JONATHAN POWELL at ST. JOHN'S, SMITH SQUARE

[ahinton]

Here are the full details of the above event on 22 June 2007.


Jonathan Powell
(piano)

St. John’s, Smith Square, London
Friday 22 June 2007 at 7.30 p.m.

The Celestial Railroad   Charles Ives
Piano Sonata No. 4, Op. 18   Alistair Hinton
Piano Sonata No. 138   John White
Symphonie (nos. 4-7 from Douze Études dans les Tons Mineurs, Op. 39)   Charles-Valentin Alkan

******
Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 66   Alexander Skryabin
Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 15   Alistair Hinton
Azulejos   Isaac Albéniz
Schluβszene aus Salome (world première)   Richard Strauss, transc. Kaikhosru Sorabji


We would like to welcome you to St. John’s, Smith Square, London, for this exciting programme by the eminent British pianist Jonathan Powell.

Mr Powell has a long-standing and well-deserved reputation as a performer of some of the most challenging works of contemporary piano literature, including major pieces by British composers such as Finnissy, Ferneyhough and Dillon.  His recital programmes have also featured important works by Russian pianist-composers such as Rakhmaninov, Skryabin, Medtner and Feinberg.

In 2000, he embarked upon an ambitious project to edit, perform and record piano music by Sorabji.  His performances of this repertoire have enthralled audiences in several countries including Britain, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and America; likewise, his radio broadcasts and CD recordings (on the Altarus label) have elicited universal critical acclaim.

Mr Powell will be giving numerous further performances of Sorabji’s and Hinton’s music in various countries including Germany, Japan, Denmark and UK.

Hinton’s third and fourth piano sonatas both date from 1978.  The third was composed for and premièred by Yonty Solomon in Glasgow; the fourth was first performed in London by Carlo Grante.

Sorabji’s recasting in pianistic terms of the heady final scene from Strauss’s great opera Salome was written in 1947, shortly before Strauss’s death and is the last and arguably finest of his piano transcriptions.

Do please come - and tell your friends about it!  We look forward to seeing you there!


St. John’s, Smith Square, London SW1
General Manager: Paul Davies

Tickets £12, £10, (concessions £8)
from the Box Office, St. John’s, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA.  Please enclose SAE.  Tel: 020 7 222 1061.  Mastercard, Visa and Maestro accepted.

Advance Booking: The Box Office is open for advance bookings from 10am-5pm (until 6pm on concert days) Monday to Friday.  Advance bookings cannot be made after 6pm or at weekends/bank holidays.

Tickets may also be booked by fax: 0207 233 1618 or online at: www.sjss.org.uk

Booking opens Tuesday 1 May 2007.

The Footstool Restaurant in the Crypt is open from 5.30pm for à la carte dining and a light supper menu.  Tel. 0207 222 2779.

St. John’s, Smith Square Charitable Trust, registered charity no: 1045390.  Registered in England. Company no: 3028678.

[pita bread]

I am salivating

ugh...

Didn't realize roundtrip tickets from Los Angeles to London cost $1000+

such an excellent program though, I'd love to attend

[pianistimo]

i see two of your sonatas on there, alistair.  very cool.  i hope the show is recorded and that someday i hear the sonatas.  unless...i can get my husband to take the trip.  our anniversary is on the 23rd of june.

ps that dance of salome got st. john beheaded you know!

[mephisto]

Amazing program, I must say. Not many people play Scriabin's 8th sonata in public, and if the sonatas sound anything like your Sequentia Clavensis they are in for a good treath

[ahinton]

Amazing program, I must say. Not many people play Scriabin's 8th sonata in public,

No, they don't; It's a wonderful piece, but a lot of it is quite fearsomely difficult to bring off in performance.

and if the sonatas sound anything like your Sequentia Clavensis they are in for a good treath

Thank you very much - although I'd have to admit that they don't sound a whole lot like it, as they both date from 16-17 years earlier! I'd hope, however, that you'll be able to identify them all as being by the same composer; maybe you can make it to the country next door and decide for yourself? I hope so.

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

i see two of your sonatas on there, alistair.  very cool.  i hope the show is recorded and that someday i hear the sonatas.  unless...i can get my husband to take the trip.  our anniversary is on the 23rd of june.

