Gugnin January 2023

Friday, January 20th and Sunday, January 22nd, 6pm

Andrey Gugnin

Winner of 2014 Gina Bachauer Competition

Winner of 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition

Nominated BBC Classical Music CD of the Year

plays 

Rachmaninov and Grieg

Friday, January 20th

Rachmaninov 

10 Preludes op. 23 and

13 Preludes op. 32

Andrey played op. 32 on his first visit, in 2014. It was one of our most memorable concerts and I have asked him to do op. 32 again, this time with op.23. These sets are Rachmaninov at his best. 

Sunday January 22nd, 6pm

Grieg

Holberg Suite
Ballade op. 24
Lyric Pieces op. 43
Lyric Pieces op. 62

The piano music of Edvard Grieg is extensive, with nine books of short pieces, called Lyric Pieces. We will hear two books. 

The Holberg Suite is a homage to Bach, written like a Bach suite, and shows Grieg at his most proficient. 

After this visit to Eelswamp, Andrey will fly to London where he will record a CD of Grieg's music for Hyperion. This is your chance for a preview. 

Book now by emailing asiachart@hotmail.com

Andrey Gugnin has a special relationship with Eelswamp. He was the first musician whom I invited from overseas and he has visited us almost annually since then. This will be his eighth visit to Eelswamp. During those years, we have seen Andrey's career skyrocket, winning two prestigious international competitions, releasing numerous CDs on Hyperion and Steinway and Sons labels.

Reservations:  One concert for 1,200 baht or 2,000 baht for both. Email asiachart@hotmail.com or call 038 069681 office hours. Due to limited number of places payment must be received before the day.

Tickets: No tickets will be issued for concerts. Admission to the music room on the day of the concert will be in accordance with the sequence of receipt of payment (ie, who pays first goes in first and can select their desired seat).

Etiquette: No photos allowed during the main performance. But photos may be taken during encore. 

Directions to Eelswamp: search for 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

December 

14th, 16th and 18th

Complete Violin Sonatas of

Beethoven

A rare chance to hear the complete cycle

Erzhan Kulibaev

playing the Rode Stradivarius*

and

Ilya Kondratiev

Piano Professor at the Royal College of Music, London

The complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas in three recitals

Wednesday 14th at 6pm:

No.1 op.12 no. 1

No.2 op. 12 no. 2

No.3 op 12 no. 3

No.4 op. 23

Friday 16th December at 6pm

No. 5 op. 25 The Spring Sonata

No. 6 op. 30 no. 1

No. 7 op 30 no. 2

Sunday 18th December at 6pm

No. 8 op. 30 no.3

No. 9. op 47 The Kreutzer Sonata

No. 10 op 96 

It is a rare treat to hear the Beethoven ten. They are only occasionally performed over a short period. In 2012 I travelled to Manchester to hear them played by ten different musicians at the Royal Northern College of Music. 

It is also rare to hear them played in order of publication. They are usually mixed for the Procrustean reason of making each program similar in length. I have avoided that temptation in order to get a sense of Beethoven's flow of creation. 

The first nine sonatas were written between 1797 and 1803 and so fall into the early-mid period. No 10 was written in 1812 for the French violinist Pierre Rode, whose Stradivarius violin of 1722, according to Wikipedia, is now played by Erzhan. Could it be that we will hear the performance of no. 10 on the violin for which the sonata was written? That's a stretch. 

Erzhan Kulibaev is a Kazakh born violinist living in Madrid and now a national of Spain. He has visited Eelswamp several times, to much acclaim. He has performed the 24 Paganini Caprices as well as sonatas of Mozart, Prokofiev, Schubert and Respighi. 

Ilya Kondratiev is a Professor of Piano at The Royal College of Music, in London, one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the world. I met Ilya at the 2014 Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv. He was a standout talent. This will be his fifth visit to Eelswamp. 

Reservations: 1,200 baht for one concert. 2,000 baht for two. 3,000 baht for three.

Email asiachart@hotmail.com or call 038 069681 office hours. Due to limited number of places payment must be received before the day.

Tickets: No tickets will be issued for concerts. Admission to the music room on the day of the concert will be in accordance with the sequence of receipt of payment (ie, who pays first goes in first and can select their desired seat).

