Generations of musicians have responded unusually yet fiercely to Domenico Scarlatti’s strangely enigmatic yet crystal-clear piano sonatas – micro-dramas in which musical motifs form the characters, from the villainous and heroic to the lonely and lost. Poulenc described them as ‘my favourite Brut Champagne’. A young colleague of the composer’s talked of Scarlatti’s ‘ingenious jesting with art’. Kevin Chen launches his recital at the University Church with a selection of these intriguing works in the fine company of repertoire staples by Chopin and Schumann, and the most affectionate of Ignaz Moscheles’s vivid set of Étude caractéristique.

Kevin Chen 

University Church of St Mary the Virgin

Ida Pelliccioli is an accomplished artist, with degrees in Italian Literature and Ancient Greek, and a teaching post at the Paris Conservatoire. Her recital takes us from the Italian Baroque to Romantic Germany, via Spain, featuring the little-known Baroque Spanish composer Blasco de Nebra, whose keyboard works foreshadow both Mozart and Schubert. Ida begins with three short sonatas from Scarlatti, followed by Mozart’s Bach-inspired fugue, and his turbulent Fantasia. The programme’s final pieces were also among Schubert’s last, full of passionate contrasts and ravishing melodies.

Scarlatti

Events

Past events

Aug 2, 2024

Kevin Chen · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Mar 2, 2024

Sunday Piano Series: Ida Pelliccioli · Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall

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