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John Paul Ekins in Recital
25th July 2022 | 7:00 pm
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PERFORMER | |
JOHN PAUL EKINS | |
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Programme
Fryderyk Chopin (1810 – 1849)
Nocturne in C sharp Minor No. 27 No.1
Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)
Suite bergamasque L75
Clair de lune
Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)
Liebesträume S 541
III. Poco Allegro, con affetto
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)
Cinq Morceaux de fantaisie Op. 3
I. Elegie
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) / Alfred Cortot (1877 – 1962)
5 Lieder Op. 49
IV. Wiegenlied
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Sonata No. 14 in C sharp Minor Op. 27 No. 2
I. Adagio sostenuto
II. Allegretto
III. Presto agitato
Duration
This concert will last approximately 60 minutes, with no interval.
John Paul Ekins opens his recital with Chopin’s first Nocturne in C sharp minor from Opus 27, a famously haunting and tempestuous work. Veering between the key of C sharp Major and minor, with bold use of forte fortissimo and complex chromatic lines in the middle section, the piece is underpinned by a sense of urgency and drama. Debussy’s Clair de lune, written in the same key as the second nocturne from Chopin’s Op. 27, offers the listeners an opportunity to catch their breath while soaking up the luscious harmonies. The final instalment of Liszt’s Liebesträume (No. 3 in A flat Major) follows next, paired with Rachmaninoff’s Elegie from Cinq Morceaux de fantaisie Op. 3. The latter seems to defy expectations, filled with sadness and melancholy it finishes on a major chord, almost uncovering the inner workings of human nature; never simply black and white. This constant state of flux of human emotions, something that Rachmaninoff very much believed in, finds its continuum in Alfred Cortot’s arrangement of Brahms’s Wiegenlied. Here, a wonderful calming memory of things past is mixed with a sense of gazing hopefully into the future; perhaps the closest soundscape to what motherly love sounds like. If there was one piece, which did not require any introduction, it would certainly be Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, concluding tonight’s performance.