEtude IX – Presto possibileEtude X – Allegro con energiaEtude XI – Andante espressivoEtude XII – Allegro brillante

26 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

4

26 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

About

Samantha WardArtistic Director & Founder

Artistic Director Samantha Ward inaugurates the Easter edition of the festival with a programme of some of the most revered piano masterpieces by Brahms and Schumann. A collection of four character pieces, Op. 119, composed four years before Brahms’ death constitutes his last work written for solo piano. What he wrote to Clara Schumann about the opening Intermezzo: ‘Every bar and every note must sound like ritardando, as if one wanted to suck out melancholy out of each and every note, lustily […]’ shines a bright light on the poetic and personal content of these works. After a rubato driven and fleeting Arabesque, the audience is treated to a spellbinding display of virtuosity in Schumann’s early Opus 13. The Symphonic Etudes, with all of their technical demands and dramatically interwoven outbursts of Schumann’s conflicting personality, are a testament of the composer’s investigation into the possibilities of achieving orchestral timbre on the piano and his experimentation with textures and colours.

One of the leading British pianists of her generation, Samantha Ward has performed extensively around the UK, Asia and Europe, appearing on television and radio numerous times. She made her London debut at the Wigmore Hall in 2007 and has performed in major venues around the UK and abroad. She has won first prize in a number of competitions such as the Making Music Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists, the Beethoven Society of Europe’s Intercollegiate Piano Competition, the Hastings International Concerto Competition and the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Maisie Lewis Young Concert Artists Award. In August 2013, Samantha founded PIANO WEEK, her international festival and summer school. At PIANO WEEK 2015, 2016 and 2017, Samantha joined forces to close the festival with one of the most distinguished pianists in the world, Stephen Kovacevich, performing works for two pianos. Stephen will return to the festival this year, marking the fourth consecutive year of their collaboration. In 2018, PIANO WEEK continues to tour internationally, having been invited to China, Thailand, Italy, Germany and Japan, whilst extending to three residencies at Moreton Hall School, PIANO WEEK’s UK base. Aside from her performing career, Samantha is also a recording artist for Schott Music publishers as well as a published author. Her ‘Relax with...’ anthologies for piano were released by Schott in the Spring of 2016. Samantha was also shortlisted for a ‘Woman of the Future’ Award in Arts and Culture in association with Shell and as a result, she was invited to give an interview for Stylist Magazine in 2011. Samantha was awarded a fellowship from the Guildhall School of Music for the year 2007/8, where she studied under Joan Havill. She previously studied with Leslie Riskowitz and at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester with Alicja Fiderkiewicz.

Roberto Russo in Recital



Roberto Russo (1966-)

8 Piano PreludesC Major A minorA sharp minor (in memory of all victims of the war in ex-Yugoslavia)G sharp minor (homage to Dmitri Shostakovich)E flat MajorF MajorF minorA sharp minor

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Piano Sonata in A Major D959Allegro AndantinoScherzo. Allegro VivaceRondo. Allegretto

27 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

6

27 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

About

Roberto Russo

Roberto Russo opens the recital with his own Preludes, written in 1995, linked to a neo-romantic style with their harmonies and melodies. They are a deeply personal work, influenced by the most important writers of the early 20th century, and they have been performed in Italy, Poland, Norway, Romania and the USA. Franz Schubert wrote his last three piano sonatas a few months before his death, and for a very long time they were considered too difficult for an audience. They were not published until ten years after Schubert’s death, and only in the second half of the 20th century did public and critical opinion call them masterpieces. In the first movement of Sonata in A Major the audience is caught in a harmonic labyrinth until its end. Profound but sweet, the second movement is also obscure in its central theme whilst a resignation and reconciliation with the world is present in the final two movements.

