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Guest post by Howard Smith

4 pianists, 4 passions

Two hours of piano music, accompanied by GenAI art projection and a smattering of poetry. Performers: Elena Toponogova, Ophelia Gordon, Howard Smith and Matthew Baker Music by Frank Bridge, Nikolai Medtner, Erik Satie, Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel & Nikolai Kapustin.

What’s behind our forthcoming event Personal Passions? Two years ago I had completed study of several works by Erik Satie, specifically, the Gnossiennes, the Gymnopedies and the Ogives. I had also  ‘composed’ a series of short sequences to sit between the pieces. Each of these rests on the tritone from the preceding key and acts to ‘reset the ear’ prior to the following piece. This helps clarify the transition. I felt this was necessary because the beguiling pieces are similar in character. I call each of these brief improvisations an ‘hiatus’. The concept was performed in fragments at various piano meetup groups. On April 5th this year, at October Gallery, I shall perform the full sequence and will be joined by Elena Toponogova, Ophelia Gordon and Matt Baker – three wonderful pianists and friends. We shall each play for around 30 minutes.

Elena Toponogova will play ‘Forgotten Melodies’ by Frank Bridge and Nikolai Medtner.

Matthew Baker will surround us with ‘Impressionism’, playing the music of Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.

Ophelia Gordon will introduce her forthcoming CD: KAPUSTIN – Between The Lines, to be released on the Divine Arts label later this year. Ophelia will play 30 minutes of the CD. 

To add to the event, and based on my experience in the IT industry with GenAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence), we will be projecting sequences of images to support each of the four segments of the concert. Each has been themed around our ‘Passions’. The October Gallery space is ideal for this with its projection system and lighting.

We look forward to welcoming you to this unique venue. If successful, we hope the 4×4 format will be liked and can be repeated for other artists – both professionals and advanced amateurs from active piano circles in and around London, over the coming years. No promises but watch this space!

Event details:

Saturday 5th April 2025 at October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester St, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N 3AL

Doors 7pm, Performances 7:30 until 10pm, 20 minute interval

Tickets £19. Book tickets at: https://billetto.co.uk/e/personal-passions-october-gallery-london-tickets-1098829

Reviews:

‘Her performance was mesmerizing!’

‘Serious, deep and rarely-performed pieces played with understanding and verve’

‘Poetic playing which draws the audience into her sound world’

‘Her captivating performance motivated me to aspire to her level. Having been a keen pianist myself in the past, I felt inspired to dive in and play the instrument again’

Programme

Satie, Erik – Gnossiennes: nos. 1 – 3
Satie, Erik – Ogive no. 1
Satie, Erik – Gymnopédies: nos. 1 – 3

Bridge, Frank – 3 Sketches, H.68
Medtner, Nikolay – Fairy Tale, Op.26 no.3

– Interval –

Poulenc, Francis – 3 Novelettes, FP 47/173
Poulenc, Francis – 8 Nocturnes, FP 56
Debussy, Claude – Ballade
Debussy, Claude – Suite Bergamasque: III, Clair de lune
Ravel, Maurice – Sonatine

Kapustin, Nikolai – programme to include the Concert Etudes, Op.40

Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by rental of the Gallery’s unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery promotes contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, artists, intellectuals, and hosts talks, performances and seminars.

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ABSOLUTE

J.S. Bach: Lute Suites BWV 996-998 – Transcribed for piano and performed by Eleonor Bindman

All my transcriptions are motivated by the desire to play my favourite music on the piano. – Eleonor Bindman

A lifelong love of J S Bach has led pianist Eleonor Bindman to produce a number of important transcriptions for solo piano and piano duo of his music for other instruments, including the evergreen Cello Suites and the Brandenberg Concertos.

In addition to recordings demonstrating ‘Bach playing of the highest order’ (Pianodao), Eleonor has also produced sheet music and anthologies of her transcriptions, primarily aimed at amateur pianists and piano teachers. Her two-volume ‘Stepping Stones to Bach’ features intermediate piano arrangements of the Baroque master’s most famous tunes, including the Gavotte from the Violin Partita, No.3, and the Badinerie from the Orchestral Suite, No. 2. In making these transcriptions, she is following in the footsteps of the master himself: Bach regularly transcribed his own and other composers’ music and created different instrumental versions of the same piece.

The resulting musical statement may be a faithful reproduction …, a transformation beyond recognition or something in between. Regardless of the outcome, the original source is of such exceptional depth and appeal that for the past three centuries it attracted a steady stream of pilgrims, ready to sacrifice their time and energy for the joy of communion.

Eleonor Bindman

In her latest project, she has turned her attention to works originally composed for the lautenwerk or lautenwerck (lute-harpsichord), one of Bach’s favourite instruments, similar to the harpsichord, but with gut (or nylon today) rather than metal strings, which results in a more mellow tone. Generally performed on harpsichord, lute, and guitar, Eleonor’s new recording of the Lute Suites brings a fresh perspective on these rarely-explored masterpieces, showcasing their intricate structures, rich textures, and emotive character on the modern piano.

Eleonor Bindman’s Bach pianism is all about clarity and order. Her strong and assertive fingerwork complements her firmly centred rhythm

Gramophone magazine

Highlights include BWV 997 and 998, featuring stunning fugues with ornate middle sections unlike typical keyboard fugues, and a heartfelt arrangement of “Betrachte, meine Seele” from St. John’s Passion, which serves as a moving conclusion to the album.

Fans of Eleonor Bindman’s previous transcriptions – such as The Brandenburg Duets and The Cello Suites – will appreciate this latest addition to the pianist’s catalogue, recorded on a Bösendorfer piano which truly captures the remarkable richness of Bach’s writing.

Eleonor Bindman writes, ‘Transcriptions can revive interest in original compositions, and I am hoping that a piano version of Bach’s Suites BWV 996, 997, and 998 will increase their popularity. Just like Bach’s other solo collections, these suites present a technical and musical tour de force for their performers and deserve their rightful place alongside Bach’s suites for keyboard, violin, and cello.’

Eleonor Bindman celebrates J S Bach’s 340th birthday and launches her new CD with a special concert at the 1901 Arts Club, London’s most stylish small venue, on Sunday 23 March at 3pm. Tickets/info here

ABSOLUTE is released on Friday 7th March on the Orchid Classics label. Available on CD and via streaming. Pre-order here

eleonorbindman.com

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Tuesday 3 May at 7.00pm at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh

The Violin Consort 
Zbigniew Pilch, violin I
Radoslaw Kamieniarz, violin II
Piotor Chrupek, viola
Bartosz Kokosza, cello

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This special concert for Polish Constitution Day marks the beginning of a programme of events in 2022 celebrating the Polish-Lithuanian violinist and composer Felix Yaniewicz for his role in founding the first Edinburgh music festival in 1815.  The events will culminate in an exhibition on his life and musical legacy opening at the Georgian House in June, and three concerts by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in December.

The programme includes rarely-performed works – excerpts from Yaniewicz’s Violin Concertos Nos 3 and 5 transcribed for string quartet, two Divertimenti, and his string Trio in e minor, performed by The Violin Consort, an ensemble founded by four friends who are also the best Polish musicians specializing in historical music. The name of the ensemble refers to the 16th-century practice of creating families of homogeneous instruments called consortas.

Zbigniew Pilch, first violinist with The Violin Consort, is the foremost living interpreter of Yaniewicz’s music, and has recorded two of his violin concertos with the Warsaw Baroque Orchestra.  In this concert he brings his string quartet to Edinburgh, to perform a selection of Yaniewicz’s string trios, divertimenti, and chamber arrangements of movements from two of the violin concertos, for which Yaniewicz was most famous in his day.  Yaniewicz’s sparkling compositions are evocative of his cosmopolitan career, combining a recognizably Mozartian style from his Viennese period with the joyful exuberance of Polish folk dances from his homeland.

This concert is generously supported by the Polish Consulate, and will be used to raise funds for Ukraine.  Poland stands with Ukraine at this time of crisis in Europe.  We come together in solidarity, in an evening of music which bears witness to the lasting historical impact of migration on European culture.

The Yaniewicz project celebrates the vital role of migration in Scottish cultural heritage, through the story of a migrant musician who arrived on these shores as a refugee from the French Revolution, against a background of political upheaval in his native land in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth.

Find out more

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The De Kooning Ensemble, Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts, Wednesday 27th October 2021

Fresh from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, this young piano quartet presented a sumptuously programme, with two dramatic and unashamedly romantic works by Frank Bridge and Josef Suk bookending a highly contrasting contemporary piece  by young Iranian-American composer Darius Paymai. Pianist Will Bracken stepped in for the Ensemble’s usual pianist Lewis Bell.

Opening with Bridge’s Phantasy Piano Quartet in f-sharp minor, a single-movement work composed in 1910, which embraces sonata form with its exposition and reprise separated by andante and scherzo sections, The De Kooning Ensemble matched this work’s fluency, variety and lucidity with a lively, committed and imaginatively-nuanced performance.

After the passionate flourishes of Bridge’s Phantasy, Darius Paymai’s Piano Quartet offered a complete contrast in both mood and textures. A work comprising only a handful of notes, its dynamic range often barely above piano, it owed something to the music of Arvo Pärt in its haunting simplicity. It was performed with immense control and sensitivity, and provided an absorbing, meditative interlude in the middle of the concert.

The De Kooning Ensemble are recipients of the Ivan Sutton Prize for Chamber Music  and their performance of Josef Suk’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in A minor revealed exactly why they were awarded first prize. Throughout we were treated to very tight, perfectly coordinated ensemble playing but also an opportunity to enjoy each individual instrument. From the elegant lyricism of Jessica Meakin’s violin to the warm sonority of Freya Hicks on viola, the mellow cantabile of the cello (Evie Coplan) to the sweetness of the piano (Will Bracken) in the second movement, this was a performance brimming with character and command.

Watch the livestream video from St Mary’s Church, Weymouth

Meet the Artist interview with The De Kooning Ensemble

Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts series continues on 17th November with a performance of music by Malcolm Arnold and Ludwig van Beethoven by Peter Fisher (violin) and Margaret Fingerhut (piano). Details here