One of a set of six, Mozart’s K 280 Sonata was probably written when he was 18. In the conventional 3-movement form, it’s distinguished from the others by the central adagio. In a minor key, its tone is elegiac, pensive and deeply melancholic.
These two recent pieces by Jonathan Dove are typically invigorating – as if the composer were celebrating his forthcoming 60th birthday.
Grieg published 10 volumes of what he called his Lyric Pieces. They’re exquisite miniatures and form a sort of musical diary. Grieg was a born lyricist and these pieces are full of fresh invention.
The title Moments musicaux wasn’t Schubert’s own. The six movements are each longer than mere ‘moments’. Published in 1828, the year he died, their profound emotional ambiguity can be seen as reflecting awareness of his impending mortality.
Rachmaninov’s Op 39 were the last works he wrote before leaving Russia. They’re ferociously demanding technically but ‘tableaux’ points to their pictorial character - No 6, for example, tells the dark and threatening story of Little Red Riding Hood.
Katya Apekisheva has played at Little Missenden on several occasions in the past, but always in company, so we’re looking forward to her first solo appearance here. One of Europe’s most renowned pianists, she’s in demand internationally both as a soloist and as a chamber musician.
She’s co-Artistic Director of the London Piano Festival, and is a Professor of Piano at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
“A profoundly gifted artist who has already achieved artistic greatness” Gramophone