It will be recorded privately for archival purposes - but why not take that trip? I'm sure that an anniversary celebration at a top London restaurant the day after the concert would round it off wonderfully!

ps that dance of salome got st. john beheaded you know!

I do, but I have to confess that this fact was not in the forefront of my mind when the concert was arranged to take place at St. John's, Smith Square! (different St. John, one may hope); the history of the building at
http://www.sjss.org.uk/pages/History/history.htm
does not reveal after which particular St. John it was named.

Anyway, to return to Salome's dance - at least no poles were involved...

Best,

Alistair

[opus10no2]

CAPS LOCK

[thalbergmad]

Are you going for a Pizza afterwards?

Thal

[lostinidlewonder]

Crikey, Piano Sonata No. 138,  John White must sit down all day writing sonatas.

[marik]

Alistair,

It seems to be a great concert, however, there is no way I could make it there--way too many obligations and duties over here...

If there is any chance he is going to tour with this program anywhere in US could you please let us know.

On the other hand, I am very interested and would like to have an idea as for how Schluβszene aus Salome sounds like on piano? Is there any recording I could purchase, or even better the score?

Since it is little bit off topic you can also contact me privately.

Best regards, M

[ahinton]

CAPS LOCK

Tell that to pianistimo; she needs abit of help with capital letters...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Are you going for a Pizza afterwards?

Thal

I don't yet know what I'll be going for afterwards (the price of a ticket to the concert, perhaps)...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Crikey, Piano Sonata No. 138,  John White must sit down all day writing sonatas.

I think that he's composed about 165 to date; some are very short (like the one on this programme) but others play for up to 25 minutes or so, I believe.

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Alistair,

It seems to be a great concert, however, there is no way I could make it there--way too many obligations and duties over here...

If there is any chance he is going to tour with this program anywhere in US could you please let us know.

On the other hand, I am very interested and would like to have an idea as for how Schluβszene aus Salome sounds like on piano? Is there any recording I could purchase, or even better the score?

Since it is little bit off topic you can also contact me privately.

Best regards, M

Thanks for your message.

I don't know when he'll be touring the entire programme but he will be playing parts of it elsewhere (my Sonata 3 in Denmark and the Strauss/Sorabji in Germany, for example - details on the news page of www.altarusrecords.com).

The Salome transcription is, I think, Sorabji's best; we supply the copy ms. score and will be supplying Jonathan's own new edition as soon as it is complete (very soon now). There are no plans for him to record it yet, but I'm sure he will do so before long.

Sorry you can't make 22 June.

Best,

Alistair

[gruffalo]

i'm really interested in going to see this. will be purchasing my ticket soon.

[ahinton]

i'm really interested in going to see this. will be purchasing my ticket soon.

Great! Look forward to seeing you there. Tickets are now on sale (or at least certainly should be!) from the venue.

Best,

Alistair

[tds]

if only i could be there

[anodibu]

I'm pondering about going. First I'll have to check travelling possibilities.

[Ruro]

 Wey! I think I'll be able to make that!

 It's on a Friday, my College will have finished by then - too good-of-an opportunity to pass up on ^^ I have heard some of Powell's Sorabji, it's... an aquired taste, I suppose, the Atonal in general >_<;; I'm sure that has been agreed upon a-many times.

 So yeah, that will be Legend I not so long ago purchased a Scriabin CD of his Piano Sonata's, they are quite intricate and powerful them selves, and to be frank the Alkan is enough to draw me regardless.

 I reckon I'll be there Just need to arrange travel, and Purchase them tickets

[mephisto]

Wey! I think I'll be able to make that!

 It's on a Friday, my College will have finished by then - too good-of-an opportunity to pass up on ^^ I have heard some of Powell's Sorabji, it's... an aquired taste, I suppose, the Atonal in general >_<;; I'm sure that has been agreed upon a-many times.

Well Sorabji's music is in fact mostly tonal, but there is a lot of cromatism in it.

[Ruro]

Well Sorabji's music is in fact mostly tonal, but there is a lot of cromatism in it.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out That's... certainly... I dunno, Contrary to popular belief... or perhaps just contrary to what my mind says