October 4th - BBC Radio 3 "in Tune" live from the Royal Festival Hall (with Emma Johnson)
October 11th - Halesworth Festival (Suffolk) with Emma Johnson and Paul Clarvis October 19th - recording ABRSM grade 8 repertoire with Emma Johnson October 23rd - Brahms Piano Quartet with "Sound Collective" at Kings Place, London October 27th - Masterclass for pianists at Birmingham Conservatoire October 29th - Recital at the Bluehouse Festival, Surrey with Emma Johnson
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....when classical music was regularly featured on TV, I accompanied Julian Lloyd Webber regularly. This might be the quirkiest! (oh, wait a minute, an appearance on the Kenny Everett show probably beats that.....!) This one features Wayne Sleep as the bee. September 8th - Sherbourne Abbey - a concert of Bach (Brandenburg Concerto no. 5) and world premieres of music by Helen Habershon September 10/11th - CD recording at Abbey Road Studios with Alexander Baillie (cello) September 17th - recital with Emma Johnson in Fowey, Cornwall September 24th - recital with Emma Johnson in Sevenoaks September 29th - launch of "World Seasons" CD with Tasmin Little at the National Geographic Society, London .....and two composers in attendance at the Hertfordshire Festival of Music's inaugural concert with Tasmin Little. A great evening! Of course Radio 3 listeners got to hear a sneak preview of James Francis Brown's "The Harts Grace" on "In Tune" earlier in the week but John Brunning's "Sahara" was indeed the first performance. I feel sure that we will be playing both pieces regularly in the future!
Three New CD releasesAll recently issued, John Lenehan has added three more CDs to his ever growing discography. Now available from Dutton Epoch, the Vaughan Williams Concerto for two pianos was recorded in Glasgow in January with Leon McCawley and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates. The CD also includes Vaughan Williams' London Symphony in a fascinating version which contains much music that was cut in the final revision. "The barnstorming piano team of John Lenehan and Leon McCawley are thrilling in their traverse of this cherishable score." A 2006 rectal in Toronto with the acclaimed Israeli violist Rivka Golani (originally recorded for CBC Radio) has been issued as a double CD by Hungaroton. The programme was of Russian works and consisted of sonatas by Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich as well as two extensive suites of music from Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet" in composer-approved arrangements by Vadim Berezovsky (violist in the legendary Beethoven Quartet). A 2014 recording of Zemlinsky's Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano has been issued by Nimbus Alliance. John Lenehan is joined by Emma Johnson and renowned Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson. This marvellous late romantic work is coupled with the Brahms Clarinet Quintet in which Johnson and Helmerson are joined by his colleagues in the Michaelangelo Quartet. The London Soloists Ensemble's "Transformations" series at St. John's Smith Square came to an end in June. This series explored well known pieces which are usually played by larger ensembles. The LSE presented them in chamber versions. Here are the first movements of Beethoven's second symphony (arranged by Beethoven himself for piano trio) and Mozart's piano concerto no. 25 in a version by Hummel for piano, violin, cello and flute. In this the ensemble was joined by William Bennett O.B.E. The complete works are available on youtube. John Lenehan has contributed to a project for the West One Media Group. Called "One-liners", the brief was to compose musical cues (for TV and film) which last just 30 seconds. John's 20+ contributions can be heard by visiting the West One site (http://www.westonemusic.com/) and typing "lenehan" in the "Music quick search" box on the left. A BBC Radio 3 talk from 1994 has surfaced on youtube. John Lenehan joins Ronald Smith and Marc Andre Hamelin to discuss the enigmatic French Composer Charles Valentin Alkan. In 1988 John Lenehan was the first prize winner of the Alkan Centenary International Piano Competition and devoted much time to learning and broadcasting some of the less often played works of this fascinating composer. This lengthy programme is in two parts. John Lenehan is currently preparing to record the Concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra by Vaughan Williams in January with Leon McCawley and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates. It is a work with a complex history - first heard as a piano concerto and premiered on 1 February 1933 by Harriet Cohen with the BBC Symphony Orchestra directed by Sir Adrian Boult. The Finale was edited shortly thereafter and the work was published in 1936. The concerto was not well received at first, being considered too thickly scored for the soloist. The piece provides ample opportunity for virtuosity in all movements. Vaughan Williams treated the piano as a percussion instrument, as did Béla Bartók and Paul Hindemith during this period. While the concerto was rated highly by some—Bartók, for one, was extremely impressed—Vaughan Williams took the advice of well-meaning friends and colleagues and reworked the piece into a Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, adding more texture to the piano parts with the assistance of Joseph Cooper in 1946. Neither version has really established itself in concert or studio but the two piano version contains some extraordinary music. The new recording will be issued by Dutto Epoch. Latest release - fascinating music by a Lithuaninan composer of note - Juozas Gruodis. The CD contains the violin Sonata, a specially transcribed suite of songs (both with the violinist Christopher Horner) and the second Piano Sonata. Available from the beginning of December from Discovery Records. In November The London Soloists Ensemble appeared on Radio 3's "In Tune" to introduce their "Transformations" series at London's St. Johns Smith Square. They performed movements from Beethoven's reworking of his Septet for Clarinet, Cello and Piano and also Hummel's arrangement of the Mozart Piano Concerto K.503 for Flute, Violin, Cello and Piano. They were joined for the latter by William Bennett. Fresh from her performance at the last night of the Proms, Elizabeth Watts appeared with John Lenehan in concert with the Dore Male Voice Choir in Sheffield and brought the house down. An amazing talent! In September Toccata Classics released a disc of Violin and Piano music by Julius Rontgen performed by Atsuko Sahara and John Lenehan. Music fully deserving of a wider audience, this disc is full of first recordings of a composer much admired by Grieg and Brahms. |
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