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Viv McLean
16 January @ 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm
Tickets on the door (cash or card). Under 18s and carers go free
Doors open at 12:15 pm
Performers
Viv McLean
Piano
Notes on the performers
Described by Le Monde as “possessing the genius one finds in those who know how to forget themselves“, since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, British pianist Viv McLean has performed in all the major venues in the UK as well as throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA. Viv’s concerto work includes appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra of St John’s, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Concert Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of such conductors as Daniel Harding, John Wilson, Wayne Marshall, John Lubbock, Christopher Warren-Green, Anthony Inglis, Owain Arwell Hughes, Philip Hesketh, David Charles Abell, Stephen Bell, Carl Davis, Rebecca Miller, Chloe Van Soederstede and Marvin Hamlisch. Recent concerto highlights include Mozart K467 with the ECO at the Royal Festival Hall, Grieg with the LPO at the Barbican, Rachmaninov’s 3rd Concerto with the RPO in Cambridge, Gershwin, Bernstein, de Falla and Ravel with the Hallé at the Bridgewater Hall, The Sage Gateshead and other venues in the North of England, and Beethoven’s 5th Concerto with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall.
Viv plays regularly with the Adderbury Ensemble and has also performed with other leading chamber groups such as the Ysaye String Quartet, the Sacconi String Quartet, the London Mozart Players Chamber Ensemble, members of the Elias, Allegri, Tippett String Quartets and Leonore Piano Trio, Ensemble 360, the Galliard Wind Ensemble, Onyx Brass, the Bristol Ensemble, the Berkeley Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. He has collaborated with musicians such as Natalie Clein, Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Lawrence Power, Adrian Brendel, Mary Bevan, David Le Page, Matthew Sharp, Guy Johnston, Alice Neary, Ruth Rogers, Fenella Humphreys, Jessica Duchen, Alasdair Beatson and many others.
He has performed at numerous festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival, Buxton Festival, Music in the Round Festival and Harrogate International Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Festival International de Musique Classique d’Aigues-Mortes, the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden. Since 2014, Viv has been pianist-in-residence at the Glossop Festival.
Viv studied from an early age with Ruth Nye and, after attending Chetham’s School of Music, he went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne and Maria Curcio. At the Academy he held the Hodgson Fellowship and was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 2005. He made his Wigmore Hall recital debut through winning the Friends of the Royal Academy Wigmore Award. Whilst studying at the Academy, he was the winner of the piano competition at the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition and was selected as one of the winners of the National Federation of Music Societies’ Young Artists Competition.
Viv made his BBC Radio 3 recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded for Classic FM, WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway and for the Sky Arts television channel. His commercial releases include recordings for such labels as Sony, Chandos, Naxos, Nimbus, Lyrita, RPO Records, ICSM Records, Harmony & Imagination Records and his most recent releases are a Chopin recital and a selection of live recordings for Stone Records. Upcoming albums include the Florence Price Octet with Onyx Brass for Chandos, and the Piano Sonata and Chamber Music of Kenneth V. Jones with the LMP Chamber Players for Lyrita.
Programme
Programme notes
Johannes Brahms
Three Intermezzos Op. 117
- Andante moderato
- Andante non troppo e con molta espressione
- Andante con moto
The Three Intermezzi for piano, Op. 117, are a set of solo piano pieces composed by Johannes Brahms in 1892. They show Brahms’ interest in lullaby; in particular, Brahms told a friend that they were “three lullabies of my grief”.
Source: Wikipedia
Frédéric Chopin
Waltz in C Sharp Minor Op. 64 No. 2
The Waltz in C♯ minor is a piano waltz composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1847, the second work of his opus 64 and the companion to the “Minute Waltz” (Op. 64, No. 1). Chopin dedicated this Waltz to Madame Nathaniel de Rothschild.
Source: Wikipedia
Frédéric Chopin
Three Mazurkas Op. 7
- No. 1 in B Flat
- No. 2 in A Minor
- No. 3 in F Minor
The Mazurkas, Op. 7 are a set of five mazurkas by Frédéric Chopin. The mazurkas were mostly written in 1830–1831 and were published in 1832.
The first mazurka, set in B-flat major and marked Vivace, is the most well-known mazurka of the set and perhaps, one of Chopin’s most popular mazurkas in general. The second mazurka of the set, A minor is an intimate piece. Despite the Vivo, ma non troppo marking, the mazurka has a slow tempo with a very delicate and melancholy main theme. The third mazurka, in F minor, has a folkish and rustic atmosphere.
Source: Wikipedia
Frédéric Chopin
Polonaise in C Sharp Minor Op. 26 No. 1
The Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26 No. 1 was composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1836.The Polonaise opens with a fiery Allegro appassionato in C-sharp minor, the primary theme preceded by descending octaves. The section climaxes with a series of virtuosic arpeggio figures which give way to a tender melody. This is then followed by a repetition of the theme. After this opening section, there is a new theme introduced in the enharmonic D-flat major. This new theme is then developed and followed by a new left hand melody, which increases the tension until a repeat of the meno mosso. The piece ends in abrupt quietness.
Source: Wikipedia
Johannes Brahms
Two Rhapsodies Op. 79
- Agitato
- Molto passionato, ma non troppo allegro
The Rhapsodies, Op. 79, for piano were written by Johannes Brahms in 1879 during his summer stay in Pörtschach, when he had reached the maturity of his career. They were inscribed to his friend, the musician and composer Elisabeth von Herzogenberg. At the suggestion of the dedicatee, Brahms reluctantly renamed the sophisticated compositions from “Klavierstücke” (piano pieces) to “rhapsodies”.