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AID Chamber Concert
  • About
  • COMPANY
Join us for a concert of Ukrainian and Russian music in aid of Ukrainian refugees. The distinguished performers Madeleine Mitchell (violin), Joseph Spooner (cello) and Margaret Fingerhut (piano) join forces to present two Russian masterpieces: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s poignant and powerful Trio Elégiaque, written when he was only 19 years old before he fled to the West, and Anton Arensky’s dramatic Trio in D minor. In between they will present a selection of beautiful miniatures by two Ukrainian composers, Serge Bortkiewicz who was a contemporary of Rachmaninoff, and Valentin Silvestrov who is currently still living in Kyiv.

Proceeds will go to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Ticket prices include a tea or coffee with a delicious slice of cake from Sally Clarke’s (Kensington) before the concert (from 4pm), and there will be an opportunity to meet and chat with the artists afterwards at the bar. 


MARGARET FINGERHUT

Born in London of Ukrainian and Polish ancestry, Margaret Fingerhut has a distinguished career which has taken her all over the world. Described by Gramophone as a pianist of “consummate skill and thrilling conviction”, Margaret Fingerhut has a distinguished career which has taken her all over the world. She is particularly known for her innovative recital programmes in which she explores the highways and byways of the piano repertoire. As a concerto soloist she has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players, in major venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican. She is often heard on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and many radio stations worldwide.

Her extensive discography on the Chandos label has received much critical acclaim and won many accolades. Her recordings reflect her long-standing fascination with exploring lesser-known repertoire, including works by Bax, Berkeley, Bloch, Dukas, Falla, Grieg, Howells, Leighton, Novák, Stanford and Suk as well as several pioneering collections of 19th century Russian and early 20th century French piano music.
Two of her Bax recordings were short-listed for Gramophone awards, and her disc of solo piano music by the Polish/French composer Alexandre Tansman was awarded the accolade of “Diapason D’Or” in France. Her disc of encores "Endless Song" was Featured Album of the Week on Classic FM and was selected as “Editor's Choice” in Pianist magazine. She made the first recording of a rediscovered student piece by Rachmaninoff, as well as two solo piano pieces by Sergey Taneyev. Other notable premiere recordings include Elgar’s sketches for his Piano Concerto Slow Movement and Edgar Bainton’s Concerto Fantasia.

In 2019 Margaret undertook a major recital tour, devising and performing a special programme of words and music called “Far from the Home I Love” at 32 venues across the UK to raise money for refugees and asylum seekers. A gala livestream concert during lockdown in 2020 saw her reach her goal of raising £88,000, which is £1,000 for every piano key. She was presented with a ‘Champion of Sanctuary’ award by City of Sanctuary UK in recognition of her work.

www.margaretfingerhut.co.uk





MADELEINE MITCHELL

Has been described by The Times as ‘one of the UK’s liveliest musical forces (and) foremost violinists’. She has performed as solo violinist and chamber musician in 50 countries in a wide repertoire, frequently broadcast for radio and TV, in major festivals including the BBC Proms. In 2021 she recorded live with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales the Grace Williams Violin Concerto for BBC Radio 3, to be issued by Nimbus, and Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending. Her ‘Century of Music by UK Women’ 1921-2021, for International Women’s Day with her London Chamber Ensemble was widely featured in the national media and she directed a concert with LCE String Quartet of Russian Music at the V&A for their current Faberge exhibition.

Madeleine Mitchell has performed concertos with orchestras including the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Czech and Polish Radio Symphony, Wurttemberg and Munich Chamber, the Royal Philharmonic and other London orchestras, Orchestra of the Swan, Welsh Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra de Bahia Brazil and for the BBC. She was invited to tour Japan, performing Bruch Violin Concerto in Tokyo and in recent seasons toured the USA.

As a recording artist with an acclaimed discography, Madeleine has been nominated for Grammy and BBC Music Awards. Many well-known composers have written works specially for her which she’s recorded including Sir James MacMillan, Michael Nyman, Errollyn Wallen and Howard Blake, recently featured on Classic FM. Mitchell’s Naxos album of the Chamber Music of Grace Williams with her London Chamber Ensemble entered the Classical Charts at no.2. Her recording of the Suite written for her by Robert Saxton, premiered at Three Choirs Festival, is released in May 2022.

In recital Madeleine Mitchell represented Britain in the festival UKinNY at Lincoln Center, for the Queen’s Jubilee in Rome and ‘Great British Week’ in Kuwait. She has given recitals at Sydney Opera House, Seoul Center for the Arts, Vienna, Moscow, Singapore as well as Wigmore Hall and London’s Southbank Centre. A highly creative personality, Madeleine devised the eclectic Red Violin, the first festival to celebrate the violin across the arts.

www.madeleinemitchell.com



JOSEPH SPOONER

Joseph Spooner came to the cello indirectly, via a degree in Classics at Cambridge and a doctorate in Greek papyrology at London and Florence universities. During study at the Royal Academy of Music, he embraced traditional repertoire and developed a taste for non-standard works. He has since pursued a diverse career, principally as a soloist and chamber musician, and this work has taken him across the UK, from the Baltic to the Atlantic, from archives to libraries, and from the recording studio to concert platforms in Continental Europe, New York, Russia, Mexico, and New Zealand.

As a soloist, there have been performances of familiar and less familiar concertos; broadcasts from his recordings on BBC Radio 3 and Radio New Zealand; and recital series featuring the complete works for the cello by Bach, Beethoven, Bloch, and the Mighty Handful. Joseph has performed extensively as a chamber musician and his work with contemporary ensembles has included festival performances, broadcasts, many premieres, and recordings. Joseph’s delving into the cello repertoire has led to the recovery of unjustly neglected works. Audiences have greatly appreciated hearing this music, and critics have offered high praise for Joseph’s recordings, noting the initiative entailed and agreeing that these works – by composers as diverse as Bush, Krein, Balfe, Coleridge-Taylor, Bainton, Copland, Dyson and Sherwood – were indeed worth rehabilitating: “Other cellists, please copy!” (International Record Review).

2017 saw the release of Alan Rawsthorne’s Sonata (“first-rate”) and Kenneth Hesketh’s IMMH (“wonderfully persuasive … full of remarkable passion and conviction”), as well as of Sea-Croon, a rich selection of previously unexplored 1920s English music (“excellent and imaginative’”. Recent years have seen the release of Sherwood’s Double Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Rupert Marshall-Luck (“splendid”); Francis Pott’s At First Light for choir and solo cello, which received high praise from critics (“peerless musicianship”); and cello works by Ruth Gipps (“mesmeric”). Joseph was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2012. He is proud to be the dedicatee of Alwynne Pritchard’s Danaides, Errollyn Wallen’s Spirit Symphony: Speed Dating for Two Orchestras, and Martin Read’s Troper Fragment.

https://josephspooner.net/

Our Programme

Sergei Rachmaninoff Trio Élégiaque No.1 in G minor
 Serge Bortkiewicz Romance for cello and piano
 Valentin Silvestrov Barcarole for violin and piano
 Serge Bortkiewicz Les Rochers d’Outche-Coche (from Esquisses de Crimée) for piano solo
Anton Arensky Piano Trio in D minor
For more information about the venue and our COVID-19 Health and Safety policy, please see our your-visit page.
We do not accept Amex.
Running time 2hrs.
Recommended for all ages 
27th March 2022
5pm
Tickets (All unreserved)

General Admission £22
Concession £18

Contact Us

 020 8960 0110
 info@theplaygroundtheatre.london
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Location

The Playground Theatre
Latimer Rd London W10 6RQ

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