Welcome to our annual keyboard festival. This year we celebrate one of the most
inspirational musical figures of the 20th century, French composer Olivier Messiaen.
The centrepiece of the festival is an all-day gala of music reflecting time, place and
the musical world of birds. Performed by students from the Royal College of Music’s
internationally acclaimed Keyboard Faculty, the day will feature Messiaen’s Catalogue
d’oiseaux alongside other keyboard music. Other events include several concerts and
a masterclass with one of the foremost interpreters of Messian’s music, pianist
Michel Béroff.
I very much look forward to seeing you at the following events. You can also watch
Oiseaux exotiques streamed live on Sunday 8 March at www.rcm.ac.uk/live.
Professor Vanessa Latarche
Head of Keyboard, RCM, London
Messiaen’s Muses Keyboard Festival is supported by John Ward.
Friday 6 March
2.00pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Piano Masterclass with Michael Béroff
Belle Shenkman International Masterclass
Free but tickets required
Sunday 8 March
12.00pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Oiseaux exotiques
Free no tickets required
Monday 9 March
Chants de terre et de ciel Couleurs et mystères 1.05pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
6.00pm | West Parry Room
Free but tickets required
Tuesday 10 March
Visions de l’Amen
1.05pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Free but tickets required
Messiaen’s Muses keyboard festival is supported by John Ward
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Friday 6 March, 2.00pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Piano Masterclass with Michel Béroff
Imma Setiadi piano
Messiaen Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus:
no 4 Regard de la Vierge
no 8 Regard des hauteurs
Selim Mazari piano
Messiaen La bouscarle from Catalogue d’oiseaux
Muqiao Zhou piano
Messiaen Préludes: nos 2, 5 and 8
Michel Béroff
The French pianist and conductor Michel Béroff was
trained at the Nancy Conservatory, winning the First Prize
(1962) and Prize of Excellence (1963). He completed his
studies at the Paris Conservatory (CNSM) with Yvonne
Loriod, where he immediately stood out as one of the best
pianists, winning the First Prize in 1966. In 1967 he made
his Paris recital debut and won First Prize at the first Olivier
Messiaen International Piano Competition. He has since
been considered one of the most outstanding interpreters
of Messiaen’s music.
Béroff has played under the direction of such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Daniel
Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Christoph von Dohnányi, Antal Doráti,
Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Gielen, Eliahu Inbal, Kurt Masur, Seiji
Ozawa, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Georg Solti, Michael
Tilson Thomas, and many others.
As a recitalist and a chamber musician, Béroff has been very active playing with
Pierre Amoyal, Martha Argerich, Jean-Philippe Collard, Augustin Dumay, Lynn Harrell
and Barbara Hendricks, amongst others.
An exclusive EMI artist for over 20 years, Michel Béroff has published more than
50 recordings; among them, the complete works for piano and orchestra of Liszt,
Prokofiev and Stravinsky, conducted by Ozawa and Masur. He has also recorded
works by Bartók, Brahms, Debussy, Messiaen and Schumann.
Belle Shenkman International Masterclass
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Sunday 8 March, 12.00pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Oiseaux exotiques
‘For me the only real music has always existed in the sounds of nature... The
harmony of wind in trees, the rhythm of waves on the sea, the timbre of the
raindrops, of breaking branches, of stones stuck together, the different cries of
animals are the true music as far as I am concerned.’
Olivier Messiaen
In his Catalogue d’oiseaux Messiaen not only depicts birdsong but places the many
species of birds in the context of their natural habitat, exploring themes such as the
time of day, landscape and often a specific geographical setting.
Today we will enjoy a feast of nature in music as eight of the works from Catalogue
d’oiseaux are performed, each one followed by a group of pieces which share a
common theme with the Messiaen piece just heard. At the end of each group we
hear one or more bird pieces from a wide range of composers.
Morning
12.00pm
In Le loriot (golden oriole) a dawn chorus gathers momentum as a multitude of birds
welcome the day. The piece takes us from dawn to the bright sun of midday and we
follow it with other, widely contrasting musical depictions of dawn and morning.
