Mark Viner – SJE Arts International Piano Series
Christmas Concert
Beethoven Sonata quasi una fantasia, op.27 no.2 ‘Moonlight’
Lyapunov Fêtes de Noël, op.41
Chopin Ballade no.1, op.23
Interval
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker, op.71 (selections)
Busoni Nuit de Noël, BV 251
Liszt Christmas Tree. S.186 (selections)
Liszt March of the Three Holy Kings from Christus, S.498b
Piano music for Christmas is Mark Viner’s brilliant idea. His programme starts with Beethoven’s lovely ‘Moonlight’ sonata, setting the scene for the festivities to come. Lyapunov’s ‘Fetes de Noel’ consists of four Christmas-themed tableaux and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is a firm favourite for the festive season. Mark will perform two of the best-loved pieces ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ and ‘Pas de Deux’.
The oratorio Christus is a large-scale, three-hour telling of the life of Jesus Christ from birth to death. Liszt made a number of beautifully worked transcriptions for solo piano. Described as more a symphonic poem than a simple march, March of the Holy Three Kings opens with a springing questing kind of pace and builds to the awe-inspiring discovery of the Christ child. A triumphant close to this Christmas concert.
An old friend of SJE Arts, Mark Viner performed for the (then) Prince of Wales’s visit to the College in 2013 and he subsequently appeared in an early SJE Arts Piano Series. Winner of the Alkan-Zimmerman International Piano Competition 2012, Mark has given recitals across Europe and America and in 2018 he made his debut at Wigmore Hall. His growing discography specialises in overlooked composers of the nineteenth century such as Alkan, Chaminade and Blumenfeld.
Review of Mark Viner’s ‘Alkan – Character Pieces and Grotesqueries’
‘Technically Viner is astonishing, fully the equal of that other great Alkanist Marc-André Hamelin, but it’s his poetically charged response to the fantastical elements of the repertoire – surprising harmonies, arresting configurations – which show him ideally suited to Alkan’s theatrical Lisztian-Mendelssohnian sound-world.’ Pianist Magazine (*****)
Watch Mark playing Réminiscences de Lucia di Lammermoor by Liszt: