Het internationaal bekende fluit/piano duo Elizabeth Walker & Richard Shaw geven een koffie-concert in de Wapenzaal van Kasteel Heeswijk.

‘Morceaux de Salon’: Elizabeth Walker – Louis Lot flute 1859, no. 435 and J.M. Burger flute – & Richard Shaw – Broadwood fortepiano 1838-1840

Programma:

– Theobald Boehm (1794–1881): Schubert Lieder – Das Fischermädchen & Ständchen

Boehm has subtly transcribed a number of Schubert’s Lieder, adding delicate embellishments, but maintaining all the characteristics of these beautiful songs.

– Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Venetian Gondola Song Op.19/6 (piano solo)

– Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888): Barcarolle from Chants Op.38/6 (piano solo)

A friend (and close neighbour) of Chopin and Liszt in Paris in the 1830s, Alkan is famous for his monumental virtuoso works for solo piano (the Concerto Op.39/8-10 lasts about 50 minutes). He also wrote many fine short pieces, such as the 25 Préludes Op.31 (published 1847) and 48 Esquisses Op.63 (published 1861). His five sets of Chants, of six pieces each, reflect and develop the style and keys of Mendelssohn’s first book of Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without words) which were first published (as Six Original Melodies) in England in 1832. Alkan’s Barcarolle was published in 1857.

– Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921): Avondschemer (piano solo)

We pay homage to the composer Diepenbrock (owner of the Erard piano of 1839 which we featured in the concert at Museum Geelvinck on Thursday) with Avondschemer (“Crepuscolo”), his only work for solo piano. This short, beautiful and thoughtful piece was written on April 16th, 1915.

– Leopold Jansa (1795–1875): Schubert Lieder – Gute Nacht; Der Lindenbaum; Die Taubenpost

Until recently flautists believed Boehm arranged these three Schubert songs, but we now know that this was done by Schubert’s friend (and exact contemporary of Boehm’s), the violinist and composer Leopold Jansa.

– Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888): Chanson de la folle au bord de la mer Op.31/8 (piano solo)

Alkan was one of the early admirers of Schubert’s music in France, and his Chanson may well have been influenced by distinctive dark sonorities of Schubert’s powerful song Am Meer. His piece is both simple and powerful, and lingers in the memory long after is has been heard… It comes from his set of 25 Préludes Op.31, published in 1847.

– Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888): Le tambour bat aux champs Op.50/2 (piano solo)

Alkan’s strange, wonderful music continues to move and challenge us to this day. Le tambour, published in 1859, the year Elizabeth Walker’s flute was made by Louis Lot, is both entertaining and haunting.

– Jean François Nauwelaers (1833- ?): Le Chant du Patre for solo flute (performed on Louis Lot flute)

This piece was composed by the first owner of Elizabeth Walker’s Louis Lot flute (1859), Nauwelaers, principal flautist of the Lyon Opera Orchestra. Many of his compositions, currently unpublished, are in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

– Louis Dorus (1813–1896): Feuillet d’album

Dorus, a brilliant flautist on the eight-keyed flute but also a great supporter of the newly-invented Boehm flute, highlights the rich, even tone Boehm strived for when he redesigned the bore of the flute and widened and doubled the finger holes. His delicate album leaf, in bel canto style, dates from 1846.

Musici:

Elizabeth Walker & Richard Shaw – flute/piano duo:

Elizabeth and Richard met in 2010 at the British Flute Society convention in Manchester. Since then they have performed together live on BBC Radio 3, and recently given recitals in England, Canada, America and Switzerland. A YouTube clip of Chopin and Schubert was recorded in 2012 at Hatchlands and has attracted a lot of interest – http://youtu.be/mbzu_zlf_Z4

In October 2014 they recorded works for flute and piano by Schubert for the record label www.devinemusic.co.uk including much of the music that you will be hearing in today’s recital. They perform regularly at both Finchcocks and Hatchlands where they have enjoyed matching Elizabeth’s flute to both the Pleyel and Erard pianos and have given lecture recitals at the Royal Academy of Music in London, using the original pianos in their Piano Gallery. This summer they performed a programme of ‘Songs for Flute and Piano’ in Toronto (June 2015).

More information about Elizabeth Walker and Richard Shaw can be found at www.lizwalker.co.uk

Elizabeth Walker – flute

“As perfect a demonstration of the modern wood flute’s capabilities as one could wish to hear”
Review from British Flute Society magazine for Elizabeth’s recording of Telemann’s Fantasias.

Elizabeth studied at the Royal College of Music as a Junior Exhibitioner (where she was awarded the Sally Wainwright woodwind prize in 1985) and as a graduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying renaissance flute with Nancy Hadden, baroque and eight – keyed classical flute with Stephen Preston and modern flute with Kathryn Lukas. She went on to do a postgraduate study of Early Music at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague, studying with Wilbert Hazelzet and receiving masterclasses from Barthold Kuijken. During this time as a student, she was involved in a number of recordings for the New London Consort under the Decca label (recorded using her maiden name – Elizabeth Stanbridge) including; Susato Danserye 1551, The Sylvan and Oceanic Delights of Posilipo, Monteverdi Vespers 1610, Locke Psyche, Blow Venus and Adonis and Telemann Water Music.

