One of the most engaging and versatile pianists of his generation, he performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Friday’s programme features the music of Bach and Chopin through to the jazzy ebullience of Richard Rodney Bennett.
We’re so looking forward to welcoming you to the Corn Exchange next week for a solo recital. You are a multi-talented musician, conducting and accompanying as well as playing alone. Do you feel that this enriches each type of performance?
For me it certainly does. It's only in recent generations that musicians have tended to specialise in one discipline, which is of course a great thing and has given us many of the world's finest instrumentalists. I have always rather admired the composer/pianists such as Rachmaninov or the great figure of J.S. Bach, playing numerous instruments and writing music for all arenas. I personally find, on a much more modest scale, that all the different domains feed each other and help one find numerous channels into the music.
You’re performing a range of repertoire that encompasses a wide variety of styles. Is this more demanding than a concert showcasing one composer, or is it more fun?
Each great composer has absolutely their own world, and it can be a difficult thing to present so many styles, both for the performer and for the audience. The physical sensation of playing one composer may be completely different to that of another, and one notices this most with the jump from German music to French. But a carefully thought-through musical journey can also be highly rewarding, and the substantial works in this programme will allow the audience to live inside each of these extraordinary worlds of imagination.
To which piece do you have a particular affinity, and why? Do you think this comes through in your performance?
Pianists are fortunate people because our instrument has a richer body of literature than any other. I think we are all drawn to particular works, even if we don't often know why, and I think that each of these pieces compelled me towards them. We do sometimes have to play things we understand or like less, often a request or a commission or whatever it may be. But I am happiest when I can choose works, such as for this recital, that I feel at one with.
In terms of the music itself, are there any moments in the pieces you have chosen which we should be listening out for specifically?
I think that in the works for this recital the music speaks clearly for itself. The Bach Chaconne is the grandest possible set of variations, spun from a short four bar "Chaconne" theme heard at the outset. Rather than expanding the original violin work for the piano, I feel Busoni has rather orchestrated the entire composition for symphonic resources, and then reduced this vision to the medium of the piano!
The Barcarolle by Chopin is a Venetian boating song, with a love duet floating atop rippling waves. Chopin's contemporary and great admirer Schumann had one of the greatest lyric gifts of any composer, and we hear him today with two of his most beautiful melodies, one a song without words for the piano, the other Widmung, an eternally popular Lied, transcribed here with the usual finesse by Liszt.
And finally, the Excursions of Richard Rodney Bennett, one of the foremost British composers of the last century. His death on Christmas Eve in 2012 was a great loss, but he left behind a vast and eclectic output: these three pieces were modelled on the well known set of Three Preludes by George Gershwin, and are a real tour de force.
There has been a good deal of coverage in the media of late, discussing a style of playing which some might call ‘over performing’. While we all know giving a performance is a crucial part of a recital, what relation does this have to the notes?
Well our first job is to let the music speak, and as we are daily involved in bringing to life the music of other composers, we first have to seek to understand and channel as much as we can of that composer's vision into our music making. Some performers are naturally extroverted, others quite the reverse: variety is a blessed thing, and each way is equally valid. I suppose "over-performing" in this context is when the performers feel that the music itself is not sufficient, that they need to impose something of themselves onto it rather than let the music release something within them. We're all capable of getting in the way, but through an open and honest approach to music we hope that something of our true selves, something universal, can shine through.
What is the future of solo recital? Will a piano and a person soon stop being enough?
Recitals started in the drawing room as domestic activities. With the age of Liszt and Paganini they grew in size and grandeur, and right now we are seeing across the world (and particularly for new audiences in Asia) a huge wave of enthusiasm for this medium. I wouldn't dare to predict the future of concert-going, but I can't see the original appeal of the intimate recital ever losing its place.
What would be your dream performance? Programme, venue… the lot?!
If I had to live with one composer only it would be J.S. Bach, and over the next two years I will be playing his Well-Tempered Clavier, two sets of 24 Preludes and Fugues, one in every key. My dream is to record these works, beginning with the first book, which I have recently played in the Edinburgh and City of London Festivals. The most wonderful acoustic I know for intimate music making is Wigmore Hall, so it would be perfect eventually to present these pieces there. I'm sure there are many more dream projects in my imagination, but this one will continue consume me for the foreseeable future!
To book tickets to this Café Concert, click here (be quick - they’re selling fast!). To find out more about James Sherlock, visit his website. You can also get in touch with him (@JamesPSherlock) and us (@sinfoniasouth) on Twitter. For more information about all our Café Concerts, visit our website.
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