Roberto Russo began his piano studies with his father Mario, a musician and painter. After graduating under the tutelage of Giuseppe Maiorca, he continued his piano training in Florence with Daniel Rivera, in Imola with Franco Scala and in Geneva with Maria Tipo. In 1985 he began his performing career, which led him to Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Spain, the USA and Switzerland. His performances have been reviewed by Italian and international press, and recorded by RAI (Italy), Radio Vaticana, Radio Toscana Classica (Italy), Houston Public Radio (USA) and RadioTelevisión Argentina. Roberto Russo also studied composition under the guidance of Italo Vescovo, Silvano Sardi and Domenico Bartolucci (ex-director of the Schola Cantorum “Sistina” in Rome). Two times winner of the International Music Competition “Ibla Grand Prize” (in 1996 as a pianist and in 1997 as a composer), between 2000 and 2005 Roberto was artistic director of the International Competition for pianists and composers “Premio Franz Liszt” in Grottammare, Italy, as well as honorary chairman of the jury at the 2012 edition of “HKPCA – Hong Kong Piano Competition”. His collaborations include with the English composer Michael Stimpson, the Canadian cellist Bridget MacRae, the Lithuanian oboist Juste Gelgotaite and the Italian tenor Alessandro Maffucci. He records for Istituto Lisztof Bologna (Italy) and for two Italian labels III Millennio and Istituto Discografico Italiano.

Sam Armstrong in Recital


TICKETS £7/£12FREE ENTRY for the festival’s participants. www.pianoweek.com/whats-on | tickets also available on the door 28

Mar

ch 2

018

| Mus

grav

e Th

eatr

e | 7

pm

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Sonata No. 12 in A flat Major Op. 26Andante con Variazioni Scherzo: Allegro MoltoMaestoso Andante – Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroeAllegro

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Preludes (Book I)Danseuses de Delphes VoilesLe vent dans la plaineLes sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soirLes collines d’AnacapriDes pas sur la neigeCe qu’a vu le vent d’ouestLa fille aux cheveux de linLa sérénade interrompueLa cathédrale engloutieLa danse de PuckMinstrels

8

28 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

About

Sam Armstrong

British pianist Sam Armstrong performs two major works that were extremely progressive at the time of their respective composition, Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat Major and Debussy’s Preludes Book 1. The Sonata was progressive due to none of its movements actually being in Sonata form, and because the first and third movements contain strong premonitions of his visionary later style. Also, the inclusion of a funeral march in a sonata was unprecedented, this particular sonata later proving to be a strong inspiration to Chopin, who famously composed his own funeral march sonata. The Debussy Preludes Book 1 are 12 short pieces, whose titles were published at the end of each, in an attempt to avoid inhibiting the imagination of the performer. What sets them apart is that they are essentially free-form soundscapes, often devoid of melodies. They are based on differing characters, visions or places and are remarkable in their use of sound as colour and light.

Hailed as ‘a major new talent’ (International Piano) and a ‘pianist of splendid individuality’ (The Arts Desk) British pianist Sam Armstrong has given solo debut recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam Kleine Zaal and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York. He also made his South American debut as concerto soloist with the National Symphony of Ecuador. Equally dedicated to chamber music, he has appeared with musicians including Ralph Kirshbaum, William Bennett, Hannah Roberts, Ju-Young Baek and Philip Higham in festivals such as Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Mecklenburg – Vorpommem, Ravinia and venues such as Seoul Arts Centre, Singapore’s Esplanade, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall as well as the Wigmore Hall. He has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio Suisse-Romande/Espace 2, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago and Radio New Zealand. He was a prize winner in the Porto International Piano Competition, the Brant International Piano Competition, Beethoven Society of Europe Competition, was laureate of the Epinal International Piano Competition in France, and was amongst the last six pianists in the prestigious Concours Clara Haskil in Switzerland. He has also received awards from the Philharmonia Orchestra/MMSF, MBF Music Education Fund, Wingate Foundation, Kirckman Concert Society and the Solti Foundation. He studied with Helen Krizos in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music and later with Richard Goode at Mannes College of Music in New York. He has also worked in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Murray Perahia, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Mitsuko Uchida.

Mark Nixon, Maciej Raginia & Samantha Ward: Solo & Two Pianos



Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos KV448Allegro con spirito AndanteMolto Allegro

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Nocturne in D flat Major Op. 27 No. 2

James Wilder (1973-)

Nocturnal ImagesTo Sleep, perchance to dream


Images (Book I)Reflects dans l’eau


Nocturne in C sharp minor Op. 27 No. 1

Peter Klatzow (1945-)

