Music on Thursdays - Online
Thursday 14th May 2020
Piano à Deux
Linda Ang Stoodley
Robert Stoodley
Starts: when you are ready
Note: latecomers will be admitted at your personal discretion
Artistes: various
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Programme
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Fantaisie in F minor D940 (1828)
1 Allegro molto moderato
2 Largo
3 Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4 Finale. Allegro molto moderato
George Onslow (1784-1853)
Grande Sonate pour Piano Quatre Mains
Sonata for Piano Four Hands No 1 in E minor Op 7 (1811)
1 Allegro espressivo
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Suite No 1 in G minor (Fantaisie-Tableaux ) for 2 pianos Op 5 (1893)
1 Barcarolle
George Gershwin (born Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz) (1898-1937)
arr Linda Ang Stoodley
Prelude No 3 Agitato (1926), Someone to watch Over Me (1926) and The Man I Love (1924)
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Tahiti-Trot Op 16 (1928)
Arrangement: Linda Ang Stoodley:
Vincent Millie Youmans (1898-1946)
lyrics: Irving Caesar (1895-1996)
- Tea for Two (1924)
Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) & Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960)
from the musical: The King and I
- Getting to Know You (1951)
- Shall We Dance (1951)
Fantaisie in F minor D940 (1828)
1 Allegro molto moderato
2 Largo
3 Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4 Finale. Allegro molto moderato
George Onslow (1784-1853)
Grande Sonate pour Piano Quatre Mains
Sonata for Piano Four Hands No 1 in E minor Op 7 (1811)
1 Allegro espressivo
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Suite No 1 in G minor (Fantaisie-Tableaux ) for 2 pianos Op 5 (1893)
1 Barcarolle
George Gershwin (born Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz) (1898-1937)
arr Linda Ang Stoodley
Prelude No 3 Agitato (1926), Someone to watch Over Me (1926) and The Man I Love (1924)
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Tahiti-Trot Op 16 (1928)
Arrangement: Linda Ang Stoodley:
Vincent Millie Youmans (1898-1946)
lyrics: Irving Caesar (1895-1996)
- Tea for Two (1924)
Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) & Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960)
from the musical: The King and I
- Getting to Know You (1951)
- Shall We Dance (1951)
Piano à Deux: The journey
Contrary to expectations, Robert and Linda met not through music but on a dating website. They discovered much in common, and married in 2008. Piano à Deux was formed in 2010 .
Their research has both informed their playing of the standard repertoire and led to their unexpected discovery of neglected composers like George Onslow. Their latest CD: France Revisited, recorded for the Divine Art label, includes his Op 7 Duo Sonata, his six solo pieces, Debussy’s ‘Petite Suite’ and songs by Poulenc (arranged by Linda).
Their first CD Strictly not Bach was released in 2011 to glowing reviews. Through this Piano à Deux and their audiences have raised £2,000 for charities like WorldVision. In 2015, they were on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ with the award-winning violinist Erzhan Kulibaev.
Their charisma, comedy and virtuosity, set in scintillating original arrangements, has won them a large following on land and sea.
Their research has both informed their playing of the standard repertoire and led to their unexpected discovery of neglected composers like George Onslow. Their latest CD: France Revisited, recorded for the Divine Art label, includes his Op 7 Duo Sonata, his six solo pieces, Debussy’s ‘Petite Suite’ and songs by Poulenc (arranged by Linda).
Their first CD Strictly not Bach was released in 2011 to glowing reviews. Through this Piano à Deux and their audiences have raised £2,000 for charities like WorldVision. In 2015, they were on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ with the award-winning violinist Erzhan Kulibaev.
Their charisma, comedy and virtuosity, set in scintillating original arrangements, has won them a large following on land and sea.
Robert Stoodley
Robert studied with Dorothea Law, who was a student of Paul Baumgartner and Alfred Brendel (Vienna). He has performing and teaching diplomas from the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music (London).
Robert, a linguist, studied Hindi instead of Chinese, not knowing that he would one day marry a Mandarin speaker. Combining linguistic and musical studies, he gained the Premier Prix at the Conservatoire de Lyon (France), has broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and given recitals and concerto performances throughout the UK. Some of Robert’s songs have been published and are sung throughout the world. Some have been recorded, the most recent recording being St Michael-le-Belfrey – the Vinyl Years. |
Linda Ang Stoodley
Singapore-born pianist Linda Ang read a BMus at Edinburgh, and obtained several diplomas before relocating to London’s Guildhall School of Music. She became a prizewinner with awards like the Royal Overseas League Accompanist’s Prize and was harpsichordist of the Guildhall String Ensemble when they won the Internationales Jeunesses Musicales Competition (Belgrade). Their European tour ended in Spain where Linda performed Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto with world renowned flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal.
Linda has since focused on the piano, and performed extensively in the UK, Europe, Mauritius and Singapore; on Dutch and Mauritius television, Radio Scotland, Radio Oxford, Radio 3; and live on Classic FM and Premier Radio. She has recorded with several artistes and has released seven CDs of her own. |
Linda has been featured in the Singapore Straits Times and the Singapore Airlines In-flight Magazine and as cover girl for Woman Alive magazine.
In 2002, Janet Fairlie and Linda created Diva, Diva delighting cruise line passengers on Crystal, Cunard, Holland America & Regent Sevenseas. Then, in 2005, each Diva stepped out, Janet into London’s West End, and Linda to touring with her solo shows which have met with critical acclaim on land as well as on luxury cruise lines like Silversea & Seabourn.
