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World Premiere in Dublin of Lionel's Mirage for violin and piano
Violinist Rupert Luck and pianist Matthew Rickard will be giving the world premiere of Lionel's Mirage for violin and piano at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Friday 8 October 2010.
Their lunchtime concert, beginning at 1.05pm, will also include a performance of Lionel's Violin Sonata; the two Sainsbury works will be framed by sonatas by Arthur Bliss and Michele Esposito (1855-1929) - an Italian composer who lived and taught in Dublin from the 1880s to the 1920s.
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Violinist Rupert Luck and pianist Matthew Rickard will be performing Lionel's
Sonata for violin and piano at the
BARBER LUNCHTIME CONCERTS,
Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, at 1.10pm on
Friday 21 January 2011
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Violinist Rupert Luck & Pianist Matthew Rickard
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Andalusian Fantasy in Oxford
Lionel's Andalusian Fantasy was the final work on the programme of pianist Jack Gibbons at Oxford's Holywell Music Room on 12 August 2010. The concert formed part of Jack Gibbons' annual Summer Piano Series. |
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NEW on
Dutton-Epoch, March 2010
Lionel’s Violin Concerto was released on Dutton-Epoch on 15 March 2010 - CDLX7245 - with soloist Lorraine McAslan and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth.
The new recording was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 16 March 2010 as part of Afternoon on Three's focus on the BBC Concert Orchestra.
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Fanfare Magazine Review:
"unabashedly romantic… reinforcing the primary power of melody as one of the essential foundations of musical expression… reinvigoration of the Walton tradition… the music is fraught with many interesting and appealing ideas, especially a jazzy main theme in the first movement that returns spectacularly in the finale… the material is more than pleasurable, and Sainsbury not only knows how to orchestrate but also gives his soloist plenty of interest to do up front.
Lorraine McAslan gives a breathtaking reading… total identification with the spirit of the score… superb support from the wonderfully versatile BBC Concert Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth. While the relatively ugly receive the adoration of the cognoscenti, this release proves conclusively that beautiful and communicative music-making is alive and well. No lover of the English violin literature can afford to be without it."."
Paul A.Snook, Fanfare, September/October 2010 |
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Gramophone Review:
Assured concerto whose time has surely come, played by a dream team
"... Even more satisfying but just as English in its sensibilities is the meaty and substantial Concerto by Lionel Sainsbury. Its three movements, lasting 40 minutes, are hugely challenging for the soloist and McAslan meets them head on, whether soaring with lyrical passion in the upper reaches (try the opening minutes of the finale) or with glorious cello-like sonority on the G-string. It's a terrific performance, one that will surely encourage others to take up this assured, artfully structured work of prolific melodic invention."
Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone July 2010
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Review in BBC Music Magazine:
"Anyone who thrills to the sound of the Khachaturian Concerto will find the Sainsbury especially conducive... underpinned by the tonal impulses that continue to drive mainstream music to the present day… Lorraine McAslan soars aloft, shading her ecstatic cantabile with portamentos reminiscent of Jascha Heifetz – indeed at times Heifetz’s classic West Coast recordings of the 1950s are brought irresistibly to mind. McAslan plays both concertos as though they were among the most treasured in the repertoire… The BBC Concert Orchestra provides devoted support and the recording is out of the top drawer."
PERFORMANCE * * * * *
RECORDING * * * * *
Julian Haylock, BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 |
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Review in International Record Review:
"I regard this as a very worthwhile issue, and the Dutton team deserves to be warmly congratulated on it... Sainsbury’s Violin Concerto speaks to us in a language of ‘traditional’ harmony and counterpoint… we must applaud a composer whose strength of character enables him to express himself naturally and fluently in a form that neither Elgar nor Puccini would have had difficulty in grasping… One can easily imagine that many music lovers, particularly those keen to keep up with the latest developments in art, will dismiss Sainsbury’s Concerto out of hand after a few minutes because, superficially, it does not ‘sound’ very modern; such a dismissal would cause them to miss the subtleties and expressive qualities of his music. …the second movement is genuinely inspired: this is quite magnificent music – surely the heart of the work – and much of the finale is on a similarly high level."
Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review, June 2010
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Review in Elgar Society Journal:
"I found myself pleasantly surprised by the Lionel Sainsbury... an unfairly neglected piece, it has echoes of Walton, and is written in a totally accessible and immediately attractive style... played with verve and commitment by Lorraine McAslan."
Martin Bird, Elgar Society Journal, June 2010
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Musicweb International review:
"... big-boned and generous-hearted, a treasurable and magnificent work... the first movement is Elgarian yet interlaced with Tippett-like motifs and the sort of nervy energy often associated with Constant Lambert. The central Andante mesto is touchingly tender and romantic in the manner of the Barber and Korngold yet spliced with the contemplative peace of Finzi’s Introit. The finale, Allegro molto, moves through episodes of rustling euphoria, marcato energy and stirring power... ."
Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International, April 2010
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Review in Classic FM Magazine
"Fans of the English tradition and of the somewhat suppressed strand of 20th century tonal music will adore this premiere recording…"
Jessica Duchen , Classic FM Magazine, August 2010
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Classic FM’s The New CD Show David Mellor referred to...
"... the very jazzy orchestral tutti that opens the first movement… I really have enjoyed this Dutton-Epoch CD, which is why it’s my ‘choice for the curious’ for this Saturday afternoon… well worth having… Lionel Sainsbury likes to write melodic music, but that doesn’t mean facile music… this it not music to be frightened of because it’s written in our time and you think it might be aggressive and unmelodic: this is anything but…"
The New CD Show, Classic FM, 3 July 2010 |
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The recording sessions at Watford Colosseum ( photo credits: Lewis Foreman,2,3,4/Horst Kolo,1) |
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Tuesday, March 24th 2009
The World Premiere of Lionel's Prelude, Blues and Postlude for clarinet and piano was given at the London College of Music in Ealing, West London, on 24 March 2009. It was performed by clarinettist Peter Cornish, a former member of Birmingham University New Music Group, and the eminent composer and pianist Francis Pott.
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Lionel's Two Cuban Dances (in the version for piano, four hands) were programmed with music by Gershwin, Gottschalk, Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner, in a concert by French piano duo Gisèle and Chantal Andranian at Vissi d'Arte, 18 rue Brochant 75017, Paris, on 5 April 2008.
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photo: Jon Dickinson |
Intrada (the first of Lionel's Five Fantasias for guitar) premiered August 6th 2007 by Craig Ogden at the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival |
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Craig Ogden and Lionel Sainsbury at the premiere of the first of the composer's Five Fantasias for guitar, Gloucester Cathedral Lady Chapel, 2007 Gloucester Three Choirs Festival |
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