Night skies, distant waters


L’isle joyeuse L. 106

29 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

10

About

Mark Nixon

The festival directors Samantha Ward and Maciej Raginia open the concert with Mozart’s popular Sonata KV 448, one of only a few works which he wrote for two pianos. In a solo programme inspired by night and water, Mark Nixon presents James Wilding’s visionary ‘To Sleep, perchance to dream’, composed in 2013 and inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet’s famous soliloquy. One of the many pieces that Debussy wrote about water, Reflets dans l’eau, follows, where the composer depicts water in its many states, particularly light refracting off the surface. Chopin’s first Nocturne from his Op. 27 is a dark piece with a sense of foreboding throughout and one that perfectly sets up Peter Klatzow’s ‘Night skies, distant waters’. This work, composed in 2011, is filled with many striking effects and a sense of longing in the melodic elements. Debussy’s L’isle Joyeuse closes the programme - an exciting showpiece that creates a kaleidoscopic impressionistic musical depiction of Watteau’s painting L’Embarquement pour Cythère.

Mark Nixon is a graduate of the Amsterdam Conservatory, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the University of Cape Town and University of South Africa (UNISA). His teachers have included Laura Searle, Lamar Crowson, Håkon Austbø and Graham Johnson. He lives in London and is Head of Keyboard at King’s College School, Wimbledon. Mark has received many prestigious awards, including first prizes in the Adolph Hallis Piano Competition in 1994 and the Nederburg-UNISA National Piano Competition in 1998. In 2000 he was selected as a Young Concert Artist of the National Federation of Music Societies in the United Kingdom (now known as Making Music) and in 2008 he was again selected, this time as a duo with the soprano Erica Eloff. He has performed as concerto soloist with all the South African orchestras, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and with several orchestras in England. As solo recitalist and pianist-accompanist he has appeared extensively in South Africa as well as at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Linbury Theatre Covent Garden in London as well as at numerous music societies across the UK. In 1999 he won the Guildhall School’s Schubert and Ireland Prizes and the accompanist’s prize in the English Singers and Speakers Union Song Competition in London. In 2006 he won the accompanist’s prize at the Great Elm Vocal Awards held at the Wigmore Hall, London. Engagements have included concerts in Holland, France, Britain and recital tours of South Africa with various singers and instrumentalists in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012. In 2010 he released a CD of songs by Grieg, Wolf, Rachmaninov, Wilding and de Villiers in collaboration with the soprano Erica Eloff. In 2012 he launched a CD of works for solo piano by Liszt, Brahms and Debussy on Stringwise Records. 29

Mar

ch 2

018

| Mus

grav

e Th

eatr

e | 7

pm


















29 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

12

29 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

Maciej RaginiaCreative Director

Polish pianist Maciej Raginia is in demand as a soloist around the UK and abroad and his performing career has taken him to many countries in Europe and Asia. He has appeared on Polish television (TVP 1, TVP 2 & TV Polonia) and has won prizes in international piano competitions. Praised for his “strong artistic personality” (Tydzien Polski), “mastery of the piano” (Markische Allgemaine) and “subtle tonal colours” (Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten) over the last decade, Maciej has toured worldwide giving concerts in the Gewandhaus, Mendelssohn-Saal and the Mendelssohn-Haus (Leipzig), the Hochschule für Music und Theather and the Niedersächsischer Landtag (Hannover), the Schloss Glienicke (Potsdam), King’s College (Cambridge), St. John’s Smith Square, St Martin-in-the-Fields (London), the Auditorio (Zaragoza), the Nuevo Casino Principal (Pamplona) and the Toppan Hall (Tokyo) amongst many others. In 2016 Maciej joined PIANO WEEK as the creative director, following in the footsteps of his pianist wife Samantha Ward, its founder & artistic director. Throughout 2018 he will be touring with the festival to all of its residencies in the UK, Germany, Italy, Thailand and China. He is also a recording artist for Schott Music publishers. Maciej received his first piano lessons from Aleksandra Walczak and Krystyna Filipowska in Poland, before he went on to continue his studies with the celebrated American pianist Kevin Kenner at the Royal College of Music in London. In 2008, supported by a City of London Corporation Scholarship Award, he gained a Masters Degree in Music Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the tutelage of the Senior Professor Joan Havill. He has also trained in masterclasses with some of the world’s legendary pianists such as Robert Levin, the late Halina Czerny-Stefanska and Elisabeth Leonskaja; a relationship which has continued to the present day.


















