Marlow Recital Society

The Marlow Recital Society has been established by Roy Cadman and his wife Carole to combine the delights of great piano music with the pleasures of good food and wine in the informal environment of their home, Vine House, in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Outstanding young pianists, at the start of what is likely to be an international career, play classical music by a wide range of composers. During two long intervals a buffet supper is served accompanied by a selection of excellent wines. The recitals start at 7.30pm. Chopin and Liszt performed in similar circumstances in their day, all be it at the pinnacle of European society!

Ticket Sales - Look at the right hand side of the top of this page. Under “Pages” click on “Ticket Sales”.
Recital Dates - Click on “Future Recitals” under “Pages” on the right hand side of the top of this page. For full details of the next recital scroll down this page.

If you would like to be kept informed of future recitals, please send your e-mail address to - marlowrecitalsociety@yahoo.co.uk

The recitalist on the 27th June will be James Willshire

James Willshire began his musical studies at the age of nine and two years later entered Chetham’s School of Music where he studied with Heather Slade-Lipkin. At fifteen he was a prize-winner in the 2000 World Piano Competition and was awarded an Educational Scholarship for a short period of study in Paris with the French pianist Dominique Merlet.

In 2002 James won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied with Joan Havill, and where he has won a number of important prizes. In 2005 he was awarded the Liszt Prize and the McCallum Prize for the Most Promising Young Pianist in the Royal Overseas League Competition and a year later won the piano section of the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition. James has been awarded scholarships by the Julius Isserlis Scholarship, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and recently won the MBF Myra Hess Award. He has been a prize-winner in the 2007 Scottish International Piano Competition and in 2008 won Making Music’s Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists.

As recitalist and chamber musician James has performed throughout Europe and Russia, broadcast on Indian national radio and has participated in the Lichfield, Edinburgh and Cheltenham Festivals. He has performed at the Barbican Hall and broadcast on the Performance Channel. Recent engagements include a début recital at the Royal Festival Hall and the recording of the complete works for piano by the Scottish composer Rory Boyle.

His programme will be -

Bach - Partita in C minor

Chopin - Etudes, Op. 10, Nos. 8 & 10
Chopin - Nocturne in B, Op. 62, No. 1

Franck - Prelude, Chorale et Fugue

Chopin - Scherzo No. 4

Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit

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The recitalist on the 18th April was Alexander Ullman.

His programme was

Bach - French Suite no. 6 in E major

Beethoven - Sonata in F major Op 10 no. 2

Bach - Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor, Book 2

Chopin - Etudes Op 10, nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 12

Liszt - Reminiscences de Don Juan

The wide spectrum of composers and musical styles provided a splendid vehicle for Alexander Ullman to demonstrate his very considerable technical and interpretive skills at the piano. The Bach and Beethoven were crisply portrayed with just the right tempo, gravitas and spirit.

The Chopin Etudes were positively joyfully executed, demonstrating the full range of Chopin’s genius. The final work in Alexander’s programme, Liszt’s Reminiscenses de Don Juan, was both formidable in its technical demands - which seemed to present no problems at all, and encompassed Liszt’s incredible range of barnstorming emotion, tear jerking passion and thrusting joie de vivre. Had the audience been Liszt’s contemporaries in Paris or Budapest the ladies would have swooned and the gentlemen been mopping their brows. Alexander richly deserved his ovation and confirmed the Curtis Institute’s wisdom in awarding him a scholarship to study there in the autumn.

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The soloist on the 7th February, 2009 was Mark Viner.

His programme was:-

Haydn: Sonata Hob. XVI:32
Liszt: Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude

Schumann: Etudes Symphoniques Op.13

Alkan: Symphony Op.39 for solo piano

Mark Viner, a current student of Neil Immelman at the Royal College of Music, performed a delightful programme at the February piano recital.

By the close of his recital, it was hard to believe that this pianist only began playing a few years ago. The maturity and depth of his performance captured the audience throughout the evening.

