Free Lunchtime & Evening Classical Music Concerts in South Kensington

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Piatti Quartet - Shostakovich String Quartet No.8 / Maconchy Oboe Quintet - 16 Jan 2020

Date: 5 Dec 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week the Blyth Centre welcomes back the Piatti Quartet alongside Emily Pailthorpe, principal oboist of leading symphony orchestras both in the UK and USA. The programme encompasses both baroque and contemporary: Maconchy’s elegiac Oboe Quintet sits alongside Shostakovich’s powerful String Quartet No. 8. Don’t miss this concert by some of the finest chamber musicians in the UK this Thursday at 13:00.

 

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Magdalena Filipczak (violin) Jessica Xylina Osborne (piano) - 23 Jan 2020

Date: 23 Jan 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

Britten Reveille Concert study for violin and piano
Schönberg Phantasy for violin with piano accompaniment Op 47
Schubert Phantasy in C major D 934

This week, the Blyth Centre is delighted to welcome Polish concert violinist, Magdalena Filipczak to our series. This March, she makes her Carnegie Hall debut as part of the 'Rising Artists Series' with her Phantasy programme; we will be lucky enough to get a preview this coming Thursday. All three works have an underlying dreamscape at their core, each exploring a rich and varied colour palette. Joined by acclaimed American pianist, Jessica Xylina Osborne, this promises to be an auspicious concert.

 

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Dimitar Burov (violin), Jon Thorne (viola), Lionel Handy (cello), Colin Stone (piano) - 30 Jan 2020

Date: 30 Jan 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor Op 25 No 1

This Thursday, four acclaimed soloists come together for a one-off performance of Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor. Now regarded as one of the cornerstones of the chamber repertory, it combines huge popular appeal with artistic innovation. Brahms achieved his first major public success with the work, praised by both a young Schoenberg as well as Brahms's lifelong friend, Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim. We do hope to see you there.

 

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Katherine Pardee (organ), Esther King Smith (violin) - 06 Feb 2020

Programme includes works by Bach, Stanford, Karg-Elert and Rheinberger

Date: 06 Feb 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Rd, Kensington, London, SW7 2BA
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week the Blyth Centre welcomes organist Katharine Pardee to Holy Trinity Church. A renowned performer and teacher, she is currently the Betts Fellow in Organ Studies at Oxford University. Her programme includes the music of J.S. Bach alongside later Romantic German organ music, culminating in Louis Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster, a musical portrait of the chimes of Big Ben. She is joined by violinist Esther King Smith and two Imperial sopranos with an evocative setting of Von Himmel hoch by Karg-Elert. We do hope to see you there.

 

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Karolos - Schubert String Trio in B flat D471, Beethoven String Trio Op9 No1 - 13 Feb 2020

Date: 13 Feb 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, the Blyth Centre welcomes acclaimed string trio Karolos to our lunchtime series. Bringing together three acclaimed performers, Karolos presents two important classical string trios from the canon. Their inventive playing and assured musicianship has won many plaudits and their recent recording of the chamber works of Stephen Dodgson has received high praise. We do hope you can make it.

 

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Imperial Performers - programme to include works by Schubert, Debussy, Chopin & Britten - 20 Feb 2020

Date: 20 Feb 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, the Blyth Centre introduces some of Imperial’s talented musicians as part of our termly Imperial Performers lunchtime concert. Solo music for piano features alongside two works for tenor – a selection of songs from Britten’s Les Illuminations with poetry by Rimbaud, and Schubert’s Auf dem strom with obbligato French Horn. In Beethoven’s anniversary year, it is particularly appropriate that Schubert’s song has quotations from the Eroica Symphony and was written in tribute of the genius himself. Do come and support our talented students this Thursday at 13:00.

 

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Mengyang Pan (piano) - programme to include works by Handel, Czerny & Chopin - 27 Feb 2020

Date: 27 Feb 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

Handel Piano Suite No 5: Air and Variations (The Harmonious Blacksmith)
Czerny Variations Brilliantes op 14
Chopin Variations on La ci darem la mano
Kalkbrenner Variations Brilliantes on a Mazurka of Chopin Op 120

This week the Blyth Centre welcomes Imperial favourite, the pianist Mengyang Pan. As the prize winner of many prestigious competitions she has achieved recognition for her graceful charm and communicative stage presence. Her programme showcases ‘themes and variations’ of the piano repertoire, ranging from The Harmonious Blacksmith to Czerny’s virtuosic Variations Brillantes. The recital ends with a homage to Chopin – first in his Variations based on the famous seduction duet of Don Giovanni and Zerlina, followed by Kalkbrenner’s take on one of Chopin’s mazurkas. Always a recital to look forward to, I hope you can join us this coming Thursday at 13:00 in the Read Theatre.

 

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Alvin Moisey (piano) - Programme to includes works by Liszt, Debussy and Messiaen - 5 Mar 2020

Date: 5 Mar 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

The Blyth Centre is delighted to welcome back Alvin Moisey for a piano recital this coming Thursday. The programme, entitled ‘Time and Emotion Studies’ includes Liszt’s sensual Harmonies du soir alongside two Études by Debussy, and Messiaen’s ground-breaking work, Neumes Rythmique. Written in 1945, Messiaen studied the neumatic notation symbols of plainchant and formed the idea of exploring the rhythms corresponding to them. "In an interplay of transposition, the neumatic symbol as an indication of a sinuous melodic entity is now applied to a rhythmic motive. Each rhythmic neume is assigned a fixed dynamic and resonances of shimmering colours, more or less bright or somber, always contrasting". It is going to be a fascinating recital so do join us this coming Thursday at 13:00.

 

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Le Page Trio - Suk Elegie Op 23, Brahms Piano Trio in B Op 8 - 12 Mar 2020

Date: 12 Mar 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Theatre (Level 5 Sherfield Building)
Audience: Open to all (Free)
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday the Blyth Centre welcomes the La Page Trio - three outstanding soloists and chamber musicians with a long history of collaboration. They have become known for their unique and inventive programming, presenting the piano trio repertoire in a new light. Their concert will feature Brahms’ early Piano Trio in B Op 8, a work that contains moments of unmistakable genius from a composer only in his early twenties. The concert opens with Suk’s haunting Elegie Op 23, a work originally written for solo strings, harmonium and harp. I do hope you will be able to join us for this, the penultimate lunchtime concert of the term.