moray welsh cello · martin roscoe piano
Sunday 1 October 2023, 3pm · Holy Trinity Church, Haddington
Beethoven:
E flat Variations on Bei Männern A major Sonata, Op.69 Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata |
We are delighted to open the season with a concert featuring our Honorary President, the distinguished cellist Moray Welsh, returning to the town of his birth for a rare public performance in Rachmaninov’s anniversary year. Praised for his “passionate conviction and wonderful tone”, he is joined by the superb Martin Roscoe, one of the UK’s pre-eminent pianists, in a programme of ravishing works for cello and piano.
Join us for a reception after the concert, generously sponsored by our new Honorary Patron, John McMillan, Provost of East Lothian.
MORAY WELSH has had a very distinguished career as a solo cellist and chamber music player, following the unique experience of studying for two years at the Moscow Conservatoire with the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. A native of Edinburgh, while still a student at York University the quality of his playing was recognised by Benjamin Britten, with whom he played the composer's Sonata for cello and piano. Britten followed this by arranging an introduction to Rostropovich, which led to an invitation to study in Moscow. Prior to that he had been a pupil of Eleanor Gregorson, and then of Joan Dickson.
In Britain he played several times at the Proms, in all the major concert halls and with all the key symphony orchestras. He has toured abroad as a soloist with several British orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, the RPO, and BBC Scottish Symphony, and appeared as a soloist in Scandinavia, Europe, the USSR, the USA, and the Far East.
His musical interests are extremely wide, and his records range from a disc of Baroque Concertos, to several records of contemporary music, including the Hugh Wood Concerto, which was selected as a Record of the Year by the Sunday Times. A disc of Herbert Howells pieces with the LSO was selected as Editor's Choice in Gramophone Magazine, and his CD of cello music by Rachmaninov with Martin Roscoe was an Amazon record of the month.
Also very active in the chamber music field, Moray Welsh has been a guest with numerous groups, including the Amadeus Quartet and all the major British String Quartets. He recorded Bach Trio Sonatas with James Galway and Kyung Wha Chung, and has several times performed the complete works of Beethoven for cello and piano. Chamber music partners have included Andre Previn, Midori, Martin Roscoe, Peter Cropper, Yuri Bashmet, Leif Ove Andsnes, Jonathan Papp and Marcia Crayford.
Highlights in past seasons included appearances as a soloist in the Schumann Concerto with the ECO under Sir Yehudi Menuhin, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in the Britten Cello Symphony, and in November 1991 with The Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra, where his playing of Frank Bridge's "Oration" was praised for its " sense of passionate conviction and wonderful tone. "
He has been associated with a number of contemporary composers who have written works for cello, notably the Concerto by Hugh Wood, and he has premiered concertos by David Blake, Lennox Berkeley, Ronald Stevenson, Daniel Jones, George Nicholson, William Wordsworth and Alun Hoddinott, as well as championing works for cello and orchestra by Hans Gal, Sir Donald Tovey, Alexander Goehr, Joachim Raff, Havergal Brian, Herbert Howells and David Dorward.
In 1992 he took up an appointment as Principal cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra, and with the LSO he was often been heard as soloist in Don Quixote, the Tippett Triple Concerto, Beethoven Triple Concerto, the Elgar Concerto and the Brahms Double Concerto, both in this country and abroad, under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Rafael Frubeck de Bourgos and Andre Previn. In June 2007 he relinquished this position to diversify and concentrate on chamber music activities.
For eighteen years Moray Welsh held a teaching post at the Royal Northern College of Music, and many of his ex-students now hold key positions both in London Orchestras and abroad.
Apart from concert work, he has also recorded extensively for film sound tracks, and can be heard playing the Slow Movement of the Schubert Eb Trio in Stanley Kubrick's iconographic 1975 film of Barry Lyndon.
With an extraordinary career spanning over five decades, MARTIN ROSCOE is unarguably one of the UK’s best loved pianists. Renowned for his versatility at the keyboard, Martin is equally at home in concerto, recital and chamber performances. His enduring popularity and the respect in which he is universally held are built on a deeply thoughtful musicianship and his easy rapport with audiences and fellow musicians alike. Martin is Artistic Director of Ribble Valley International Piano Week and the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society, and has recently stepped down as Co-Artistic Director of the Beverley Chamber Music Festival.
With a repertoire of over 100 concertos performed or recorded, Martin continues to work regularly with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, having especially close links with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has given over ninety performances. Other orchestral highlights have included BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Martin also performs widely across Europe, Canada, Australia and the Far East, sharing the concert platform with eminent conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Gianandrea Noseda, and Christoph von Dohnányi.
A prolific recitalist and chamber musician, Martin tours the UK extensively every season, including regular appearances at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and Bridgewater Hall. He has long-standing associations with Peter Donohoe, Kathryn Stott, and the Maggini Quartet, and worked closely with Tasmin Little and the Endellion String Quartet during their long and illustrious careers. Recent collaborations include with Jennifer Pike, Tai Murray, Fenella Humphreys, Liza Ferschtman and the Brodsky and Carducci Quartets. One of his most important ensembles, the Cropper Welsh Roscoe Trio (2005-2016), performed many times across the UK, most notably at Wigmore Hall. More recently, Martin formed the Roscoe Piano Trio with Fenella Humphreys and Jessica Burroughs for a celebratory concert in honour of Peter Cropper. The Trio has since gone on to perform across the UK, most notably at Bridgewater Hall.