The introductory piece was Haydn’s Sonata Hob. XV1: 32. The joviality in this piece was highlighted by an articulate, light touch that lasted the length of Sonata.

The mood sombered with the Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude and showed the dramatic side of this pianist. We were taken on a journey of colour, texture and meditation as the hymn-like melodies intertwined with almost story like-features.

The Schumann Etudes Symphoniques Op.13, for solo piano was well-suited to the intimate atmosphere where the expressive movements and thrilling conclusion involved the audience. We became aware of the link between Liszt and Schumann as Mark led us on our journey from Haydn, Liszt, Schumann and finally Alkan.

Mark Viner concluded with a treat: a Symphony by Alkan. After the introduction by Roy Cadman who highlighted the complexity of what we were about to hear, the atmosphere in the room was tense with excitement and anticipation. The pianist certainly had his work cut out for him - very few performers have ever attempted Alkan’s compositions; they are some of the most fiendishly difficult ever written. We were not disappointed. The complexity of the symphony was obvious, and the result was incredible; the audience were hypnotised. Alkan’s innovative ideas were played with articulation - it was impossible to be unimpressed by the rigorous modulations and speed of the work. The symphony was played with such vigour; it felt as if the keys were on fire! Audacious, some may have thought, for such a young and relatively new pianist to be attempting such a feat, but Mark Viner most certainly lived up to being one of the most exciting British pianists of the younger generation; the audience thought so and burst into a roaring applause at the end of the recital. - V.M.

The soloist on the 22nd of November was Manon Ablett.


Her programme was
Beethoven - Sonata No. 8 Op. 13 Pathetique
Chopin - Scherzo No. 4 in E major

Brahms - Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2 in A major
Chopin - Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor

Liszt - Sonetti di Petrarca nos. 47 & 104
Rachmaninoff - Preludes
No. 12 in G sharp minor, Op. 32
No. 7 in C minor, Op. 23
No. 10 in B minor, Op. 32
No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 23

Manon Ablett’s performance of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata set a level of technique and musicality which showed that we were in for a treat. The playing of the first movement was magisterial and passionate by turns, the cantabile of the second was achingly beautiful and the final Rondo played with such clarity that it reminded us how close in time were Beethoven and Mozart.

In her performance of Chopin’s last scherzo, the technical demands of this difficult work were taken in her stride whilst the sweep of the big phrases and the contrasts with the more introspective passages were managed with beautiful dynamics. As a listening experience it was almost cathartic. I wanted to sit in silence long after it was over.

After the first interval, Manon played a Brahms Intermezzo, one of his shorter pieces. In this work of gentle contrasts, the repeated phrases are never identical either in notes or harmonies and there are many short term changes in tempo. The subtleties were elegantly and convincingly pointed without being mannered. Turning to Chopin again with the first two movements of his second piano sonata, we were treated to another performance of passionate romantic music played with absolute conviction.

There were two contrasting groups of works after the second interval; two Petrarch Sonnets by Liszt, followed by four preludes by Rachmaninov . These gentle Sonnets, composed as they were by a virtuoso and showman, glistened and rippled under her fingers, whilst the Preludes were a grand romantic finale to this most enjoyable concert. -AH

The soloist on the 6th September was Evelyne Berezovsky

Her programme wasBeethoven - Sonata No. 18 in E major, Op. 31 No. 3
Scriabin - Waltz in F minor, Op. 1Schumann - Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
Scriabin- Poem in F major, Op. 32, No. 1
. . . . . . . . Album Leaf in E major, Op. 45

Chopin - Balade No 4 in F minor
Medtner - Sonata Reminiscenza in A minor, Op. 38, No. 1
The capacity audience was enchanted by Evelyne’s performance. The Beethoven positively hummed with life and vigour. Schumann, the great romantic, toiled for six years in writing his 2nd sonata. It is a complex amalgam of the composer’s sensitive lyrical side - his love for Clara Wieck, and his intense rhythmically complex persona. With the fiendishly fast tempos in the first movement and a virtuoso finale, Evelyne Berezovsky demonstrated her exceptional technical skill tempered by a remarkable control and fine sense of rhythm. The final work in her programme, the Medtner sonata, was a rare opportunity to hear a major composition by this little known Russian younger contemporary of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. Medtner should be heard more often.

