Viv McLean makes a welcome return as soloist in Rachmaninov’s powerful and romantic Piano Concerto No. 2. Written as the composer emerged from a three year writer’s block, it has enjoyed enduring popularity ever since.
It took Brahms a mere four months to compose his Symphony No. 2 during a summer holiday by an Austrian lake. Its sunny and lyrical character has earned it the title ‘Pastoral’.
Louise Farrenc was Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire from the 1840s and is now regaining the notice she deserves. Her dramatic and colourful concert Overture No. 2 is in operatic style.
Described by Le Monde as “possessing the genius one finds in those who know how to forget themselves”, since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, our soloist British pianist Viv McLean has performed in all the major venues in the UK as well as throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA. Viv’s concerto work includes appearances with the RPO, Philharmonia Orchestra, LPO, Halle Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra of St John’s, Northern Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of such conductors as Daniel Harding, John Wilson, Wayne Marshall, John Lubbock, Philip Hesketh, Christopher Warren-Green, Owain Arwell Hughes, Carl Davis, Rebecca Miller, Chloe Van Soeterstede and Marvin Hamlisch.
Viv plays regularly with the Adderbury Ensemble and has also performed with other leading chamber groups such as the Ysaye String Quartet, the Sacconi String Quartet, members of the Elias, Allegri, Carducci, Tippett String Quartets, Leonore Piano Trio, Ensemble 360 and the Leopold String Trio. He has collaborated with musicians such as Natalie Clein, Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Adrian Brendel, Lawrence Power, Mary Bevan, David Le Page, Guy Johnston and many others. He has performed at numerous festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival, Buxton Festival, Music in the Round Festival, Glossop Festival and Harrogate International Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Festival International de Musique Classique d’Aigues-Mortes, the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden.
Viv studied from an early age with Ruth Nye and, after attending Chetham’s School of Music, he went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne. Whilst studying at the Academy he was the winner of the piano competition at the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition, was selected as one of the winners of the National Federation of Music Societies’ Young Artists Competition and made his Wigmore Hall debut through winning the RAM Wigmore Award.
Viv made his BBC Radio 3 recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded for Classic FM, WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway and for the Sky Arts television channel. His commercial releases have included recordings for Sony, Signum Classics, Naxos, Nimbus, Lyrita, RPO Records, ICSM Records and his most recent albums are a Chopin recital and a selection of live recordings for Stone Records.
For further information, please visit www.vivmclean.com
We are also delighted to welcome Jonathan Mann as our Guest Conductor for this concert. Praised by Bernard Haitink for his “infectious joy in conducting,” Jonathan has made recent notable debuts with the Ulster Orchestra, Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea), and Chineke! Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall. He recently premiered the ballet White Doves with Six Dance Collective in Belfast.
Jonathan is Music Director of Ensemble Cambrica and the Hertford Symphony Orchestra whilst also Artistic Director of the CIAC Conducting Academy, where he mentors emerging conductors from around the world.
He has inspired young musicians throughout Europe and Southeast Asia, serving as Artistic Director of the Immanuel Orchestra in Bangkok from 2015 to 2022 which is modeled after Venezuela’s ‘El Sistema’. A former prize winner at the Jeunesses Musicales Conducting Competition, Jonathan studied at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was the Sir Charles Mackerass Junior Fellow in Conducting at Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance.
For further information, please visit www.jonathanmannconductor.com