With the last recital of the second series of ‘Brilliant Young Pianists in St Peter’s Church’ Marlborough gets the chance to hear one of South Africa’s foremost pianists – a musician who has achieved international standing.
The week before Easter, Ben Schoeman flew from London to Cape Town to play Saint-Saens’ Fifth Piano Concerto at the City Hall. On Sunday, May 11 he will be playing JS Bach, Schumann and Liszt at his solo recital in St Peter’s Church.
And three days later he will be playing with South African cellist Anzél Gerber in New York at the Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. The concert is part of their first prize in the Ibla Grand Prize Competition in Sicily in 2012 – you can hear and see them playing here.
Ben Schoeman was born in Pretoria and began his musical studies there. He spent five years studying in Italy at the International Piano Academy in Imola. At present he is in the final stages of his doctoral studies in London, which is now his home.
He is studying at the City University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama writing a thesis on the piano music of the South African composer Setfans Grové. He told MNO that he loves living and studying in London, “a most overwhelming city”: “I really enjoy the British Library and it’s most enjoyable to combine my work as a researcher and performer.”
He has given solo, chamber and concerto performances in many European counties, all London’s main venues, and in Canada. He has won many prizes and last year in the USA he took the Contemporary Music award at the Cleveland International Piano Competition.
As well as the classical repertoire, he loves jazz. But when he is not at the piano keyboard, he plays the violin (which he has studied for seventeen years) in chamber groups.
Rather unwisely MNO asked Ben which of the three composers he will be playing at St Peter’s means the most to him: “I cannot really choose, as these are three of my absolute favourites.”
“I have recently released a Liszt album and I relish the spiritual and intellectual aspects of this great master’s work. The emotional depth of Schumann’s music has always attracted me and I am constantly learning new works of this composer. My mother is an organist, so I literally grew up with Bach’s music in my ears.”
One of the works he will be playing is Liebestod – Liszt’s transcription of the dramatic final aria from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde which Isolde sings over Tristan’s dead body. ‘Liebestod’ literally means ‘love death’ or, in a more romantic language, ‘mort dans l’amour’.
Ben explains that Liszt was Wagner’s father-in-law and championed many of his works: “Liszt’s piano transcriptions of several of Wagner works are highly idiomatic and he effectively captures the dense and imaginative orchestration. Tristan und Isolde was a firm favourite of Liszt and the Liebestod is probably one of his most significant transcriptions.”
Ben Schoeman is a ‘Steinway Artist’: “I have a beautiful Steinway piano at home in South Africa and have been fortunate to hone my craft on this instrument. I have rarely encountered other pianos that move me so much during performance.”
“I aim to perform and record only on these instruments. There seems to be an increasing interest in this instrument in South Africa and I collaborate with other Steinway Artists in creating awareness among audiences and players.”
Ben Schoeman’s recital will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the two Brilliant Young Pianists series at St Peter’s. But no one need despair – there is much more music to come.
|
Building on the success of the two series organisers Dr Nick Maurice and David du Croz have more St Peter’s dates for the diary: Sunday, 22 June 2014: Katharine Gowers (violin) and Alasdair Beatson (Piano) playing Janacek, Szymanowski and Elgar. Sunday, 26 October 2014: The Amicorum Trio – Jonathan Morris (piano), Hikaru Matsukawa (violin) and Gamaliel Rendle (cello) 14 December 2014: Erdem Misirlioglu (piano) 10 May 2015: Louise Cournarie (piano) The second series of Brilliant Young Pianists recitals has been sponsored by Robert Hiscox and Hiscox Insurance. The two series and these recitals raise funds for the St Peter’s Church Trust and the Marlborough Brandt Group which works in Gunjur (in The Gambia) which has a long established link with Marlborough. |
Haine & Smith wins top opticians award
