LETTERS

Write to International Piano, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, email international.piano@markallengroup.com or tweet @IP_mag. Star letters will receive a free CD from Hyperion’s best-selling Romantic Piano Concertos series

SPONSORED BY HYPERION RECORDS

BELATED RENAISSANCE

I was delighted to see a mention of Adolph von Henselt at the end of the ‘Ill-Tempered Clavier’ (Issue 85, page 15). I am pleased to report that Henselt’s tragically ignored Piano Concerto Op 16 is to receive a new recording within the next few months. The pianist is to be Paul Wee with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Michael Collins. It is being produced by BIS. Hopefully this will encourage more live performances in the future – after all, it is well over 100 years since Sir Henry Wood conducted Henselt’s F minor Concerto on 22 August 1906 at the Queen’s Hall, part of that

Adolph von Henselt (1814-1889)

t year’s Promenade Season, with Ethel Leginska (18861970) as soloist. It is even longer than that since it was lovingly championed by Clara Schumann. So it is high time for a welldeserved renaissance! Gillian Beattie Davis, Honorary President of the International Henselt Society henseltsociety.org

RETURN TO THE HEART I would like to draw the attention of your readers to a spectacular new piano work by American composer Jeremy Cavaterra: Fantasy-Étude No 1, which can be heard on YouTube in a performance by the Spanish pianist Gustavo Díaz-Jerez (y2u.be/qRkjJuASfew). Cavaterra writes in a style that picks up the aesthetics of early 20th-century music, which he believes was the last great period of music composition, particularly for the piano. He is one of the composers who, after half a century of modernism, has returned to the heart of musical tradition and is creating something new. John Borstlap, via email h i t G (

OPUS BLUNDER Colin Clarke’s review of the new Schumann album from Martin Helmchen (Issue 85, page 65) includes a fairly obvious mistake, repeated twice within a few lines. The opus number for Robert Schumann’s Noveletten is given as Op 28 but should be Op 21. Moreover, Op 28 is the number for the composer’s Th r e e Romances, of which No 2 is the only one played regularly.

I should also mention that the Noveletten is probably one of the least recorded of Schumann’s sets of piano pieces, with its first significant complete recording made by Dino Ciani (who died an early death in a road accident at the age of 32). John Greenaway, via email help y o ur favourite pianist to enter the finals Vote now!

Glocal Piano Project A transnational piano festival for a worldwide audience 6 – 16 November 2022

Follow the Glocal Piano Project online or as part of the local audience at venues around the globe. www.busoni-mahler.eu #busonicompetition #glocalpianoproject #musicbeyondnationalism

Once again, one of the world’s oldest and most acclaimed piano competitions kicks off as one glorious festival, celebrating the future of piano music.

Join us in the heart of London for the sessions held at Steinway & Sons London!

i in

Gu adagn

Photo: Lu ca

6 November 2022 International Piano www.international-piano.com