Messiaen Le loriot from ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’ Christine Cheng
Grieg Morning Mood from ‘Peer Gynt Suite’
Jia Ying Chan & Rachel Tang
Debussy De l’aube à midi sur la mer from ‘La mer’
Yaoying Wang & Channarong Jantararat
Ravel Alborada del gracioso from ‘Miroirs’
Sisi Chen
Elgar (arr Bothwell Thompson) Chanson de matin op 15 no 2
Chi-Hoi Cheung
Ravel (arr Vyacheslav Gryaznov) Lever du jour from Lynette Yeo &
‘Daphnis et Chloé Suite no 2’ Bertram Wee
Griffes The White Peacock from ‘Roman Sketches op 7’
Xiyuan Sun
Couperin Le gazoüillement from ‘6th Ordre’
Anhad Arora†
Rameau Le rappel des oiseaux Edyta Lajdorf
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†
indicates RCM Junior Department musician
Landscape
12.55pm
The startlingly vivid impression of jagged cliffs which opens Le merle bleu (blue
rock thrush) provides the inspiration for a collection of pieces suggesting different
landscapes.
Messiaen Le merle bleu from ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’ Annabelle Park
Ravel La vallée des cloches from ‘Miroirs’
Simon Carrey
Liszt Paysage from ‘Etudes d’exécution transcendante’ Grigoris Ioannou
Graham Lynch Admiring Yoro Waterfall Yan Lam Lai
Debussy Des pas sur la neige from ‘Préludes Book 1’ Tomoka Kan†
Gareth Farr The Horizon from ‘Owhiro Bay’ Glinka/Balakirev The Lark
Conor Murphy†
Andrew Yiangou
INTERVAL
Spain
2.10pm
Le traquet stapazin (black-eared wheatear) is set in the Catalan area of southern
France, very close to the Spanish border. Both its setting and its depiction of the hot
sun inspire a group of pieces which look south and explore the intense flavours of
Spanish piano music.
Messiaen Le traquet stapazin from ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’
Phoebe Ng
De Falla Danza del molinero from ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’ Armin Coralic
Mompou Cançon i danses no 6 David Serrano
Albéniz El Puerto from ‘Iberia’ Kenny Salazar
Debussy La puerta del vino from ‘Préludes Book 2’ Miguel Mateus
Granados The Maiden and the Nightingale from ‘Goyescas’ Theresa Yu
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Calm Night
2.50pm
L’alouette lulu (woodlark) is set during a still night represented by a recurring
motif – a calm progression of chords folding into B flat major. Then we hear other
composers’ portrayals of a similarly peaceful or benign night time.
Messiaen L’alouette lulu from ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’
Chen Zhang
Debussy (arr A Caplet) Les parfums de la nuit from Vera Fonte &
‘Images pour orchestre’ Jose Francisco Quintas Vilar
Lyapunov Rêverie du soir Yukina Murase
Liszt Harmonies du soir from ‘Etudes Ilya Kondratev
d’exécution transcendante’ Thelonius Monk/Oscar Peterson Round Midnight Tolga Atalay Ün
Fauré Nocturne no 3 in A flat major op 33 no 3 Irena Radic
Ravel Oiseaux tristes from ‘Miroirs’
Aleksandar Djermanovic
WATER
3.45pm
After a strikingly violent opening, La bouscarle (bush warbler) goes on to contain
river motifs and passages of hypnotic beauty which portray reflections in the water.
We continue with Debussy’s famous depiction of the same phenomenon and
explore how water has long been a gateway to the imagination for piano composers.
Messiaen La bouscarle from ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’
Debussy Reflets dans l’eau from ‘Images Book 1’
Griffes The Lake at Evening from ‘Three Tone-Pictures’
Liszt Au bord d’une source from ‘Années de pèlerinage – Première année: Suisse’ Ravel Jeux d’eau Ravel Ondine from ‘Gaspard de la nuit’
Grieg Brooklet op 62 no 4 from ‘Lyric Pieces’ Schumann Vogel als Prophet from ‘Waldscenen’
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Selim Mazari
Sarah Park
Loh Shao Wei
Nurry Lee
Ning Hui See
Pavel Markov
Vincent Ling†
Maria Inês Costa
Place
4.35pm
La buse variable (buzzard) is set in a particular location: ‘Le Dauphine, la
Matheysine. A big landscape covered by the fields of Petichet, at the end of Lake
Laffrey, at the foot of the bald mountain of the Grand Serre.’ We take this as our
cue to perform a short but colourful collection of pieces which are also set in
specific places around the world.
