Concert #5. SMORGASBORD

Otis Prescott-Mason performs Liszt’s single-movement piano sonata, regarded as one of the pinnacles of
classical Romantic-era pianism. Its slow, gentle opening belies the drama, exuberance and delicacy – and skill of the pianist – that emerge as the work unfolds.

At the other end of the table of delights in this concert is Rebecca Clarke’s award-winning sonata for viola and piano. Requiring prodigious talent from viola soloist Yuxin Chen, this 20 th century work starts with a vibrant fanfare from the viola, morphs through languid and lyrical melodies to lively central core, and an adagio (slow) finale that ends with a surprising dramatic flourish.

An ensemble of Festival Young Artists performs a piano quintet English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (not to be confused with the earlier English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge) who was only 18 when he composed his piano quintet in 1893- it is filled with strong rhythms, rich and lyrical melodies and virtuosic embellishments for each of the five players and is becoming a staple in the romantic era literature.

Time for some purely vocal entertainment. Felicity Tomkins, Austin Hayes, Ivan Zhang and Mark Robb take centre stage to showcase soprano, countertenor, tenor and bass voices and perform vocal works ranging from Summertime (from Porgy and Bess), Evening Prayer (from Humperdinck’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’) through to two (of five) 'Shakespeare Songs'; composed by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) as incidental music for plays by Shakespeare, and Stephen Sondheim’s Agony (from ‘Into the Woods’) in an entertaining smorgasbord of musical styles and eras. Cheers!

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Felicity Tomkins, Soprano
Austin Haynes, Countertenor
Ivan Zhang, Tenor
Mark Bobb, Baritone
Sarah Lee and Esther Oh, Violin
Yuxin Chen and Tal Amoore, Viola
Damon Herlihey-O’Brien, Cello
Otis Prescott-Mason, William Sun and Stephen De Pledge, Piano

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Liszt (1811 – 1886): Piano Sonata in B Minor S178

Rebecca Clarke (1886 -1979): Sonata for Viola and Piano
i. Impetuoso
ii. Vivace
iii. Adagio

Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912): Piano Quintet in g minor, Op 1
I. Allegro con moto
II. Larghetto
III. Scherzo
IV. Allegro molto

Kander & Ebb: Willkommen from Cabaret

Sammy Fain: Secret Love from Calamity Jane
Nico Dostal: Spiel’ mir das Lied from Die Ungarische Hochzeit

Humperdink (1854 – 1921): Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel

Bernstein (1918 – 1990): Maria from Westside Story

Sullivan (1842 – 1900): Orpheus with his Lute and O Mistress Mine

Stephen Sondheim (1930 – 2021): Agony! from Into the Woods