Virtuosi Thailand plays Two Mozart Quintets

Friday, August 22nd, 6pm

No. 3 in the Three Summer Concerts Series

Two Mozart String Quintets

Virtuosi Thailand led by Toto, violin

Book now by email!

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email asiachart@hotmail.com. 

Mozart wrote six string quintets in two distinct periods. The two that we will hear were written in the late period and are among Mozart's most profound and sublime compositions. The quintets take the string quartet form and add a viola, creating a richer, darker sonority and allowing for more intricate inner voice textures, often giving the viola a prominent and often melodic role. 

The G minor Quintet is one of Mozart's most emotionally raw works, opening a with a restless, syncopated figure that eludes resolution, taking the listener on an agitated journey of tonal ambiguity and breathless tension, finally resolving with delicate determination. The slow movement is one of Mozart's most soulful creations, opening with a plaintive theme of which Tchaikovsky famously remarked, “No one has ever known as well how to interpret so exquisitely in music the sense of resigned and inconsolable sorrow.” That's one interpretation. Exquisite, yes, but it's more than 'sorrow'. The movement represents a calm, sustained, introspection, with a honeyed resolution that defies melancholy. There follows a micro-adagio which puts the listener on a false scent: "what more gloom?" but builds up to a 'wait-for-it' moment, bursting into a rondo that exudes joy, anticipating Beethoven's famous preface, "O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen". This quintet is as close to perfection as Mozart came. 

And, as everyone knows, the jolly E-flat major quintet isn't bad either.

This is Mozart at his best. Don't miss it! Book now. 

String Quintet in G minor, KV 516 (1787)

- Allegro

- Menuetto: Allegretto

- Adagio ma non troppo

- Adagio - Allegro

String Quintet in E-flat major, KV 614 (1791)

- Allegro di molto

- Andante

- Menuetto: Allegretto

- Allegro

Virtuosi Thailand: This 'all Mozart concert' is the third of three summer concerts played by Virtuosi Thailand, a group of Bangkok based musicians led by Toto Jirajet Jesadachet. The previous two concerts were all Bach, and all Beethoven. Both were brilliant. I expect this 'all Mozart' concert will be too. Book now!

Book now by email!

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email: asiachart@hotmail.com. 

All proceeds to the musicians. 

Any questions? Contact me on WhatsApp

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 during the performance. Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.

Three Summer Concerts: The Beethoven piano quartets

Friday, June 27th, 

The early Beethoven Piano Quartets

Virtuosi Thailand led by Toto, violin

Book now by email!

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email asiachart@hotmail.com. 

All proceeds to the musicians.

Ludwig van Beethoven

These are three gems written in 1785, when Beethoven was 14, still living in Bonn and before he had met Haydn. They are remarkable in that, even though there are hints of the influence of Mozart and Haydn, they clearly show the emergence of the original Beethoven style. For example, no.3 in C major contains melodies which were adapted to the piano sonatas op 2. no.1 in F minor and no. 3 in C major, ten years later. But these works are not merely early sketches. They reveal Beethoven’s youthful brilliance, offering both a glimpse into his developing style and a collection of beautifully crafted, engaging works that stand on their own as delightful and expressive music. This is a program which I selected based on listening to the set many times. I'm excited to have it brought into performance. Don't miss it!

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Piano Quartet No.1 in E-flat major, WoO 36 No.1

Adagio assai / Allegro con spirito / Thema con variazione

Piano Quartet No.2 in D major, WoO 36 No.2

Allegro moderato / Andante con moto / Rondo. Allegro

Piano Quartet No.3 in C major, WoO 36 No.3

Allegro vivace / Adagio con espressione / Rondo. Allegro

Book now by email!

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email: asiachart@hotmail.com. All proceeds to the musicians. 

Tarin Supprakorn, piano

Eastman School of Music

Jirajet Jesadachet, (Toto) violin

Royal Academy of Music in London

Yu-Ju Lai, viola

Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar

member of Taipei Symphony Orchestra

Wang Tzu-Wen, cello

The Tianjin Juilliard School, faculty

International Music Competition Bonn “Grand Prize Virtuoso”

Book Now!

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. All proceeds to the musicians. Book by Email: asiachart@hotmail.com

Chat with me on WhatsApp

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 during the performance. Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.

