MICHAEL FOYLE, VIOLIN
JULIAN JACOBSON, PIANO
Thursday 21 April 2022, 1pm, Howden Minster
Free admission with retiring donations
Booking recommended
Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9, ‘Kreutzer’
Fauré Berceuse, Op. 16
Gershwin arr. Heifetz Selections from Porgy and Bess
Kreisler Caprice Viennois; Tambourin Chinois
At the age of 30 Michael Foyle is already proving to be a violinist of great class and elegance on the concert platform. His total commitment to the musical integrity of each score combines with a constant pursuit of beauty of expression, resulting in a powerful communication style that has won over audiences internationally.
Praised for playing of ‘compelling conviction’ (The Daily Telegraph) and performances ‘full of sparkling detail, with tonal beauty and incisive rhythmic clarity, balancing wit and poetry’ (The Strad), Michael launched his career by winning The Netherlands Violin Competition 2016. His performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led to an immediate invitation to give his debut recital in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
His London debut followed with a recital at the Wigmore Hall (‘superlative’ – Seen and Heard International) and since then he has performed recitals in the UK’s most prestigious venues, including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall, regularly being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Recent concerto appearances include with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Mozart), English Chamber Orchestra (Prokofiev), Polish Baltic Philharmonic (Elgar), Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Brahms) and a return to the Rotterdam Philharmonic (Korngold). He gives recitals at festivals worldwide, including St. Magnus International Festival, New York Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Cervantino Festival (Mexico) and Mravinsky Festival (St. Petersburg).
In 2018-19 he released his debut CDs, The Great War Centenary - Debussy, Janacek and Respighi Sonatas on Challenge Records and Lutoslawski and Penderecki: Complete Violin and Piano Works on Delphian Records, both to critical acclaim (‘vividly and beautifully conceived and executed - BBC Music Magazine, ‘richly detailed and impassioned performances’ - The Daily Telegraph). In 2021, he released the Complete Beethoven Sonatas with pianist Maksim Stsura (‘Foyle produces an absolutely gorgeous sound ... The recording is excellent' - Fanfare).
Alongside his solo career, Michael is violinist of Trio Balthasar and Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London (the youngest appointed in the institution's 200-year history) and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne.
Michael plays a Gennaro Gagliano violin from 1750 on private loan.
'Foyle's playing is remarkable' - BBC Music Magazine
Watch Michael Foyle talk about his upcoming Beethoven album
Julian Jacobson is one of Britain’s most creative and distinctive pianists, with a career spanning fifty years and performances in the foremost venues across five continents. Julian has been widely acclaimed for his mastery of a huge classical repertoire as well as his commitment to contemporary music. He gave the UK premiere of Ligeti’s now-famous Etudes Book 1 and has commissioned composers such as Michael Nyman who wrote “Time Will Pronounce” for his ensemble the Trio of London. A noted exponent of Beethoven, he has performed the complete cycle of 32 sonatas ten times, three of these being “marathon” performances in which he played the complete canon (from memory) in a single day. His extensive discography includes the complete sonatas of Weber, Carnival of the Animals with the LSO, albums of Schumann, Dvořák and Balakirev, and much chamber music. Julian is currently a professor of piano and chamber music at the Royal College of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and is Chairman of the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe.