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of cancellation for reasons of sickness.

Directions to Eelswamp: search for 'Eelswamp' on google maps. 

Taxi service to Eelswamp: Bolt should get you here.

Filipp and Vlad play Mussorgsky and Medtner

 Friday, November 25th, 6pm

and repeated on

Monday November 28th, 6pm

Filipp Opanasenko

plays

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition

and

Vladislav Chubenko

plays

Medtner's Forgotten Melodies no.1 

Medtner: Forgotten Melodies Cycle 1, op 38 Complete (played by Vlad) 

Nikolai Medtner is not as well known as his contemporary, Rachmaninoff, but he is on the same level of pianistic genius. Like Rachmaninoff's compositions, Medtner's works are melodious and cleverly structured. From the Hyperion website:

What was the genesis of Medtner’s style? He considered himself a follower of Beethoven and the best of his work reflects the great polyphonic skill, the detailed development of short compact motifs, and the severe spirit and concentrated depth of the late Beethoven sonatas. No less important for Medtner was German Romanticism in general and Schumann’s legacy in particular. 

The op. 38 cycle begins with Medtner's most popular sonata, the Sonata Reminiscenza. It is followed by seven short pieces which borrow from the haunting melody of the sonata, ending with a powerful reprise of the main theme of the sonata.

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (played by Filipp)

Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is a timeless classic comprising a cycle of ten 'portraits' inspired by an art exhibition, interwoven with a recurring Promenade theme.
 

Filipp Opanasenko and Vladislav Chubenko are two graduates of Moscow Conservatory and recent emigrees from Russia. 

Filipp has played four concerts this year at Eelswamp including all-Bach, Chopin and Beethoven programs.

Vlad has just arrived. He was a student of Medtner specialist, Pavel Nersessian at Moscow Conservatory.

Friday, November 25th, 6pm 

and Monday 28th November 

(same program repeated)

Book now!

Reservations: 1,000 baht by email to asiachart(at)hotmail.com

Tickets: No tickets will be issued for concerts. Admission to the music room on the day of the concert will be in accordance with the sequence of receipt of payment (ie, those who pay first goes in first and can select their desired seat).

Etiquette: No photos allowed during the main performance. But photos may be taken during encore.

Children: Children aged eight years and older may attend the concert depending on the suitability of the program.

Cancellations and credits: Credit for future concerts will be allowed in the event of illness.

Directions to Eelswamp: search for 'Eelswamp' on google maps. 

Friday, November 11th, 6pm

Pro Musica String Quartet

Two early quartets of

Mendelssohn 

and 

Tchaikovsky

Both are masterpieces of the Romantic period:  sonorous, melodious and passionate.

 

Mendelssohn Quartet no. 2 in A major, op. 13

Mendelssohn wrote his second quartet in 1827. He was 18 years old and had already published several masterpieces: the Octet op. 20 and the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream to name two. The quartet is constructed around a recurring melody from a song that Mendelssohn had written a few months earlier. The second quartet is regarded by musical critics as a landmark in 'cyclical' composition. It is a delight to hear. 

Tchaikovsky Quartet no. 1 in D major op. 11

Tchaikovsky wrote three quartets. His first was written in 1871 when the composer was 31. The second movement, Andante Cantabile, is often played as a separate piece and has numerous anecdotes attached to it. According to Tchaikovsky,

“…Tolstoy, sitting next to me and listening to the Andante of my First Quartet, burst into tears"

Friday, November 11th, 6pm

Book now!

Reservations: 1,000 baht by email to asiachart(at)hotmail.com

Tickets: No tickets will be issued for concerts. Admission to the music room on the day of the concert will be in accordance with the sequence of receipt of payment (ie, who pays first goes in first and can select their desired seat).

Etiquette: No photos allowed during the main performance. But photos may be taken during encore.

Children: Children aged eight years and older may attend the concert depending on the suitability of the program. Smaller children may be left with the nanny on the premises. 

Cancellations and credits: Credit for future concerts will be allowed in the event of illness.

Directions to Eelswamp: search for 'Eelswamp' on google maps. Directions can be found at the bottom of this page: http://eelswamp.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-music-room-at-eelswamp.html