<<  -- 2 --  Bill Newman    THE IDEAL MATCH

Nearing 11am, it is time to return to the main building and then up the staircase to the spacious upstairs room called the Great Gallery, for the concert itself. Taking a leaf from BBC Radio 3's dictum for outside broadcasts, it is 'a packed house'! Quoting Director Rosalind Savill's figures, the Wallace has hosted 42 Sunday Morning Concerts, providing 70 young artists of international standing with their London débuts. Named listings with countries of origin appear in the beautifully produced programme. Springboard Concerts Trust's Artistic Director is Hannah Horovitz, a gracious lady whom I've known since my CBS-Sony days in the mid-1970s. A sensitive listener with an intuitive understanding of great composers and their music, her constant wish and desire is that the music should sound in the right setting, backed up by a correct acoustic balance and perspective. Running parallel to this are her plans to present young talent from the European Union's recent accession countries. In order to increase the figure of over 6,000 visitors for the now 43 concerts, sponsorship is a No 1 priority. By becoming a Friend, this will include priority booking and specially arranged Friends events, so contact The Friends Administrator at 24 Montagu Square, London W1H 2LF, UK, or email hannah AT horovitzassoc DOT com.

The committee decided to invite three pianists who had appeared in earlier series to participate in the 27 November 2005 event. George-Emmanuel Lazaridis from Greece is the Megaron Rising Star for the 2006/7 season of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO). He composes, too, and Sleepwalking has been nominated for a Sony Award. Schubert's 'Little' A major Sonata, Op 120, showed his full beauty of touch, but regrettably he omitted the First and Third movement repeats which provide the work's structure and contrast (this was due to a 15 minute time limit imposed on each pianist). The tempo indications: Allegro moderato (1st movement) and Andante (2nd movement) did not conform -- and were not flowing enough in either instance. Counter subjects involving major-minor key changes were also slowed, affecting continuity sequence, while a small mistake in the Finale was cleverly corrected.

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