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FORTHCOMING CONCERTS |
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PAST CONCERTS AT WESLEY CHAPEL |
Monday 3rd June 2013. Song Recital: Lore Binon, Soprano and Cecily Lock, Piano. Songs by Haydn, Schumanm, Debussy and Poulenc
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Monday 13 May 2013. Gary Griffiths (Tenor) and Josef Middleton (Piano). Songs by R Strauss, Wolf, Butterworth, Poulenc, Britten.
Gary Griffiths ( Tenor) and Josef Middleton (Piano
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Monday 8 April 2013. Hannah Black and Ben Holder (Students from Royal Academy of Music, London) Flute and Piano Recital. Programme included Debussy, Reinecke, Hue, Harty, Griffes and Martinu
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Monday 4 March 2013. Piano Recital by Cédric Tiberghien. Programme: Music by Karol Szymanowski: Métopes ‘Trois Poemes’ Op 29
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Monday 4 February 2013. Piano Recital by Tom Hicks. Programme: Sonata in E major K 162: Scarlatti
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Monday 14 January 2013. Yevgeny Sudbin, Piano Recital
See below a Letter to the Harrogate Advertiser on Thursday January 17th from Chris Liddle, Oakdale Harrogate. Fantastic venue "The late Olive Dobson is to be commended yet again for her generous bequest in 1995 which enabled the purchase of the Yamaha concert grand piano by the Wesley Chapel which has been played by many internationally acclaimed pianists over the years. On Monday, Janyary 14 I attended only my second concert at the Wesley Chapel and following an absolutely brilliant performance by Yevgeny Sudbin (how does he remember one hour of musical notes in the correct sequence?!). I do hope he was not too disappointed to have an audience of less than 200 people. A mere £5 entry fee is an absolute bargain to hear music played at the highest possible level and I look forward eagerly to attending again."
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Saturday 5th January 2013, Stephen Hough Programme Two Nocturnes Op 27: Chopin
REVIEW Harrogate Advertiser Thursday, January 17, 201 Chapel's latest coup by George Pyman Piano recital with Stephen Hough, Wesley Chapel Harrogate This latest coup by Wesley Chapel nearly didn't happen. World famous pianist Stephen Hough was recoveing from illness and it was highly commendable that he was able to perform the recital at all to a packed house which included many people who had travelled some distance. In the event, they were treated to an eclectic mix of keyboard music from Chopin, through Brahms to a new piece composed by Stephen Hough himself and ending with Schumann. Stephen House has been referred to by The Economist as a Polymath - I'm afraid to say, in my ignorance, I had to look it up on Wikipedia, it was not in my Pocket Oxford Dictionary, it translates as a man whose experience spans a significant number of subject areas. This is very true of him, his list of achievements are far too long to elaborate. We commenced with two Chopin Nocturnes Op 27, the first of which in C sharp minor, was fairly stark and sombre with dark octaves, altogether a sadness running through. The second Nocturne in D flat is completely different and uplifting, it is very well known and one of Chopin's most popular compositions, thus inclined to be dismisssed as lightweight, but it is beautifully written and a joy in its own right. We moved on to Brahms's Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op5, a piece in 5 movements. I tend to think of Brahms as a rumbustious character and well known for his cantankerous behaviour - I felt this was expressed in the first movement, somewhat strident in nature, but none the less enjoyable. The second movement Andante was such a contrast, the delightfully melodic 3rd movement Scherzo was dance-like and energetic while the final two movements Intermezzo and Allegro moderator followed the pattern. I'm not a huge fan of Brahms, but may have to change my opinion, because I really enjoyed it. It is a very demanding piece to perform and Stephen Hough was excellent. After the interval, we moved on to Hough's own Sonata No. 2 Notturno Luminoso. This was a wonderful piece of music - very modern and vigorous and proof, if ever one needed it, that he is worthy of the Polymath title. I did feel a little sorry for the page turner, since the pace and contect was very fast, but all was well. We concluded with Robert Schumann's Carnaval Op 9 consisting of 21 short pieces, too many to describe, but a delight to listen to. I must give credit to William Kinghorn, who writes the programme notes, they are very erudite and extremely informative. Altogether this was a wonderful evening of exquisite music by one of the world's great exponents of the piano - despite, sadly suffering from his illness. Thanks also to Andew Hitchen who must have aged several years wondering whether he had a concert or not!
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Monday 3rd December, Piano Recital, Alessandro Taverna Programme Sonata in C major D 540 Reliquie: Schubert
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Monday 5 November, Leider Recital, Katharine Broderick, Soprano and Simon Lepper, Piano Programme Goethe Lider: Schubert
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TARIRA Tuesday 16 October 1pm Chamber choir from the Faroe Islands
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30 Septeber 2012 PIANO RECITAL Angela Hewitt
Review by George Pyman, Harrogate Advertiser Thursday 11 October 2012 Top pianist brings world class playing to Wesley Chapel Angela Hewitt piano recital, 18th Olive Dobson Memorial Concert, Wesley Chapel Harrogate The Wesley Chapel in Harrogate played host to one of the world's finest pianists last Sunday afternoon, namely Angela Hewitt. She is a musical phenomenon, has played in virtually every international concert venue, recorded a vast range of piano music, particularly Bach, appeared with most of the finest orchestras and conductors worldwide and here she was in Harrogate. Why one may ask and the answer most probably lies in the foresight of members of the Wesley Chapel and the late Olive Dobson. Olive Dobson was a member of the chapel and a choir member for over 50 years. She left a bequest to the chapel and in 1995 Wesley Chapel used her generosity to purcase a Yamaha concert grand piano which was being played by Angela Hewitt for this concert. Angela, if I may be so bold, gave the game away during her performance. She told us that she was playing several of the pieces of our programme at the South Bank Centre in London the following week and our wonderful concert was also by way of a full dress rehearsal, one of the main reasons being the quality of the Wesley Chapel Yamaha Concer grand and the acoustics of the chapel. The afternoon's performance opened with three Bach compositions transcribed for piano by Wilhelm Kempff. His transcriptions are recognised as being 'truly pianistic' in their interpretation of Bach's musical intentions, not always the case with some transcribers. We start with Chorale prelude the hymn Come Now Saviour of the Heathen, being the text of an Advent hymn by Martin Luther. She followed this with the haunting melody Siciliano in G minor originally written as a flute sonata - a very moving performance. The third item was Sinfonia in D from Cantata No. 29, originally written by Bach for solo organ and orchestra. Transcribing this for solo piano is no mean feat and Angela brought great strength to this wonderful piece of music. For the final item before the interval, we had a change of composer to Beethoven and his Sonata in A major, Op. 101. The four movements are very much in the sonata format and is thought to have been written for the Baroness Dorothea von Ertman, with whom he was in love. Following the interval we were privileged to have Angela perform Bach's final masterpiece The Art of Fugue Contrapunctus I to X, considered to be one of the most difficult compositions ever written and it is not even certain that it was ever intended to be performed on the piano! Undaunted, Angela proceeded to talk us through the various Contrapunctus I to X, illustrating the way the theme is reversed and amplified. We then had the full performance which was tremendous and met with rapturous applause. As an encore we heard Kempff's transcription of Gluck's Lament and Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orpheus and Eurydice, a favourite of mine. All-in-all, Angela Hewitt certainly lived up to her reputation as one of the world's finest pianists. Incidentally I was very pleased to find the television screen missing, which I personally think detracts from live performances. |
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See also: Nidd Valley Methodist Circuit Leeds Methodist District The Methodist Church in Britain
Registered Charity number: 1134055 Website editor: Judith Yeats e-mail jyeats@btinternet.com telephone 01423 506014 COPYRIGHT © 2012 The contents of this website are the copyright of Wesley Chapel Harrogate |