Past concerts in this series:

Friday June 6th, 6pm

All Bach

Four famous concerti from JS Bach

Friday June 6th, 6pm

Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041

Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042

Concerto for 2 violins in D minor, BWV 1043

Concerto for Oboe & Violin in C minor, BWV 1060

Five string musicians and three soloists

Toto Jirajet Jesadachet, violin

studied at Royal Academy, London

                                    Pang Visanee Vongvirulh, violin

                                    studied at Mozarteum University, Salzburg,

Mook Nuttha Kuankajorn, oboe

Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe

Principal oboe, Thai Philharmonic

Next in this series:

   Friday, June 27th: The three Beethoven Piano Quartets WoO36

   Monday, August 25th: Two Mozart String Quintets in G minor and E flat

Shostakovich's Farewell

Friday, May 30th, 6pm

Shostakovich Violin and Viola Sonatas

Tasana Nagavajara, viola

Anna Takeda, violin 

Akkra Yeunyonghattaporn, piano

Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 134 (1968)

Written for Oistrakh on his 60th birthday, the sonata has three movements, the finale of which is a massive passacaglia with bold cadenzas for both piano and violin, culminating in a grand statement taking only a few bars, before dwindling away to a slow march, with a chilling conclusion.

and

Viola Sonata in C major, Op. 147 (1975)

A farewell work, the last work he wrote, completed just weeks before Shostakovich succumbed to lung cancer and heart failure in July 1975. The viola’s dark timbre lends itself to the sonata’s somber and elegiac character.

Here's a nice quote about the second movement:

"The second movement of Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata, Op. 147 is a sarcastic scherzo, marked Allegretto. It’s built on biting rhythmic figures and bitonality, where the viola and piano play in two separate keys simultaneously. This unsettling effect gives the movement a sense of disjointed irony, almost like a distorted folk dance.

Interestingly, much of the material comes from Shostakovich’s unfinished 1942 opera, The Gamblers. The movement carries a mocking, grotesque quality, with the viola’s angular phrasing clashing against the piano’s stumbling accompaniment. There’s a sense of forced joviality, as if the music is laughing through gritted teeth."

The final movement - Shostakovich's final movement - is a delicate lullaby building to an intense lament with a brilliant cadenza before fading away with the initial delicate lullaby, Shostakovich's farewell to the world.

These are two masterpieces from the greatest composer of the 20th century. If you appreciate Shostakovich, don't miss this performance. 

Tasana Nagavajara is well known to us, having played more concerts at Eelswamp than I can count. He studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland and the Vorarlberg Conservatory in Austria, specializing in chamber music. He has performed extensively across Europe, North America, and South America, collaborating with renowned ensembles like Camerata Lysy Gstaad. Tasana served as Concertmaster of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra for ten seasons and has performed major violin concerti with Thailand’s leading orchestras. He is a founding member of the Faculty of Music at Silpakorn University and has directed the Silpakorn Summer Music School (SSMS) since 2005. His work focuses on introducing chamber music repertoire to Thai audiences, expanding the country’s classical music scene.

Anna Takeda has played for us at Eelswamp on several occasions, both as a soloist and as part of the Pro Musica Quartet. She was educated in Japan and then at the Manhattan School of Music. She has played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the Merkin Concert Hall, as well as the Tchaikovsky Concerto recently in Pattaya. She also played an all Bach program with Akkra and Kasina, last year at Eelswamp.

Akkra Yeunyonghattaporn studied at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore), where he won the Piano Concerto Competition and received the Best Accompanist Award for two consecutive years. He later earned his Master’s degree in Piano Performance and a Graduate Performance Diploma in Chamber Music from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, followed by a Doctor of Music degree from McGill University. Akkra has performed across Asia, Europe, and North America, collaborating with internationally acclaimed artists such as Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Pascal Rogé, and Dina Yoffe. 

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email asiachart@hotmail.com. All proceeds to the musician.

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 during the performance. Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.

48 Diaries

Preludes of Chopin and Scriabin

Friday, May 9th, 6pm

Ming Xie 

Plays Chopin and Scriabin Preludes

Described as 'phenomenal' by the legendary Martha Argerich

Chopin 24 Preludes op. 28

Frédéric Chopin’s Preludes, Op. 28, composed between 1835 and 1839, is a set of 24 miniatures, one in each major and minor key, directly inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, a work which Chopin deeply admired and studied. Written primarily during his stay in Mallorca with George Sand, the preludes reflect Chopin’s introspective state amid poor health and isolation. Ranging from the hauntingly lyrical (No. 4 in E minor) to the fiercely dramatic (No. 16 in B-flat minor and no. 22 in G minor), the collection mirrors Bach’s systematic key progression while infusing Romantic lyricism and technical innovation. Chopin’s Preludes later influenced composers like Debussy, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff. Op. 28 is a landmark in piano literature.