Elizabeth currently teaches flute and recorder at Wells Cathedral School and at the City of London School for Girls in London and is a regular examiner at graduate and postgraduate level at the music colleges in Great Britain.

In 2008, Elizabeth recorded a solo CD of Telemann’s Fantasias on a modern wooden flute, followed in 2011 with a recording of the J.S.Bach Flute Sonatas with her group ‘Continuum’. To promote these recordings, she has appeared live at the British Flute Society Convention and performed in Festivals throughout England. In 2012, Elizabeth formed a partnership with the pianist Richard Shaw, exploring repertoire from the mid nineteenth century composed specifically for her original Louis Lot Boehm-system flute, dated 1859. They have recorded a promotional video with ‘First Creative’ using Chopin’s original Ignace Pleyel piano from 1848, currently housed at Hatchlands as part of the Cobbe Collection, and given a solo lecture recital as part of the 2012 British Flute Society convention. Elizabeth and Richard were guests on the live arts programme ‘In Tune’ for BBC Radio 3 and plan to continue to bring this rare flute to audiences in France, Holland and America.

Elizabeth has performed with many period and modern orchestras, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Classical Opera Company, The English Concert, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia. Elizabeth recorded Telemann Fantasias for flute on her modern, flutemakers guild wooden flute and with her baroque ensemble ‘Continuum’ (flute, cello and harpsichord) she went on to record the Flute Sonatas by J.S. Bach’s, both released under the record label Quartz (www.quartzmusic.com) and are available on ITunes. The group has toured extensively sometimes combining baroque and modern instruments, and has appeared in Music Festivals throughout Great Britain. With Richard Shaw, Elizabeth performs using an original Louis Lot flute from 1859 (no.435) and they have appeared live on BBC Radio 3 and in Flute Conventions in England, Canada, (in 2013 and 2015), America (Chicago 2014) and Switzerland at the first La Cote Flute Festival. She also performs in the Renaissance flute ensemble, Zephyrs with Nancy Hadden, and in ‘Festive Flutes’ a lively modern flute quartet.

Her award winning book Baroque Flute Studies is available at Wonderful Winds (www.wonderfulwinds.com) and has sold successfully throughout the world and a second study book Baroque Studies for modern flute will be available soon. Her arrangement of Four Strauss Lieder for flute and piano is published in America by Alry Publications (www.alrypublications.com). More information about Elizabeth Walker can be found at www.lizwalker.co.uk

Richard Shaw – piano

RICHARD SHAW specialises in chamber music and accompaniment and has performed extensively in Britain and abroad. His recent broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 include duo performances with violinists James Ehnes, Viviane Hagner, Leonidas Kavakos, So-Ock Kim, Pekka Kuusisto, Andrew McGee, Vadim Repin, Ittai Shapira, Nikolaj Znaider, cellists Narek Hakhnazaryan, Richard Harwood and Li Wei, flautists Jean Ferrandis, Laura Lucas, Kathryn Thomas and Elizabeth Walker, Nicholas Daniel (oboe), clarinettists Martin Frost and Sarah Williamson, Hannah Marcinowicz (saxophone), Karen Geoghegan (bassoon), Christopher Orton (recorder), sopranos Elizabeth Atherton, Elizabeth Byrne, Nicole Cabelle, Majella Cullagh, Eva Kallberg, Jennifer Smith and Ailish Tynan, mezzo-sopranos Alice Coote, Catherine Griffith, Ruby Philogene and Jean Rigby, Anna Larsson (contralto), counter-tenors Robin Blaze and Michael Chance, tenors Paul Agnew, Hal Cazalet, John Hudson, Richard Margison and Kurt Streit, Matthew Rose and Jonathan Veira (bass-baritone) and Robert Pomakov (bass). He is Staff Accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music and regularly performs at the Dartington Festival, partnering musicians such as Sally Burgess (mezzo soprano), Michael George (bass), Neil Jenkins (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (bass baritone), Sarah Francis (oboe), Sue Dent (horn) and the Dante String Quartet.
His recent CDs on the Deux-Elles label include music by the great French flautist Phillipe Gaubert, with Kathryn Thomas (flute)(DXL 923), a critically acclaimed CD of chamber works (with the Galliard Ensemble) and piano solos by Sir Harrison Birtwistle (DXL 1019), Piper’s Dream (with Ensemble Lumiere) featuring the piano solos and chamber works of the British composer Cecilia McDowall (DXL 1033), and Faure and his circle (DXL 1125). He has recorded 26 CDs for Cramer Music. Richard is currently writing a biography of the distinguished Russian mezzo-soprano, Maria Karinskaya (1882-1942), following his discovery of an unknown 400-page Russian manuscript based on Karinskaya’s lost memoirs.

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