Having made over 600 broadcasts, including seven BBC Prom appearances, Martin is one of the most regularly played pianists on BBC Radio 3. Martin has also made many commercial recordings for labels such as Hyperion, Chandos and Naxos. He has recorded the complete piano music of Dohnányi ,Nielsen and Szymanowski, as well as four discs in the Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto series. For the Deux-Elles label, Martin has recorded the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, for which he received unanimous critical acclaim.
Teaching has always formed an important part of Martin’s life and the development of young talent helps him to constantly re-examine and re-evaluate his own playing. He is currently Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London and has been awarded his Fellowship there.
Martin splits his free time between the stunning English Lake District and the Scottish Highlands, which provide inspiration and relaxation, and also enable him to indulge his passion for the countryside and hill-walking.
In Britain he played several times at the Proms, in all the major concert halls and with all the key symphony orchestras. He has toured abroad as a soloist with several British orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, the RPO, and BBC Scottish Symphony, and appeared as a soloist in Scandinavia, Europe, the USSR, the USA, and the Far East.
His musical interests are extremely wide, and his records range from a disc of Baroque Concertos, to several records of contemporary music, including the Hugh Wood Concerto, which was selected as a Record of the Year by the Sunday Times. A disc of Herbert Howells pieces with the LSO was selected as Editor's Choice in Gramophone Magazine, and his CD of cello music by Rachmaninov with Martin Roscoe was an Amazon record of the month.
Also very active in the chamber music field, Moray Welsh has been a guest with numerous groups, including the Amadeus Quartet and all the major British String Quartets. He recorded Bach Trio Sonatas with James Galway and Kyung Wha Chung, and has several times performed the complete works of Beethoven for cello and piano. Chamber music partners have included Andre Previn, Midori, Martin Roscoe, Peter Cropper, Yuri Bashmet, Leif Ove Andsnes, Jonathan Papp and Marcia Crayford.
Highlights in past seasons included appearances as a soloist in the Schumann Concerto with the ECO under Sir Yehudi Menuhin, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in the Britten Cello Symphony, and in November 1991 with The Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra, where his playing of Frank Bridge's "Oration" was praised for its " sense of passionate conviction and wonderful tone. "
He has been associated with a number of contemporary composers who have written works for cello, notably the Concerto by Hugh Wood, and he has premiered concertos by David Blake, Lennox Berkeley, Ronald Stevenson, Daniel Jones, George Nicholson, William Wordsworth and Alun Hoddinott, as well as championing works for cello and orchestra by Hans Gal, Sir Donald Tovey, Alexander Goehr, Joachim Raff, Havergal Brian, Herbert Howells and David Dorward.
In 1992 he took up an appointment as Principal cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra, and with the LSO he was often been heard as soloist in Don Quixote, the Tippett Triple Concerto, Beethoven Triple Concerto, the Elgar Concerto and the Brahms Double Concerto, both in this country and abroad, under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Rafael Frubeck de Bourgos and Andre Previn. In June 2007 he relinquished this position to diversify and concentrate on chamber music activities.
For eighteen years Moray Welsh held a teaching post at the Royal Northern College of Music, and many of his ex-students now hold key positions both in London Orchestras and abroad.
Apart from concert work, he has also recorded extensively for film sound tracks, and can be heard playing the Slow Movement of the Schubert Eb Trio in Stanley Kubrick's iconographic 1975 film of Barry Lyndon.
With an extraordinary career spanning over five decades, MARTIN ROSCOE is unarguably one of the UK’s best loved pianists. Renowned for his versatility at the keyboard, Martin is equally at home in concerto, recital and chamber performances. His enduring popularity and the respect in which he is universally held are built on a deeply thoughtful musicianship and his easy rapport with audiences and fellow musicians alike. Martin is Artistic Director of Ribble Valley International Piano Week and the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society, and has recently stepped down as Co-Artistic Director of the Beverley Chamber Music Festival.
With a repertoire of over 100 concertos performed or recorded, Martin continues to work regularly with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, having especially close links with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has given over ninety performances. Other orchestral highlights have included BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Martin also performs widely across Europe, Canada, Australia and the Far East, sharing the concert platform with eminent conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Gianandrea Noseda, and Christoph von Dohnányi.
A prolific recitalist and chamber musician, Martin tours the UK extensively every season, including regular appearances at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and Bridgewater Hall. He has long-standing associations with Peter Donohoe, Kathryn Stott, and the Maggini Quartet, and worked closely with Tasmin Little and the Endellion String Quartet during their long and illustrious careers. Recent collaborations include with Jennifer Pike, Tai Murray, Fenella Humphreys, Liza Ferschtman and the Brodsky and Carducci Quartets. One of his most important ensembles, the Cropper Welsh Roscoe Trio (2005-2016), performed many times across the UK, most notably at Wigmore Hall. More recently, Martin formed the Roscoe Piano Trio with Fenella Humphreys and Jessica Burroughs for a celebratory concert in honour of Peter Cropper. The Trio has since gone on to perform across the UK, most notably at Bridgewater Hall.
Having made over 600 broadcasts, including seven BBC Prom appearances, Martin is one of the most regularly played pianists on BBC Radio 3. Martin has also made many commercial recordings for labels such as Hyperion, Chandos and Naxos. He has recorded the complete piano music of Dohnányi ,Nielsen and Szymanowski, as well as four discs in the Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto series. For the Deux-Elles label, Martin has recorded the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, for which he received unanimous critical acclaim.
Teaching has always formed an important part of Martin’s life and the development of young talent helps him to constantly re-examine and re-evaluate his own playing. He is currently Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London and has been awarded his Fellowship there.
Martin splits his free time between the stunning English Lake District and the Scottish Highlands, which provide inspiration and relaxation, and also enable him to indulge his passion for the countryside and hill-walking.