29 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

14

Samantha WardArtistic Director & Founder

One of the leading British pianists of her generation, Samantha Ward has performed extensively around the UK, Asia and Europe, appearing on television and radio numerous times. She made her London debut at the Wigmore Hall in 2007 and has performed in major venues around the UK and abroad. She has won first prize in a number of competitions such as the Making Music Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists, the Beethoven Society of Europe’s Intercollegiate Piano Competition, the Hastings International Concerto Competition and the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Maisie Lewis Young Concert Artists Award. In August 2013, Samantha founded PIANO WEEK, her international festival and summer school. At PIANO WEEK 2015, 2016 and 2017, Samantha joined forces to close the festival with one of the most distinguished pianists in the world, Stephen Kovacevich, performing works for two pianos. Stephen will return to the festival this year, marking the fourth consecutive year of their collaboration. In 2018, PIANO WEEK continues to tour internationally, having been invited to China, Thailand, Italy, Germany and Japan, whilst extending to three residencies at Moreton Hall School, PIANO WEEK’s UK base. Aside from her performing career, Samantha is also a recording artist for Schott Music publishers as well as a published author. Her ‘Relax with...’ anthologies for piano were released by Schott in the Spring of 2016. Samantha was also shortlisted for a ‘Woman of the Future’ Award in Arts and Culture in association with Shell and as a result, she was invited to give an interview for Stylist Magazine in 2011. Samantha was awarded a fellowship from the Guildhall School of Music for the year 2007/8, where she studied under Joan Havill. She previously studied with Leslie Riskowitz and at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester with Alicja Fiderkiewicz.

29 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

Alexander Karpeyev in Recital



Mar

ch 2

018

| Mus

grav

e Th

eatr

e | 7

pm Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Sonata No. 2 in A Major Op. 2Allegro Vivace Largo AppassionatoScherzo. AllegrettoRondo. Grazioso


Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp Major Op. 36

Impromptu No. 3 in G flat Major Op. 51

Nicolai Medtner (1880-1951)

Sonata in G Major Op. 56 ‘Idylle’Pastorale: Allegretto Cantabile Allegro Moderato e Cantabile

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)/Alexander Alabieff (1787-1851)

Le Rossignol S. 250/1

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)/Charles Gounod (1818-1893)

Valse de l’opéra Faust S. 407

16

30 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

About

Alexander Karpeyev

Presenting a programme that showcases works by brilliant composers who were also pianists, Alexander Karpeyev opens the recital with Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major, dedicated to Haydn and often considered a ‘perfect’ sonata. This is followed by two of Chopin’s four Impromptus, No. 2 written in 1839 and Chopin’s favourite of the four, No. 3, written in 1842. Impromptu No. 2 begins calmly and delicately but then changes to a heroic military-like theme, finishing with a final flurry of activity, whilst Impromptu No. 3 is filled with soaring melodies but uneasiness. Exiled Russian composer Nicolai Medtner wrote his ‘Idylle’ Sonata in London in 1937, with a brief to write a less demanding work, as many of his previous compositions were considered two difficult for many pianists, and this Sonata is filled with a simple but happy innocence. The programme concludes with two of Liszt’s exhilarating works, Le Rossignol, with its melancholic but rich romanticism and the grand and virtuosic Valse de l’opéra Faust.

Alexander Karpeyev has been a major prizewinner in international piano competitions, including first prizes at the 2007 Dudley International Piano, the 2008 Norah Sande Award, and the 2006 Oxford Music Festival’s recital competition. He is also a laureate of the 1998 Ibla Grand Prize in Ragusa, Italy; the 2001 International Competition for Young Musicians in Enschede, Netherlands; the 2004 Competition Arthur Rubinstein in memoriam in Bydgoszcz, Poland; the 2004 Adilia Alieva International Piano Competition in Gaillard, France; the 2006 Tunbridge Wells International Concert Artist Competition and the 2009 Amy Brant International Piano competition in Birmingham, England. In 2008 he was awarded The Worshipful Company of Musician’s Silver Medal. Karpeyev began playing the piano at age seven, studying at the Children’s Music School in Saratov, Russia. In 2000 he entered the prestigious Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Alexander Mndoyants and Vera Gornostayeva. He graduated with highest honours in 2005 and won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to study with Joan Havill. Alexander Karpeyev has given recitals in many of the major UK venues, including the Purcell Room, the Barbican, Cadogan, Royal Festival, Wigmore, Fairfield and Queen Elizabeth Halls in London and the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Abroad, he has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, Japan, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the USA. His performances have been featured on Sky Television and BBC Radio. Karpeyev is a regular participant of PIANO WEEK internationally and in January 2016 he organised for the first time in the UK the International Medtner Festival. Recently, he was appointed Music Curator at Pushkin House, a vibrant centre of Russian culture in London.

