Sunday, April 6, 2025

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.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

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.

Saturday, January 25, 2025

 

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.