Pushkin House is proud to present two leading artists of their generation: internationally renowned soprano Ilona Dominch, and violinist Sophie Rosa, accompanyed by artistic director of Oxford Lieder festival, pianist Sholto Kynoch. They will present a programme of Rachmaninov songs. In addition, Sophie Rosa will perform one of the most substantial violin sonatas written in the 20th century, that of Richard Strauss.
Programme:
Strauss:
Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 18
Interval
Rachmaninov:
The harvest of sorrow op 4 n 5
A dream op 8 n 5
The little island op 14 n 2
Believe it not op 14 n 7
Spring waters op 14 n 11
The answer op 21 n 4
Lilacs op 21 n 5
How fair op 21 n 7
Melody op 21 n 9
Sorrow in springtime op 21 n 12
Before my window op 26 n 10
What wealth of rapture op 34 n 12
Vocalise op 34 n 14
Dasies op 38 n 3
Pies piper op 38 n 4
Dreams op 38 n 5
Ilona Domnich, soprano
Sophie Rosa, violinist
Sholto Kynoch, piano
ILONA DOMNICH - is a lyric soprano (leggiero), who is described by critics as a sensitive musician and actress of magnetic presence, with a voice of silken beauty and luminous edge.
She was chosen by Opera Now 2014 as one of the Top 10 high flyers: a 'new generation of sopranos who are destined to have impressive careers'. She was Artist of the Month in Opera 2015 and The Telegraph's choice of best British-based talent in December 2015.
Originally a pianist, Ilona was spotted by a legendary singing teacher Vera Rosza. She went on to win the prestigious Wingate Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music. Her career is growing steadily world-wide.
Operatic highlights include Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Mimi (La Boheme), Gilda (Rigoletto), Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta (Tales of Hoffmann), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), (Fortunio), Elle (La Voix Humaine), Melisande (Pellease et Melisande), Magda (La Rondine), Tatyana (Onegin), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Eurydice (Der neue Orpheus), Venus (Judgement of Paris), Madam Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Blondchen (Die Entfuhrung).
Ilona works in close collaboration with: English National Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, Grange Park Opera, Buxton Opera Festival, English Touring Opera, Northern sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, Festival de Musique de Menton, Trasimeno Music Festival and Anghiari in Italy, Chopin festival in Mallorca, Aldeburgh festival, London Song Festival, Jersey international festival.
Ilona has appeared in concerts in London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Westminster Cathedral, St. Johns’ Smith square, St. Martin in the Fields and internationally in Paris, Menton, Segura, Rome, St.Peterburg, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka.
Ilona’s fruitful collaboration with Southbank Sinfonia and Simon Over, with whom she has performed the Brahms requiem, Mendelssohn ‘Lobgesang’, Ravel Scheherazade, Gounod ' Missa sollemnis' and the roles of Tatyana and Gilda, led to the creation of an Operatic CD 'Surrender' with the baritone Leo Nucci, recorded and produced by Rupert Coulson (the producer of The Rolling Stones) and is released by Signum classics.
Ilona is currently preparing roles with Montserrat Caballe to debut in Opera houses around the world. She will sing Poulenc Gloria at Notre dame de Paris , Brahms requiem, Chant d'Auvergne, a recording of V. Williams 'the Scott of Antarctic' with Royal Scottish national orchestra, Beethoven 9th and recitals with Benjamin Frith and Simon Over in London and Nice. Ilona is also developing her own one woman show based on the songs of Marlene Dietrich and Jacques Brel with opera director James Bonas and a jazz group.
SHOLTO KYNOCH- is a sought-after pianist who specialises in chamber music and song accompaniment. In addition to a busy performance schedule and a fast-growing discography, he is the founder and artistic director of the Oxford Lieder Festival, the UK’s most renowned song festival, which recently won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award.
In recent years he has appeared at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Berliner Konzerthaus, the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, the Opéra de Lille, St John’s Smith Square, Bridgewater Hall, the Purcell Room and many other venues and Festivals around the UK and in Austria, Colombia, Germany, Sweden and Romania. He has performed with singers including Sophie Daneman, Robert Holl, James Gilchrist, Dietrich Henschel, Katarina Karnéus, Wolfgang Holzmair, Jonathan Lemalu, Stephan Loges, Daniel Norman, Joan Rodgers, Kate Royal, Mark Stone, Birgid Steinberger, Anna Stéphany, Kitty Whately and Roderick Williams, amongst many others.
Recording projects include an ongoing series of the complete songs of Hugo Wolf, recorded live at the Oxford Lieder Festival. He is also recording the complete songs of John Ireland and Havergal Brian with baritone Mark Stone, with whom he appears regularly in recital. Other CDs include Beethoven trios with the Phoenix Piano Trio and discs of Schumann and Schubert Lieder.
Sholto is the pianist of the Phoenix Piano Trio, with violinist Jonathan Stone and cellist Christian Elliott. The Trio has given several recitals at Wigmore Hall, has been in residence at the Happy Days Festival in Enniskillen, N. Ireland,and has performed at many venues and Festivals including the Ryedale and Leicester festivals, and the London Chamber Music Society at Kings Place.
Sholto read Music at Worcester College, