Archive for: Live Concert

Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op.10*
Weber Clarinet Concerto No.2 in E flat major, Op.74
Montgomery Starburst*
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622

London Mozart Players
Simon Blendis leader/director*
Michael Collins director, clarinet, basset clarinet

It’s clarinet virtuoso Michael Collins’ 60th birthday year – the perfect excuse for a musical celebration!

The London Mozart Players return to the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Michael Collins who directs and takes the solo spot for two of the best-loved works in the repertoire – both inspired by friendships with great clarinettists. Mozart composed his still unsurpassed concerto with its sublime slow movement for Anton Stadler, who performed on a basset horn (the instrument Michael will also play for this work), while Weber was inspired by clarinettist and life-long friend Heinrich Baermann. These concertos display an engaging mix of beauty, daring and virtuosity, with Weber in particular demanding leaps and runs of the soloist. In a concert marking a milestone year, Michael Collins brings all his dazzling artistry to these evergreen masterpieces.

Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is Britten’s tribute to his revered teacher, Frank Bridge. The ten variations present a musical portrait, suggesting ‘his integrity… energy…charm…wit…gaiety’ as Britten wrote on his sketches. A tour de force for LMP’s strings under the direction of Simon Blendis, the writing is daring and inventive, frequently parodying musical forms – opera, baroque, waltzes, marches and chants – but always on a virtuosic level.

The celebratory fireworks for the occasion are provided by Jessie Montgomery’s vibrantly inventive Starburst which fizzes and explodes with excitement and colour. The perfect soundtrack for any birthday party!

London Mozart Players
Leia Zhu violin
Ruth Rogers director
Croydon Music & Arts

Bartok Romanian Dances
Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G major, K.216
Massenet Meditation from Thaïs
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Four Novelletten

Since 2017, London Mozart Players’ annual community concert at St John’s has welcomed top classical stars to SE19 including Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. In January 2022, it hosts another virtuoso soloist, 15-year-old Leia Zhu, performing Mozart’s enchanting third violin concerto.

Since her solo debut at the age of four, Leia Zhu has performed with orchestras around the world, including a performance of Tchaikovsky’s concerto with LMP at Fairfield Halls in October 2021. Her awe-inspiring talent will shine through Mozart’s graceful and witty writing in this sublime concerto. Also on the programme, alongside Bartok’s Romanian Dances and Massanet’s Mediation from Thaïs, is Coleridge-Taylor’s Four Novelletten, a brilliantly-crafted series of four dance-like pieces that recall Elgar and Dvorak.

At the heart of LMP’s residency at St John’s is the desire to inspire young people and widen the reach of classical music. This vision is the foundation for this community concert, which enables students, or those who do not normally go to concerts due to financial or health reasons, get the chance to experience the transformative power of classical music. A limited number (100) of tickets are also available to purchase. Buying your ticket ensures that someone less fortunate can attend.

This is an amazing opportunity to experience live classical music from this internationally celebrated chamber orchestra and its very special young guest, who is surely an inspiration for every fledgling and aspiring musician.

Tickets – £25 (includes reserved seating, programme and interval drink) – only 100 available.

London Mozart Players
Simon Blendis (director)

LMP is delighted to be performing in the Sundown Sessions at Crystal Palace Park as part of the South Facing Festival. Relax in the sunshine in the Crystal Palace Bowl as LMP string players serenade you with Strauss, perk you up with Piazzolla and get you moving with Mozart! Dance melodies abound in this cornucopia of Classical delights from the London Mozart Players – Crystal Palace’s very own orchestra. Bring your dancing shoes!

FREE fun entertainment for all the family. No tickets required, just turn up!

Programme includes:
Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Brahms Hungarian Dance
Strauss Pizzicato Polka
Strauss Blue Danube
Bartok Romanian Dances
Piazzolla Libertango
Jaffa – Fascination + Jura Jura
Copland Hoedown

…and much more!

For more info about the South Facing Festival Sundown Session, click here.

Beethoven Trio in C minor, Op.9 No.3
Dohnányi Serenade in C major for violin, viola, and cello, Op.10
Mozart Divertimento for violin, viola and cello in E flat, K.563

London Mozart Players Chamber Trio
Ruth Rogers violin
Fiona Bonds viola
Sebastian Comberti cello

London Mozart Players brings perfection in triplicate to the beautiful church of St Mary’s, Putney, this September, with the LMP Chamber Trio performing three of the repertoire’s most celebrated string trios in an intimate and elegant chamber concert.

The concert opens with Beethoven’s Trio in C minor, in which the composer’s unmistakeable personality shines through as he masterfully weaves together an engaging battle between the major and minor keys of C. The dramatic tension of the first movement contrasts sharply with the heavenly slow movement in C major, followed by a rhythmic minor Scherzo, a major Trio and a final scampering Presto. It’s one of Beethoven’s best early works and points to his more serious later endeavours.

Composed in 1788 when Mozart was at the height of his powers, the divertimento K.563 was written as ‘entertainment music’ – a mixture of sonata form and dance-like movements. Mozart certainly mixes things up, with the masterful Allegro followed by a lyrical Adagio then a Minuet written in the manner of a lively peasant dance; this is in contrast to the song-like Andante which precedes yet more dance themes in the Allegretto Minuet, before the final Rondo ending with fanfares. It’s a complete concert within one work and undoubtedly one of the most accomplished pieces in all chamber music.

Beethoven and Mozart provide the classical framework surrounding Ernö Dohnányi’s late 20th century masterpiece. With echoes of Mozart, Schubert and Brahms, Dohnanyi’s passionate and evocative Serenade remains true to the nineteenth century serenade tradition, and yet its concise, spare form and its many references to Hungarian folk music, hint at what is to follow in the next century.

A trio of trios! Join Ruth Rogers (violin), Fiona Bonds (viola) and Sebastian Comberti (cello) in the heart of Putney for this sublime showcase for the string family.

Mozart Divertimento in D K.136 for string quartet
Tchaikovsky ‘Souvenir de Florence’ for string sextet

Simon Blendis violin
Harriet Haynes violin
Matthew Jones viola
Agnieszka Zyniewicz viola
Sebastian Comberti cello
Leo Popplewell cello

LMP principals join forces with outstanding recent graduates from the Guildhall School of Music to perform Tchaikovsky’s dazzling masterpiece ‘Souvenir de Florence’, alongside Mozart’s youthful and sparkling Divertimento in D. The concert will take place in the remarkable setting of Omved Gardens in this year’s Highgate Festival.

This year the Festival gives a special platform to the ‘lost generation’ of young artists, those who were starting their careers as the Coronavirus pandemic struck. Here three superb young musicians will play side-by-side with LMP principals in what promises to be a moving and powerful concert in the hidden oasis of Omved gardens, nestled in the heart of London’s Highgate Village.

Pre-concert event
Entry to the gardens for the evening concert is from 6.45pm with music from Royal College of Music students Lily Harwood (violin) and Rosie Rowe (viola) who will be playing a variety of violin and viola duets. The main concert begins at 7.45pm for one hour.

This project has been generously supported by Felix Appelbe and The Contributive Society.