Past Concerts 2011 to the present (click the year, below right, to navigate back from the most recent)

SAMUEL HASSELHORN, baritone • HELMUT DEUTSCH, piano

Schumann

‘Abends am Strand’, from Romanzen und Balladen, Op. 45, No. 3

‘Dein Angesicht’, from Funf Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 127, No. 2

‘Lehn deine Wang’ an meine Wang’, from Vier Gesänge, Op. 142, No. 2

‘Mein Wagen rollet langsam’, from Vier Gesänge, Op. 142, No. 4

Schumann

Liederkreis, Op. 39

Schumann

Dichterliebe, Op. 48

The distinguished German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn first came to prominence when he was a prize-winner in the 2015 Kohn Foundation International Song Competition at Wigmore Hall, and shot to international fame when he won the 2017 Das Lied International Song Competition in Heidelberg, with a jury chaired by the great baritone Thomas Quasthoff. Since then, Samuel Hasselhorn has gone on to win first prize in the 2018 Jungen Opernstars [Young Opera Stars] competition of German South West Radio, adding to a portfolio of awards that already included prizes from the Hugo Wolf Competition, Young Concert Artists Auditions New York, Nadia and the Lili Boulanger Competition Paris, and Bundeswettbewerb Gesang Berlin.

In concert and recital Samuel Hasselhorn has appeared at Ravinia Music Festival, Marlboro Festival, Carnegie Hall, Notre Dame de Paris, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Musikverein Vienna, Philharmonie Gasteig Munich, Schubertiade Vilabertran and with Malcolm Martineau at the Bath Music Festival; opera highlights include Kaiser Overall in Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis and as Masetto in Don Giovanni for the Opéra de Lyon, and his debut at Leipzig Opera. Hasselhorn was a member of the Vienna State Opera for two seasons. His first CD, Nachtblicke, with Lieder by Schubert, Pfitzner, and Reimann was released to critical acclaim in 2014.

Born in Austria, Helmut Deutsch is internationally renowned as a chamber musician and accompanist. He began his accompanying career with Irmgard Seefried and has since accompanied singers including Juliane Banse, Barbara Bonney, Grace Bumbry, Ileana Cotrubas, Diana Damrau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Angelika Kirchschlager, Genia Kühmeier, Christiane Oelze, Rita Streich, Ruth Ziesa and Olaf Bär, Matthias Goerne, Dietrich Henschel, Thomas Moser, Christoph Pregardien, Thomas Quasthoff, Andreas Schmidt, Bo Skovhus, Michael Volle and Bernd Weikl. Helmut Deutsch made his Royal Opera debut in 2014, accompanying his regular recital partner Jonas Kaufmann in a main-stage recital of Winterreise. Deutsch appears frequently as a guest performer at music centres and festivals around the world.

His wide discography includes many award-winning recordings. He taught at the Vienna University of Music from 1967 to 1979 and was Professor at the Munich Hochschule für Musik 1986–2011. He continues to give regular masterclasses in Europe and Japan.

ELISABETH LEONSKAJA, piano

Schubert

Sonata in C minor, D. 958

Schubert

Sonata in A, D. 959

Schubert

Sonata in B-flat, D. 960

Elisabeth Leonskaja has long been ranked among the most celebrated pianists of our time. Mentored by the legendary Sviatoslav Richter until his death in 1997, she began her career precociously with prizes as the Enescu, Marguerite Long and Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competitions whilst still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to a Russian family, Elisabeth Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and made her new home in Vienna. Her sensational performance at the Salzburg Festival in 1979 marked the beginning of her steadily growing career as a concert pianist in the West. In her second homeland, Austria, Elisabeth Leonskaja is an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus, a recipient of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, for her outstanding service to the culture of the country (the highest award for culture in Austria), and in Georgia, she was named Priestess of Art in 2016, this country’s highest artistic honor. In 2020 she received the International Classical Music (ICMA) Lifetime Achievement Award.

As a soloist Leonskaja has been awarded the Caecilia Prize for her Brahms piano sonatas and the Diapason d´Or for her recordings of works by Liszt. Other significant recordings include the Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Kurt Masur, the Chopin Piano Concertos with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, and the Shostakovich Piano Concertos with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

In addition to her many solo engagements, chamber music remains an important part of her work. She has performed many times with string quartets, such as the Belcea, Borodin, Artemis and Jerusalem Quartets. She also had a longstanding musical friendship with the Alban Berg Quartet, and their piano quintet recordings are legendary.

ANGELA HEWITT, piano

Tickets are available for booking now.

Couperin

Ordre dix-huitième de clavecin (1722)

Scarlatti

Sonata in D minor, K. 1

Scarlatti

Sonata in F, K. 446

Scarlatti

Sonata in E, K. 531

Scarlatti

Sonata in C, K. 420

Scarlatti

Sonata in C minor, K. 11

Scarlatti

Sonata in C, K. 461

Brahms

Sonata in F minor, Op. 5

One of the world’s leading pianists, Angela Hewitt appears in recital and with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. Her interpretations of Bach have established her as one of the composer’s foremost interpreters of our time.

Angela Hewitt’s award-winning cycle for Hyperion Records of all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as ‘one of the record glories of our age’ (The Sunday Times). Her much-awaited recording of Bach’s Art of Fugue appeared in 2014, and immediately hit the charts in the UK and USA. Her discography also includes albums of Couperin, Rameau, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, Ravel, and Granados. With conductor Hannu Lintu she has recorded two albums of Mozart Piano Concertos (the most recent one with the National Arts Centre Orchestra won a Juno Award in Canada), the Schumann Piano Concerto with the DSO Berlin, and Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony with the Finnish Radio Symphony. New releases include her first disc of Scarlatti Sonatas, and her sixth volume of Beethoven Sonatas (including ‘Les Adieux’). In 2016, Angela Hewitt was inducted into Gramophone Magazine’s ‘Hall of Fame’ thanks to her popularity with music lovers around the world. Her second recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was released in September 2016. Named ‘Artist of the Year’ at the 2006 Gramophone Awards, she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in the same year. In 2015 Angela was promoted to a Companion of the Order of Canada. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, has seven honorary doctorates, and is an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse.