News just in:
Richard Egarr has sadly had to withdraw from this concert due to illness. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope he can perform at Vermeer soon.
By an incredible stroke of luck Maxim Emelyanychev will be able to step in - for those of you who aren’t already familiar with him, he’s an effervescent, spontaneous musician whose recent chamber collaborations have included Joyce DiDonato at the Wigmore Hall and Patricia Kopatchinskaja in the Berlin Konzerthaus. Maxim can also be found conducting orchestras - he holds the principal conductor positions in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Il Pomo d’Oro, and regularly directs the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. We are so thrilled that he will be able to join us.
We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, 3pm at Burgh House (doors open 2:30).
We are delighted to welcome Maxim Emelyanychev to join Sijie Chen for a rare performance of the complete Schubert Sonatinas with a period fortepiano, exploring performance practices of the time to experience these works with fresh eyes. The three Sonatinas (titled ‘Sonatas’ in Schubert’s autograph but changed by the publishers due to their modest length) were written in 1816, in a period when keyboard instruments were changing rapidly on their journey from harpsichords to modern-day pianos. The Sonatinas are intimate and perfectly crafted, moving seamlessly between lyrical and dramatic, tender and bittersweet - a reflection of Schubert’s approach to lieder writing.
Programme
Franz Schubert - Sonatina no.1 in D major, D384
Franz Schubert - Sonatina no.2 in a minor, D385
Franz Schubert - Sonatina no.3 in g minor, D408
~ Maxim Emelyanychev (fortepiano) & Sijie Chen (violin) ~
Join us in the wood-panelled Music Room at Burgh House - a Grade-1 listed 1704 house, museum and art gallery in the heart of Hampstead.
Tickets: £28/£38 (Under 30s £15)
Vermeer Season Pass available
Please note 3pm start time. Doors open 2.30
Duration: approx. 1 hr 30 mins
Maxim Emelyanychev
Shortly after his conducting debut at the age of 12, Maxim Emelyanychev was invited to conduct quite a few of the international baroque and symphonic orchestras in Russia. Then, in 2013, he became Principal Conductor of the historically informed orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro.
In 2014, he made remarkable debut in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Sevilla Teatro de la Maestranza. These performances were swiftly followed by a series of symphonic guest engagements all over Europe.
Highlights of the 2016/17 season featured a major international tour with Il Pomo d’Oro Orchestra and Joyce DiDonato, debut at the Opernhaus Zürich in Mozart’sEntführung aus dem Serail, and debut at the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
In addition to his fourth visit to both the Toulouse National and the Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Maxim made in 2017/18 his debut with the following orchestras: Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, National de Belgique, National de Bordeaux and Saint-Petersburg Symphony.
An invitation to conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Schubert Symphony no.9 on a last-minute replacement led the enthused musicians to appoint him their new Principal Conductor, effective from the autumn of 2019. On the very first day of his mandate as Principal Conductor, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra extended his contract until 2025.
The 2018/19 season included his debut with the Antwerpen Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic orchestras. Maxim also joined Il Pomo d’Oro for a three weeks tour of Asia and the Middle East with Joyce DiDonato.
He also conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at two of the major international opera institutions: the Glyndebourne Festival (Handel Rinaldo, with Jakub Orlinski in the title role) and the Royal Opera House (Handel Agrippina, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role). He returned to the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Other engagements included the Berliner Konzerhausorchester, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Real Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria and the Seattle Symphony.
Maxim’s 2020/21 engagements included the Geneva Grand Theatre in Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito and the Toulouse Théâtre du Capitole in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro. Debuts with the Orchestre de Paris, the Atlanta Symphony, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Belgian National Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, The Münchner Philharmoniker.
In August 2021 Maxim and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra were invited to the BBC Proms and to the Edinburgh International Festival, to which they return in 2022.
In 2021/22 Maxim and Il Pomo d’Oro, together with Joyce Didonato went on three different concert tours, in Europe and the USA, in Handel Theodora – which was recorded for Warner in 2021 – and Eden, a programme dedicated to Nature.
Other highlights of his 2021/22 season include his debut with some of the most prestigious international orchestras: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Toronto Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. They include returns to the Antwerp Symphony, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, followed by appearances to the Radio-France Montpellier Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival.
Maxim’s 2022/23 highlights include a US tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and his debut appearance with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Osaka Kansai Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, return to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and the Royal Opera House in Mozart's The Magic Flute.
Maxim was awarded in 2013 the Golden Mask for his participation in quality of harpsichordist to the stage production of Nozze di Figaro of the Perm Opera Theatre conducted by Teodor Currentzis (Sony Classical).
Maxim has recorded quite a few CDs for Warner Classics/Erato at the head of Il Pomo d’Oro, among which a Haydn symphonies and concertos album with Ricardo Minasi and In War and Peace, Harmony through music with Joyce DiDonato, CD which won the Gramophone Award 2017. For Warner Classics he has also recorded two CD with counter-tenor Jakub Orlinski : Face d’Amore and Anima Sacra and Haendel Agrippina, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role, record which won in 2020 the Gramophone Classical music Award – Category Opera.
In 2019 his first CD with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Schubert Symphony no.9 – the very symphony of his appointment as their Principal Conductor – was released on Linn Records and was awarded five stars by The Guardian, The Times and The Scotsman.
Aparté Music have released Maxim’s first solo album of Mozart Sonatas on fortepiano which won a Choc de Classica 2018 and the ICMA 2019, and his CD of the Brahms Sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Aylen Pritchin.
In 2023 they released Maxim’s first album of complete Mozart Symphonies with Il Pomo d’Oro.
Sijie ‘Susie’ Chen
Chinese-born British violinist Sijie Chen moved to the UK when she was five years old. While studying in the UK, US and Germany, she was a string finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition. She now enjoys a varied career performing on modern and period violins.
As a chamber musician, Sijie has collaborated with artists including Nicola Benedetti, Roderick Williams, Alina Ibragimova and many other wonderful musicians and friends; at the Edinburgh International Festival, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Roman River Festival and other festivals worldwide. She leads the Bloomsbury Players and Wild Arts Ensemble, and is the Founder and Artistic Director of Vermeer Chamber Concerts.
Sijie is the co-leader of the London Mozart Players. She tours with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and is a member of the Academy of Ancient Music. She also guests with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, United Strings of Europe, and on period instruments with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the English Concert, La Nuova Musica.