Another lovely afternoon at London’s Steinway Hall for the second Piano Salon, hosted by Melanie Spanswick and Lorraine Liyanage. Once again, there was a great range of repertoire and some very impressive performances: I particularly enjoyed Claudia’s Chasse-Neige by Liszt, Petra’s Ricercare & Toccata by Menotti, Debussy’s Étude No. 11 played by David Griffiths, and two pieces (The White Mountain and Berceuse) by English composer Ernest Moeran, played by David Barton. (I played Rachmaninov Étude-Tableau in G minor from the Opus 33 set.) The atmosphere was friendly and supportive, with everyone listening in a most concentrated way, and after the music there was time for socialising over a glass or two of wine. It was very nice to catch up with friends, including soprano Jane Wilkinson, who opened the afternoon with a delightful song by Liza Lehmann (Jane is a recent ‘Meet the Artist’ interviewee).
The Piano Salon is a really great initiative as it offers adult amateur pianists the chance to perform, share repertoire and meet in a relaxed and non-competitive setting. There are future Salons planned in the autumn: visit the Piano Salon website for further information.
Saturday Piano Salon
A selection of videos from the event:
Jane Wilkinson & Melanie Spanswick: ‘Evensong’ by Liza Lehmann
David Barton: ‘The White Mountain’ & ‘Berceuse’ by Ernest Moeran
David Griffiths: Debussy – Etude No. 11 Pour les Arpeges Composes
Rachmaninov – Étude-Tableau in G minor, Op 33 no. 8
Link to the Original