After their recent sell out V&A gala concert to celebrate the V&A’s Fabergé: Romance to Revolution exhibition, Madeleine Mitchell and her London Chamber Ensemble are bringing their Russian Romantics programme to us in the Highgate School Chapel on Sunday February 27th.
The programme will include Borodin (Quartet No 2 in D major), Liadov (Mazurka and Sarabande), Rimsky-Korsakov (Choeur Dansé Russe) and Ravel (string quartet in F major).
You can see the full programme and book tickets here.
Les Vendredis
The Liadov and Rimsky-Korsakov pieces come from a collection called Les Vendredis that Madeleine discovered while researching this concert.
Les Vendredis were the published works of the many musicians who gathered together at the Friday night salons of lumber millionaire – and music publisher – Mitrofan Belaiev in St Petersburg in the 1890s. Belaiev’s hospitality was legendary and not restricted to music lovers. But each Friday Belaiev’s amateur quartet, of which he was a member, would perform a couple classic works followed by a more recent Russian piece. Then Belaiev would disappear into an inner sanctum. Here a small group of composers would have been working frantically to create a work to be played on that very night. Belaiev would emerge triumphant, the ink not yet dry on the MSS, and the new work would be played – before everyone retired to consume the night’s lavish banquet.
Sixteen of these works were published by his publishing house after Belaiev’s death in 1903 as ‘Les Vendredis’.
You can read about these amazing salons in a good deal more detail here.
Listen again
If you want to hear how great the London Chamber Ensemble sounds in the Highgate Chapel check back to this post after their concert last summer which includes clips from both Schubert and Debussy.
The Winter Egg – for those who are interested.
According to a 2002 post on JCK News Daily…. Fabergé’s Winter Egg, is the rarest and most expensive of the Russian Imperial Easter eggs – sold on April 19 2002 for $9.6 million.
The Winter Egg is carved from rock crystal quartz engraved to look like frosted glass and hiding the “surprise” basket of anemones hung inside. Platinum ice crystals set with rose-cut diamonds are applied to the exterior of the egg.
Atop the egg is a cabochon moonstone with the date 1913-the year of the Romanov Dynasty’s tercentenary-painted on its flat bottom. The egg rests on a rock crystal base carved as a melting block of ice and dripping with more platinum-set rose-cut diamonds. There are 1,308 rose-cut diamonds on the egg and melting ice.
The surprise basket of flowers represents spring emerging from winter. Each is carved from a single piece of white chalcedony, with gold wire stems and stamens, each holding a demantoid garnet. The stems hold intricately carved nephrite leaves, all resting in gold wire “moss.” Another 1,378 rose-cuts are set into the platinum wire basket. Like other Imperial Eggs, it took approximately one year to complete.
Coming very soon….
10th March – The Korros Ensemble celebrates Elizabeth Poston
20th March – Sunday Lunchtime concert with the Highgate Society – Sol Grimshaw’s Gypsy Jazz Quartet
27th April – Joana Ly and Martin André – Strauss Violin Sonata Op 18 and Robert Kahn
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