Events

Please note that Mishka has revised her programme. It was originally to be all Beethoven – she is now playing Ravel’s Miroirs in place of Beethoven’s Piano sonata no. 32 in C minor, op. 111.

Beethoven Piano sonata no.14 in C-sharp minor, op.27 no.2 ‘Moonlight’
Beethoven Piano sonata no.28 in A major, op.101
Interval
Beethoven Piano sonata no.6 in F major, op.10 no.2
Ravel Miroirs
I. Noctuelles (Night moths)
II. Oiseaux tristes (Sad birds)
III. Une barque sur l’océan (A boat on the ocean)
IV. Alborada del gracioso (The jester’s morning song)
V. La vallée des cloches (The valley of bells)

‘One of the most thoughtful and sensitive of British pianists’ The Times

Mishka Rushdie Momen studied with Dame Imogen Cooper and with Sir András Schiff at Kronberg Academy. She has appeared across the USA and Europe, her last season’s recitals including Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival and the Re-opening Festival of the Frick Collection, New York.

Her programme includes three Beethoven piano sonatas, from a very early one to late. She starts in the chronological middle with the lovely ‘Moonlight’ sonata. The catchy name was added by others: Beethoven himself subtitled the sonata ‘Quasi una fantasia’ and it is a kind of fantasy, opening with a blissfully dreamy adagio, the melody building to an aching sadness and mystery.

As the final piece in her programme, Mishka leaves Beethoven for Ravel. Miroirs is a brilliant impressionistic piece, composed when Ravel had begun to make his mark with  the public but was still battling for recognition with the entrenched powers at Paris Conservatoire. Each one of the five movements is dedicated to a friend and fellow member of the avant-garde club Les Apaches.

Our thanks to St John’s College for their hospitality and support for the International Piano Series