Scriabin 24 Preludes op. 11

Alexander Scriabin’s 24 Preludes, Op. 11, was composed between 1888 and 1896. It is a set of short piano pieces written when he was 16 to 24 years old and is inspired by Chopin’s Preludes, Op. 28. Like Chopin's template, Scriabin's op.11 spans all major and minor keys, demonstrating Scriabin’s lyrical sensitivity and technical finesse. Like Chopin's Preludes, Scriabin's set ranges from the tender and introspective (No. 4 in E minor) to the lively and bombastic (No. 14 in E-flat minor). Along with his early sonatas, Op. 11 established Scriabin as a talented composer of his generation.

Ming Xie

Ming Xie is a graduate of The Juilliard School. He studied under Sergei Babayan, Emanuel Ax and Matti Raekallio. Since then he has played with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in Russia, Wigmore Hall in London, Alice Tulley Hall and Lincoln Center and many other venues around the world.

Ming has won prizes in the following competitions:  Gawon Award in South Korea; the Gold Medal Panama International Piano Competition, the Sydney International Piano Competition; Valsesia Musica International Piano Competition in Italy; Maria Canals International Piano Competition of Barcelona in Spain, Lee International Piano Competition in U.S.A, TOYAMA International Youth Piano Competition in Hong Kong and Gulangyu National Piano Competition in China. 

I first saw Ming play at the Sydney International Piano Competition and immediately invited him to come to Eelswamp. Martha Agerich is reputed to have described Ming as 'phenomenal' and I would agree. Eight years later we finally managed to organise a concert. Don't miss it!

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email asiachart@hotmail.com. All proceeds to the musician.

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 during the performance. Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.

Two pianists play Beethoven, Liszt, Haydn, Mozart

Sunday, April 27th, 6pm

Ting Yuan

and

Tomislav Baynov

performed by Tomislav Baynov

Haydn: Sonata in B minor Hob. XVI/32

Haydn’s Piano Sonata in B minor, Hob. XVI:32, composed in 1776, is a fine example of his middle period, combining playfulness and emotional intensity that prefigures the Sturm und Drang movement with its dramatic contrasts and brooding character.

Mozart: Sonata in A minor K310

Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310, composed in 1778 during his Paris sojourn, stands out as one of his most emotionally charged works, reflecting the personal turmoil of his mother’s death that year and his struggles in the city.

performed by Ting Yuan

Beethoven: Sonata no.31 op. 110

Late Beethoven at his most profound and triumphal. This sonata was composed in 1821 and is the penultimate of the set of 32. The finale is a complex blend of Adagio ma non troppo, Arioso dolente, and a double fugue. It is the soul of the sonata—starting with a mournful recitative and a lamenting Arioso in A-flat minor, it transitions into a radiant fugue in A-flat major, only to revisit the Arioso’s despair before a triumphant inversion of the fugue. 

Liszt: Spanish Rhapsody

Franz Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody (Rhapsodie espagnole), S. 254, composed in 1863, is a dazzling virtuoso showpiece that captures the fiery spirit of Spanish folk music. The work weaves together themes like the folía—a traditional Spanish dance pattern—and a lively jota aragonesa, blending them with dramatic flourishes, shimmering arpeggios, and thunderous octaves that push the piano’s technical limits.

Tomislav Baynov

Tomislav Baynov was born in 1958 in Sofia, Bulgaria, to a musical family. He began piano lessons at age four and won his first national competition in Prowadia at six. He studied at the Music Academy in Sofia under Konstantin Ganev and Julia Ganeva, also exploring composition, before moving to Germany in 1981. There, he completed his studies at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, earning a Concert Diploma in 1991. He was a prizewinner at the 1990 S. Rachmaninov Competition in Italy. He founded the Baynov-Piano-Ensemble in 1989, focusing on multi-piano works, and has performed globally across five continents, recording 20 CDs. Since 1998, he has been a professor at Trossingen, where he also champions six- and eight-hand piano music through workshops, competitions, and his leadership of the Association for the Promotion of Multi-Handed Piano Playing.

Ting Yuan

Ting Yuan studied at the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing with Prof. Hua Chang. She continued her studies in Germany from 2008 at the Detmold University of Music with Prof. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and at the Stuttgart University of Music with Prof. Nicholas Hodges. At the Mozarteum University Salzburg, Ting Yuan completed her master's degree in 2018 with Prof. Peter Lang and then continued additional postgraduate studies in the same class. Ting Yuan has won prizes in international competitions in Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal, Belgium, China and Korea. She has performed as a soloist, chamber and piano ensemble musician in Germany, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria and Slovakia. She is a fine pianist as can be attested from her Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tingyuan8084

Reservations: 1,000 baht per person. Email asiachart@hotmail.com. All proceeds to the musician.

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: Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.

Liszt's Harmonies Poetic and Religious

March 7th, 9th and 10th

Eunhee Baek

Prize winner in

International Dr.Dichler competition in Vienna (2005),

International Pietro-Argento competition in Gioia del Colle (2011),

International Artur-Schnabel competition in Berlin (2011),

Young Virtuoso International competition in Zagreb (2016),

Lyon International Competition (2018),

International Liszt Danubia Competition,

International Franz Liszt Center Competition (2022).

Recently released, July 2024

Liszt  Harmonies poétiques et religieuses 

Friday March 7th 
and 
Sunday March 9th

1. Invocation
2. Ave Maria
3. Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (God's Blessing in Solitude)
4. Pensée des morts (Thoughts of the Dead) a major work
5. Pater Noster
6. Hymne de l’enfant à son réveil (Hymn of the Child on Wakening)
7. Funérailles
8. Miserere (d’après Palestrina) ;
9. Andante lagrimoso
10. Cantique d’amour.

This exquisite cycle of ten works is less known than Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, but it is equally as grand in conception and brilliant in execution. The Benediction and the Funerailles are quite well known, the other eight pieces are equally deserving. The cycle of ten creates an epic which is both beautiful and profound. I am so taken with this masterpiece that I have scheduled two performances; one on Friday and one on Sunday. Don't miss it!

Mostly Liszt

Monday, March 10th, 6pm

Rameau: Tendres Plaintes
Liszt: Au lac de Wallenstadt - First Year of Pilgrimage: Suisse
Liszt: Apparition I
Debussy: Ondine - ‘Prélude II’
Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau - ‘Image I
Grieg: Peace of the woods - ‘Lyrical pieces’ Op.
Liszt: Three pieces from the Third Year of Pilgrimage: 

Aux Cyprés de la Villa d’Este nos 1 and 2 and Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este

Eunhee Baek is a Korean pianist. She recorded the complete Liszt Harmonies last year. It is a superb recording. She is 'thrilled' to come and play it for us and I am thrilled to have her come.

Eunhee obtained her Konzertexamen at the Berlin University of the Arts in the class of Mi-Joo Lee. She continued her studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg  with Jacques Rouvier, and with Boris Petrushansky at the International Piano Academy Imola. She has won prizes in at least seven international competitions, including two devoted to Liszt. See the list at the top of this page.

Book now with Helen by emailing asiachart@hotmail.com

Reservations: 1,200 baht per person. 2,000 for two concerts 

Email asiachart@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: Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.

 

February 14th and 16th

Evgeny Starobdubtsev

After an absence of five years, one of the stars of Eelswamp returns with two programs. Evgeny has won more than 30 first and second prizes in international competitions in the last decade. He played at Eelswamp annually pre-covid to enthusiastic audiences. I'm very happy to welcome him back. 

1. Friday 14th 

Messiaen: Vingt Regards Sur L'enfant Jesus  

This epic work is frequently compared to Bach's Goldberg Variations and Beethoven's late piano sonatas for its combination of intellectual depth and spiritual resonance. It is a suite of 20 separate works in range of styles, from church to jazz, starting with a soothing Barcarolle reminiscent of Satie (remarkable considering that it was written in Paris during the liberation summer of 1944). The work proceeds through a range of moods: vivacious rhythmic sections suggesting Stravinsky, adoring hymn themes and finally, the grand triumphant finale reminiscent of Mussorgsky's Great Gates of Kiev in Pictures at an Exhibition.

The work was composed in Nazi occupied Paris in 1944, starting in March and concluding in September, after the liberation; in other words, during the period of the movie Is Paris Burning? 

The historical events in this movie classic were the backdrop to Vingt Regards

"... a landmark in the piano repertoire" Alex Ross

"a cosmic exploration of love, eternity, and the divine." Paul Griffiths

This program is not suitable for children

2. Sunday 16th

Beethoven 4 hands and works by Liszt, Martinu and Feinberg

Two Beethoven works for four hands

Evgeny joined by his wife, Alexandra, for four two four hands works of Beethoven:

Beethoven Symphony no. 9 II Scherzo 

Beethoven 8 Variations on a Theme by Count Waldstein, WoO 67

and Evgeny will play four solo works by Liszt from Années de pèlerinage Book 3, 

Four works by Liszt written in his later years

and two short 20th century masterpieces, the Martinu Sonata, and Samuil Feinberg's Sonata no. 11 (which you won't know but I'm sure you'll love it!) 

Book now with Helen by emailing asiachart@hotmail.com

Reservations: 1,200 baht per person. 2,000 for two concerts 

Email asiachart@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: Photos may be taken during the encore only. During the main performance please put your phone in silent mode and put it away.

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

Cancellations and credits: Credit will be allowed for future concerts in the event of illness. Please don't come if you're feeling sick or recovering but still coughing. 

Directions to Eelswamp: Find 'Eelswamp' on google maps.

Bolt Taxi service to Eelswamp: Just enter "Eelswamp" in the destination box.