LSO Discovery

Friday
Lunchtime Concert
Friday 12 February 2021 12.30pm

Friday 12 February 2021
LSO Discovery Lunchtime Concert

Tonia Ko Part from 'Plush Earth in Four Pieces'
Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata No 1 Op 78

Naoko Keatley violin
Zeynep Özsuca piano
Rachel Leach presenter


This performance is broadcast live on youtube.com/lso. Available to watch for free for 90 days from broadcast.

Recorded at LSO St Luke's in COVID-19 secure conditions.

LSO St Luke's Jerwood Hall

© Matthew Weinreb

LSO St Luke's Jerwood Hall with a socially distanced orchestra

© Mark Allen

LSO St Luke's Jerwood Hall

© Matthew Weinreb

© Mark Allen

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Tonia Ko

Part from 'Plush Earth in Four Pieces'

✒️2014 | ⏰2'

Based in London, Hong Kong-born, Hawaiian-raised composer Tonia Ko wrote this wonderfully evocative short piece in 2014. The title and inspiration come from the first line of a Vladimir Nabokov short story, The Vane Sisters, which begins, 'The day, a compunctious Sunday after a week of blizzards, had been part jewel part mud’.  Nabokov then goes on to describe the icy conditions, icicles dripping and melting, and their lack of shadows.

The four movements of Ko’s piece are cleverly called ‘Part’, ‘Jewel’, ‘Part’ and ‘Mud’, and portray the weather and mood described in the text as well as the changing conditions as Spring begins to arrive. The opening movement is, in Ko’s words, ‘simply a part for the duo to play’. It is abstract and mysterious.

Note by Rachel Leach

Johannes Brahms

Violin Sonata No 1 Op 78

✒️1878 | ⏰28'

1 Vivace ma non troppo
2 Adagio
3 Allegro molto moderato

One of the leaders of the Romantic period, Brahms had a great respect for the music that had gone before. His own music often coupled strong Germanic structure with an intensely romantic voice. Brahms never married but his private life was completely intertwined with Clara Schumann’s. They met when young Brahms was mentored by Clara’s husband, Robert, and they stayed closely in contact for the rest of their lives. Their relationship is one of music’s greatest unrequited love stories.

This sonata was completed in 1879, just after the death of Brahms’ godson, Clara Schumann’s son Felix. Brahms didn’t believe in music ‘telling a story’, but this sonata closely mirrors the emotions Clara and Brahms were dealing with in the aftermath of Felix’s death.

The opening movement is charming with two main themes. The central Adagio is tragic, with a funereal middle section. The final movement opens in a minor key but finishes hopeful with a switch to the major.

Note by Rachel Leach

Artist Biographies

Naoko Keatley
LSO Second Violin

Naoko Keatley

Naoko Keatley made her debut performance as soloist with the Sydney Youth Orchestra at the age of eight, and has since performed in venues around the world, including Wigmore Hall, Sydney Opera House and Queen Elizabeth Hall. She joined the LSO in 2014, having been in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for five years before that, and also has a busy freelance career in London. Naoko lives with her husband Niall, also in the LSO, and their two-year-old daughter.

Zeynep Özsuca
piano

Zeynep Özsuca

Turkish pianist Zeynep Özsuca has performed worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist. She trained in Turkey, the UK and Germany, and currently lives in London. She has worked with a range of international conductors, soloists, orchestras and opera houses. As a chamber musician, she has performed on prestigious stages including the Berlin Philharmonie, Palau de la Musica Valencia, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Queen Elizabeth Hall. She also regularly appears in concert with her duo partners – saxophonist Jess Gillam and clarinettist Sacha Rattle – as well as her wind and piano sextet Berlin Counterpoint.

Thank You for Watching

Spire outside LSO St Luke's

© Neil Wilkinson

© Neil Wilkinson

Join Us Next Time

Friday 19 February 2021 12.30pm GMT
LSO Discovery Lunchtime Concert

Andrea Clearfield Wolf Night from 'Songs of the Wolf'
Francis Poulenc Elegie
Camille Saint-Saëns Morceau de Concert

Angela Barnes horn
Caroline Jaya-Ratnam piano
Rachel Leach presenter

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