Concerts at Hatchlands Park: Ashley Solomon and Steven Devine

Ashley Solomon - flute
Steven Devine - piano
Haydn’s English Grand Piano by Longman & Broderip, London, c. 1794-95
(Adopted for 2020 by Miss C. Boxer)
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THE PROGRAMME
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sonata in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1 (1795)
Allegro
Adagio
Menuetto and Trio
Prestissimo
Sonata in B flat major, Anh.4
Allegro
Polacca
Largo
Thema mit Variationen (Allegretto)
Sonata “Quasi una fantasia”, Op. 27, No. 2 (‘Moonlight’)
Adagio Sostenuto
Allegretto
Presto agitato
THE INSTRUMENT
Haydn brought a rare 5½ octave grand piano by Longman and Broderip back to Vienna with him when he returned from England in 1795, a journey not often undertaken by any grand piano from London. Only three 5½ octave grand pianos by this maker survive today and the distinguished Haydn historian, Professor H.C. Robbins Landon, discovered this instrument in Vienna in the late 1960s. This, together with the fact that modifications to the instrument suggest it had been in Vienna since the 18th century, makes a compelling case for it having been Haydn’s instrument. Robbins Landon owned it for many years and arranged for it to come to the Cobbe Collection in 2006.
THE PERFORMERS
Ashley Solomon combines a successful career across both theory and practice. He is Head of Historical Performance at the Royal College of Music, having been appointed a professor in 1994. In 2014 he was awarded a Personal Chair and in July 2017 elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM), conferred on him by HRH Duchess of Gloucester. In 2019 Ashley was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Music (FRCM), conferred on him by HRH Prince of Wales. Both Fellowships are in recognition of outstanding services to music. Since 2014 Ashley has been working closely with the Royal Collection Trust to curate musical performances in their Royal venues, including Buckingham Palace (Queen’s Gallery, Ballroom) at Windsor Castle and in the Queen’s Chapel.
Ashley is the director of Florilegium, and much of his time is spent working and performing with this ensemble that he co-founded in 1991. Since 2001 he has been its director. They have a busy touring schedule and perform at major international festivals and concert series throughout Europe as well as the Americas. Florilegium have been recording with Channel Classics since 1993 and have to date made 35 recordings, many of which have garnered international awards. They have given over 1,250 performances over the years, 80 of these have been at Wigmore Hall.
Steven Devine is a music director and keyboard player working with some of the finest musicians. He is the Principal Keyboard Player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the principal keyboard player for The Gonzaga Band, Classical Opera (The Mozartists) and performs regularly with many other groups around Europe. Steven has recorded over thirty discs with other artists and ensembles and made six solo recordings. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Chandos Records) has received critical acclaim - including Gramophone magazine describing it as “among the best”. The complete harpsichord works of Rameau (Resonus) has received five-star reviews from BBC Music Magazine and Steven’s latest recording of Bach’s Italian Concerto has been voted Classic FM’s ‘Connoisseur’s choice’. Steven has recently released Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier with Book 2 just released.
Steven made his London conducting debut in 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall and is now a regular performer there - including making his Proms directing debut in August 2007 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has conducted the Mozart Festival Orchestra in every major concert hall in the UK and also across Switzerland. Steven is Music Director for New Chamber Opera in Oxford and with them has performed repertoire from Cavalli to Rossini. For the Dartington Festival Opera Steven has conducted Handel’s Orlando and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He is currently conductor and Artistic Advisor for the English Haydn Festival in Bridgnorth.
Steven works regularly with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Trondheim Barokk, the Victoria Baroque Players (BC, Canada) and Arion Baroque Ensemble (Montreal).
He teaches harpsichord and fortepiano at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London and is Early Keyboard Consultant to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Welsh Colleges.
www.stevendevine.com
THE COLLECTION
The Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands possesses the world’s largest group of keyboards owned by or associated with the masters of music in the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, including instruments that belonged to or were played by Purcell, J C Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Bizet, Chopin, Liszt, Mahler and Elgar.

[@Shiu-zb6fo]

It is inspiring to hear the Moonlight Sonata played in an original period piano. It take the listening of the music to a different level of enjoyment and appreciation! Unimaginable that the sound of the music perceived by Beethoven can be heard some three hundred years later!😃

[@chrissansum]

A fantastic performance to arrive home to! Great to hear the ‘Haydn’ piano placed after seeing it at Hatchlands several times. Perfect interplay between the two performers.

[@TheCobbeCollection]

We hope you enjoyed it all! Thank you for watching.

[@ianwilliamson531]

Steven's performance clearly illustrates that strict observation of the pedal markings of the Adagio Sostenuto movement of the 'Moonlight' Sonata actually controls the phrasing throughout -- as he must allow sufficient decay of notes played, before overlaying new ones.

[@Calin1000]

Since this is about Haydn's piano, why are we hearing only Beethoven played?

[@TheCobbeCollection]

Because Haydn was his teacher and Beethoven almost certainly performed his first three sonatas (dedicated to Haydn) on this piano. This was at a concert, celebrating Haydn's return to Vienna from London, bringing this piano with him.

[@ianwilliamson531]

This performance is at A415. Interesting to compare that Haydn's tuning fork was (is) A422.5 and Beethoven's, A455.4

[@TheCobbeCollection]

How interesting, Ian! Do we know the dates of those tuning forks?

[@ianwilliamson531]

@@TheCobbeCollection The Beethoven Fork is in the British Museum and is thought to be c1800. I can't find a date for Haydn's fork. Tuning forks belonging to Handel and Mozart were A433.5 and A421.6, respectively. At the time Beethoven & Schubert were composing, A435Hz was in common use in Vienna & Paris - though in 1823, A437Hz was preferred in Vienna. In 1836, when Chopin was in Paris, Pleyel was sending out his pianos tuned to A446Hz., so the A440 pitch of our modern pianos is probably about right for Chopin. In 1859, A435Hz became established as a standard throughout Europe, but Verdi favoured A432Hz as a sweeter pitch and easier on his singers, and this was adopted as a standard in Brussels in 1876 and Milan in 1871. In 1880, Erard & Broadwood were tuning their pianos to A455.3 and Steinway at A454.7!!

[@maximeschleyer8442]

​@@ianwilliamson531 Indeed it's an interesting fact to stress the pitch of the tuning forks. Due to my experience its not wise to only have an eye on the pitch more than to have an ear on the sound of the Instrument ( the L&B sounds amazing). I keep my instruments on different pitches from nearly the same time of manufacture as each instrument needs to find its own comfortable pitch (my comment sounds esoteric but it's my experience)