In 2002, Janet Fairlie and Linda created Diva, Diva delighting cruise line passengers on Crystal, Cunard, Holland America & Regent Sevenseas. Then, in 2005, each Diva stepped out, Janet into London’s West End, and Linda to touring with her solo shows which have met with critical acclaim on land as well as on luxury cruise lines like Silversea & Seabourn.
Concert Performances by Piano à Deux
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Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Fantaisie in F minor D940 (1828) 1 Allegro molto moderato 2 Largo 3 Scherzo. Allegro vivace 4 Finale. Allegro molto moderato Our concert opens with one of Schubert's most important works. Piano à Deux were recorded in the Church of St Lawrence Jewry, the official church of the Lord Mayor of London and the City of London Corporation. The original 1136 building was lost in the Great Fire of London. Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the church between 1670 and 1677. It again suffered on the night of 29 December 1940, and was restored after World War II. With no supporting pillars to obscure one's view, Sir John Betjeman described St Lawrence Jewry as very municipal, very splendid. It is listed Grade I. St Lawrence has the extra word 'Jewry' to distinguish it as the St Lawrence by Old Jewry, part of London's Jewish Quarter under the Norman Kings. There was also St Laurence Pountney which was lost in the Great Fire. |
George Onslow dedicated his Sonata to Camille Pleyel, the eldest son of Ignace Pleyel who founded the Pleyel piano manufacturing business in Paris. Camille joined the firm in 1815 and took over completely in 1824. He travelled to London with Chopin in 1837 and the following year Camille supplied a piano to the composer in Majorca. Chopin was staying there with the novelist George Sand (Amantine Aurore Lucille Dupin). Onslow - a familiar name to Surrey folk. George was born in Clermont-Ferrand and spent most of his life there, travelling to Paris for the winter season when his works would be performed. His grandfather, also George, had a life in parliament as MP for Rye and later for Surrey. He was made the 1st Earl of Onslow. |
George Onslow (1784-1853)
Grande Sonate pour Piano Quatre Mains Sonata for Piano Four Hands No 1 in E minor Op 7 (1811) 1 Allegro espressivo |
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Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Suite No 1 in G minor (Fantaisie-Tableaux ) for 2 pianos Op 5 (1893) 1 Barcarolle Although youtube attributes this performance to Vladimir and Vovka Ashkenazy it is quite clearly Linda and Richard seated at the two pianos. |
The Three Preludes began as a project to write 24. Several reductions brought that number down to three! They are dedicated to Gershwin's long-time friend, collaborator, and orchestrator, Bill Daly.
Someone to watch Over Me was written for Gertrude Lawrence and the musical Oh, Kay! in 1926. The Man I Love was written in 1924 as The Girl I Love, for the musical satire Lady, Be Good. It was dropped from that show, and from two others in 1927, by which time it had acquired its current gender. Linda's arrangement can be seen as a lesson in perfect co-ordination and musicality. This is one of the tracks on the duo's album Preludes, Porgy and Paris . |
George Gershwin
(born Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz) (1898-1937) arr Linda Ang Stoodley Prelude No 3 Agitato (1926), Someone to watch Over Me (1926) and The Man I Love (1924) |
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Tahiti-Trot Op 16 (1928) |
Please forgive this little aside.
It does lead us somewhere, I promise. Boris Firmin's operetta Карьера Пирпойнта Блэка (The Career of Pierpoint Blake) includes a number called Tahiti-Trot, which is based on a 1924 tune from No, no, Nanette by Vincent Youmans. Having listened to the number on record, Shostakovich's friend Nikolai Malko - professor at the Leningrad Conservatoire and conductor of the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra - challenged Dmitri to re-orchestrate Tahiti-Trot from memory, in less than an hour. He did it in 45 minutes - without leaving Malko's house. |
We are safely back in piano-land, specifically, four-hands-land, for our final performance in this week's concert.
Arrangement: Linda Ang Stoodley:
Vincent Millie Youmans (1898-1946) lyrics: Irving Caesar (1895-1996) - Tea for Two (1924) Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) & Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960) from the musical: The King and I - Getting to Know You (1951) - Shall We Dance (1951) |
Although our finale item is headed Tea for Two there are two more tunes lurking in Linda's arrangement. Getting to Know You includes the line You are precisely My cup of tea So there's the connection with Tea for Two. The only connection I can find with Shall We Dance is that, like Getting to Know You it comes from the 1951 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King & I. You will find several more recordings on the duo's website: www.pianoadeux.com |
Encore !
Just one more item then!
Here is Linda and Robert's arrangement of themes from Emmerich Kálmán's operettas, which they have titled: Zigeuner Phantasie - Gipsy Fantasy Emmerich Kálmán (1882-1953) |
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Producer: Peter Steadman
CD Releases
If this had been a live concert we would have encouraged the duo sell their CDs afterwards. As it is, we encourage you to take a look at Piano à Deux's CD page, and to place your orders with Linda and Robert by telephone - the number is here. Please click on the CD cover to find out more about CDs released by Piano à Deux |
We hope you have enjoyed your Piano à Deux Concert Online
Watch your email and this website for our next Online concert
comments welcome: musiconthursdays@gmail.com
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a military and nostalgic musical miscellany - including Marlene Dietrich, Vera Lynn, Glenn Miller, Eric Coates, and Handel to access the concert webpage: please click on the Date or the VE Day emblem Venue: this website and a place of your choosing |
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