Messiaen La buse variable from Juan Pablo Hinojosa Ferrera
‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’ Liszt Au lac de Wallenstadt from Luka Okrostsvaridze
‘Années de pèlerinage – Première année: Suisse’ Grainger Zanzibar Boat Song Yan Lam Lai, Jane Lau &
Nigel Clayton
Albéniz Triana from ‘Iberia’ Lara Melda
Benjamin Jamaican Rumba Lucy Wang & Daniel Jordan
Grieg Little Bird op 43 no 4 from ‘Lyric Pieces’
Berniya Hamie†
Couperin from ‘Troisiéme livre de pieces de clavecin, 14th Ordre’:
Le rossignol-en-amour (The nightingale in love) & Jane Lau
Double du rossignol La linote-éfarouchée (The startled linnet)
Sarah Kim
Les fauvétes plaintives (The plaintive warblers) Lisa Hilditch
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The Sea
5.20pm
Le traquet rieur (black wheatear) opens with an explosive theme which represents
‘joy of the blue sea’. Throughout the work it is used in dialogue with the birds of
coastal habitat soaring above. The sea has always been a great source of inspiration
for composers, as this collection of pieces demonstrates.
Messiaen Le traquet rieur from Catalogue d’oiseaux
Sohyun Park
Debussy (arr A Caplet) Jeux de vagues from ‘La mer’ Muqiao Zhou & Weihao Fu
Debussy L’Isle joyeuse Paula Belzunegui
Rachmaninov Etude-tableau in C minor op 39 no 1 Sean Jackson
Rachmaninov Etude-tableau in A minor op 39 no 2
Ma Regina Montesclaros
Scriabin Sonata no 2 op 19 ‘Sonate-fantasie’ Lucy Wang
Tchaikovsky Song of the Lark op 39 no 2 Ziying Zhang†
Daquin Le CouCou Kheng Hoe Low
Marco Scorsolini Carolina Wren (world premiere) Jia Chan
Threatening Night
6.20pm
Le courlis cendré (curlew) explores a more threatening and disturbing aspect of
night, and a dramatic progression of chords towards the end depicts ‘the night and
the fog spreading little by little’. We close the day with a group of pieces which mirror
these ideas in very different ways.
Messiaen Le courlis cendré from ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’
Vanesa Santanach
Ravel Scarbo from ‘Gaspard de la nuit’ Anna Fedorova
Debussy Brouillards from ‘Préludes Book 2’
Dominic Doutney
Schumann In der Nacht from ‘Fantaisiestücke op 12’
Chihang Long
Janáček The Barn Owl has not Flown Away! from Simone Alessandro Tavoni
‘On an Overgrown Path’ 7
Monday 9 March, 1.05pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Chants de terre et de ciel
Where Messiaen had his Oiseaux exotiques, other French composers had their
equivalent in the natural world. In this programme, RCM Postgraduate Accompanists
are joined by singers from the Vocal Faculty for a selection of Messiaen’s sensuous
and beautiful songs, interspersed with witty and characterful portraits of birds,
beasts and insects by Poulenc and Ravel.
Messiaen Trois Mélodies:
Pourquoi?
Le sourire
La fiancée perdue
Lauren Libaw soprano
Lucie Troger piano
Poulenc Le bestiaire (ou Cortège d’Orphée):
Le dromadaire
Le chèvre du Thibet
La sauterelle
Le dauphin
L’écrevisse
La carpe
Sophie Dicks mezzo soprano
Aaron Lott piano
Messiaen Chants de terre et de ciel:
no 1 Bail avec Mi
no 3 Danse du bébé-pilule
Gemma Summerfield soprano
Claire Harris piano
Ravel Histoires naturelles
Le paon*
Le grillon*
Le cygne**
Le martin-pêcheur**
La pintade**
Kieran Rayner baritone
Duncan Appleby piano*
Marc Perna Sanfeliu piano**
Messiaen Harawi
no 2 Bonjour toi, colombe verte
no 4 Doundou Tchil
no 10 Amour, oiseau d’étoile
Maria Ostroukhova mezzo soprano
Hamish Brown piano
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Monday 9 March, 6.00pm | West Parry Room
Couleurs et mystères
Messiaen the organist/composer spent his entire working life playing the organ,
every Sunday, in the church of La Trinité in Paris. In this concert, RCM organists
recreate the exotic colours and profound spirituality of some his best known, and
loved, organ music.
