Events

We are most grateful to Dr Margaret Bent CBE for her generous sponsorship of this concert.

Sofiya Gubaydulina Chaconne for Solo Piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Sonata no.13 in B-flat major, K.333

Ludvig van Beethoven Piano Sonata no.14 in C-sharp minor, op.27 no.2 ‘Moonlight’

Interval

Aleksandr Scriabin Piano Sonata no.2 in G-sharp minor, op.19, ‘Sonata-Fantasie’

Ferenc Liszt Three Petrarch Sonnets

Fryderyk Chopin Piano Sonata no.2 in B-flat minor, op.35

Winning the keyboard section of BBC Young Musician 2004 at the age of eleven set Benjamin Grosvenor on a phenomenal career path. He was already sought after when he gave a recital at SJE Arts in 2015; now he travels the world and, at home, is a regular at Wigmore Hall, the South Bank and BBC Proms.

Benjamin offers some all-time favourites – Beethoven’s lovely ‘Moonlight’ sonata for one – but he also springs surprises. The opening Chaconne is by Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. The piece was a commission from prize-winning pianist Marina Mdiwani and, as Gubaidulina explained, she kept Mdiwani’s specific abilities very much in mind as she worked. The result is wonderfully virtuosic.

Late Scriabin is difficult, atonal and intense, but his earlier work is accessible. For Sonata no.2 he took inspiration from the sea –it was partly composed during his honeymoon in the Southern Crimea – and he paints sunlight dancing on waves, gentle moonbeams in the dark of night, sombre agitation from the ocean depths. Like all Scriabin’s work, the piece is fiendishly challenging for the pianist. We are grateful to Benjamin for including it in his programme.

Watch Benjamin Grosvenor playing Chopin: Berceuse in D flat major, op. 57