The soloist on 28th June was Magdalena Zuk

Her programme was Chopin - Prelude in C sharp minor, Op.45
3 Mazurkas, Op.30
Ballade in F major, Op.38
Scarlatti - Sonatas - C major, K 159; F minor, K 499; E major, K380
Chopin - Scherzo in B minor, Op.20
Debussy - Suite Bergamasque - Prelude, Menuet, Claire de lune, Passepied Magdalena was a harbinger of much joy for the capacity audience. Perhaps her Polish birth allowed her some additional insight into her interpretation of the Chopin where her full yet sensitive performance captured the magic, drama and joie de vivre that makes Chopin’s work such a lasting pleasure. Scarlatti wrote for the harpsichord. However the crisp rhythms transposed admirably to the piano. Claire de lune must be one of the most well known and loved items in the whole piano repertoire. Magdelana’s Debussy demonstrated how well that position is deserved.
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The soloist on Saturday 19th April was Mishka Momen

Her programme was:
Schumann - Sonata in F#minor op.11
Beethoven - Alla ingharese quasi un Capriccio op.129 (The Rage over a Lost Penny)
Bach - Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor
Beethoven - Sonata in F major op.10 no.2
Chopin - Barcarolle in F# op.60
Liszt - Les Jeux d’Eau a la Villa d’Este from Annees de Pelerinage: Troisieme Annee

The capacity audience were both enchanted by her performance and marveled that such a young artiste could bring such maturity and depth to her interpretations. Perhaps Mishka felt some bond with Clara Wieck, the dedicatee of the Schumann Sonata. Beethoven’s “Rage over a lost penny” - not often heard in recitals, was a real treat, and deserves much wider performance. The poetic side of Liszt was beautifully rendered in the “Jeux d’Eau”, where her lightness of touch and sparkling tempo brought to life the fountains of the Villa d’Este.

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The soloist on the 26th January was Riyad Nicholas

His programme was:
Mozart - Sonata in C minor K457
Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit - Ondine, Le Gibet, Scarbo
al-Wadi - Intermezzo
Brahms - Variations on a theme by Paganini, Op.35

The capacity audience were both delighted and astounded by Syrian pianist Riyad Nicholas’s formidable technique and interpretation. The Mozart sonata was performed with a vigorous attack tempered with charm and elegance. Ravel’s Gaspard and Brahms’ Paganini are amongst the most technically demanding pieces in the piano repertoire. Riyad rose supremely to the challenges before him and conjured up the transient moods of the river Godess Ondine, the chill of a moonlit gibbet and the demonic activities of the devil Scarbo. Brahms’ lifetime reputation as a brilliant pianist as well as composer are combined in his Paganini variations. Riyad’s performance confirmed earlier reviewers’ views that “Riyad Nicholas is one of the most exciting young talents to emerge from the Middle East”.

An integral part of a Marlow Recital Society evening is the fine wine and food served during the two long intervals. This combination of fine music, wine and food and the friendly and informal atmosphere proved, yet again, to be a winning formula.

July 9th, 2007

On Saturday 9th June the international prize winning Russian pianist Petr Limonov performed the following programme.

Beethoven - Sonata No.7, Op. 10, No. 3
Chopin - Fantasia Op. 49
Liszt - 2 Consolations and the Mephisto Waltz
Debussy - “L’Isle Joyeuse”

Petr Limonov conjured up an impressive panoply of emotion, drama, tenderness and delicacy in performances hugely enjoyed by his audience. Could one compare the fine Alsatian wine (one of several different wines to drink) with Chopin’s Fantasia? The selection of gateaux was certainly “joyeuse”. The evening was warm, the garden delightful, the company charming. All four composers would have heartily approved.