Joie et clarté des corps glorieux from ‘Les corps glorieux’
From ‘La Nativité du Seigneur’:
no 1 La Vierge et L’Enfant
no 2 Les bergers
no 6 Les anges
no 5 Les enfants de Dieu
no 7 Jésus accepte la souffrance
no 10 Dieu parmi nous
From ‘Messe de la Pentecôte’: no 4 Communion (Les oiseaux et les sources)
no 5 Sortie (Le vent et L’Esprit)
Le banquet céleste
Transports de joie from ‘L’Ascension’
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Georgina Sherriff
Jack Stone
Alexander Fishburn
Christopher Strange
Domenico Gioffrè
Domenico Gioffrè
Tak Man Chow
Martyn Noble
Nicholas Mannoukas
Laurence Long
Tuesday 10 March, 1.05pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Visions de l’Amen
Samson Tsoy piano
Pavel Kolesnikov piano
Messiaen Visions de l’Amen for two pianos:
Amen de la Création
Amen des étoiles, de la planète à l’anneau
Amen de l’agonie de Jésus
Amen du désir
Amen des anges, des saints, du chant des oiseaux
Amen du jugement
Amen de la consommation
This is the first work of Messiaen’s to be directly inspired by the pianism of Yvonne
Loriod; she had joined his harmony class at the Paris Conservatoire in 1941.
Together they premiered Visions de l’Amen in 1943.
As with Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (1944), there is an almost overwhelming
sense of spirituality and drama in this monumental work. The ‘Amen’ of the title has
relevance in four ways; it is the creative act, the acceptance of the divine will, the
desire to be at one with God and it is symbolic of the statement, ‘that which will be’.
In his book, Messiaen, Robert Sherlaw Johnson has noted that these four aspects
embody ‘the power and finality of the divine action on the cosmos’.
Samson Tsoy & Pavel Kolesnikov
In 2014, Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov were chosen by City Music Foundation
and BBC New Generation Artists respectively to join their schemes for young
performing artists.
Significant appearances include the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival
Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau and the
Louvre, and the Verbier, Santander, Spoleto, Ottawa ChamberFest, Banff Summer,
Plush Music, Casalmaggiore, Mstislav Rostropovich and Rodion Shchedrin Jubilee
Festivals. Recent orchestral appearances include Russia’s National Philharmonic
Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orquestra
Sinfônica Brasileira and Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Tsoy and Kolesnikov met in 2007 at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
They both currently study at the Royal College of Music with Norma Fisher and
Professor Vanessa Latarche thanks to the generous support of Mr Christopher D
Budden, the RCM and ABRSM Scholarship Foundations and Hattori Foundation.
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THANKS
Special thanks must be given to the following people for their support in the
organisation of the festival.
Thank you everyone!
Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard
David Graham, Professor in Charge of Organ
Simon Lepper, Piano Accompaniment Co-ordinator
Andrew Zolinsky, Contemporary Piano Specialism Co-ordinator
Roger Vignoles, Prince Consort Professor of Piano Accompaniment
Valeria Farruggia, Faculties Administrator and Masterclass Co-ordinator
Chris Moulton, Head of Keyboard Technical Services
and the piano workshop team
In the interests of safety, sitting or standing on the steps, gangways or floors in any part of the auditorium
is strictly prohibited. Please turn off your mobile phone to avoid any disturbance to the performance.
All private sound and video recordings are prohibited. Photography before and during performances is
not permitted. You may take photographs only during applause. Latecomers will not be allowed into the
auditorium until there is a suitable break in the performance. Smoking is not permitted in any part of the
building. Your co-operation is appreciated.
Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BS
www.rcm.ac.uk | tel: +44 (0)20 7591 4300 | email: info@rcm.ac.uk