Madalina Rusu in Recital



Mar

ch 2

018

| Mus

grav

e Th

eatr

e | 7

pm

Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945)

Romanian Folk Dances Sz. 56Jocul cu bâta (Stick Dance) Brâul (The Sash)Pe loc (Standing Still)Buciumeana (Dance from Bucium)Poarga Românească (Romanian Polka)Mărunțel (Fast Dance)

Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

Fantasiestücke Op.12 Des Abends (In the evening) Aufschwung (Soaring) Warum? (Why?) Grillen (Whims) In Der Nacht (In the night) Fabel (Fable) Traumes Wirren (Restless dreams) Ende vom Lied (The end of the song)

Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915)

Sonata No.4 in F sharp Major Op. 30 Andantino Prestissimo Volando

18

31 M

arch

201

8 | M

usgr

ave

Thea

tre

| 7pm

About

Madalina Rusu

Madalina Rusu opens her recital with the six Romanian Dances by Bartók, written in 1915. They originate from Transylvania, Romania, the country of Madalina’s birth, where they were first played on the nai (Romanian flute) and fiddle. Schumann’s Fantasiestücke (Fantasy pieces), written in 1837, make a beautiful contrast to the Dances. They were inspired by a collection of essays, letters, and writings about music by one of his favourite authors, E. T. A. Hoffmann. Fantasiestücke is one of Schumann’s most successful and loved piano works, each piece hugely contrasting with one another, full of emotion and character. Madalina will conclude her recital with Scriabin’s joyful fourth Sonata, his shortest piano sonata. It was written in 1903, in post romantic style, with only two movements which lead into each other. The main theme from the first movement develops throughout the entire piece, and concludes with a glorious coda creating a magnificent finale to this great work.

Madalina Rusu is quickly establishing a successful career as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed to critical acclaim in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Since her arrival in London, Madalina has appeared as a soloist at Barbican Hall, Cadogan Hall, LSO St Luke’s, St Martin’s in the Fields, St Margaret’s Church, Chappell’s of Bond Street, Fairfield Halls, and elsewhere throughout the UK. Madalina Rusu is a recipient of scholarship awards by the Martin Musical Fund/Philharmonia Orchestra (2005 – 2009), Ratiu Family Foundation (2005 – 2008), Brancusi Award given by the Prodan Romanian Cultural Centre (2008), Boise Foundation scholarship (2009), Ian Flemming MBF award (2009), and Edith Vogel Bursary (2009). Madalina’s list of prizes includes first prize at the International Piano Competition PRO – PIANO, Bucharest (2002), winner of the Croydon Concerto Competition (2007), and winner of all internal Piano Competitions at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London (2005, 2008). Madalina was also a major prize winner in the International Piano Competition ‘Konzerteum’ (Athens, 2000), Oxford Professional Recital Prize (2005, 2007, 2008), Tunbridge Wells International Young Artists Competition (2008), and the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition (2009). Born in Constanta, Romania, Madalina Rusu began her musical studies at the Music High School in Constanta with professors Iuliana Carlig, Cristian Dumitrescu and Constantin Ionescu – Vovu. In September 2004, she begun studying piano with Professor Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where she gained a First class BMus Honours degree, and graduated from the MMus course (Guildhall Artist – Performance) with distinction. Madalina currently holds a piano teaching post at Orchard House School, London, and she also has her own teaching studio in her home in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, where she lives with her husband and their young daughter.

U K | I T A L Y | G E R M A N Y | C H I N A | T H A I L A N D

WWW.PIANOWEEK.COM

Documents

26 March - 31 March 2018 - pianoweek.compianoweek.com/wp-content/themes/DIVI-CHILD/pdf/moreton-hall... · giving master classes and lessons to our ... audience is treated to a spellbinding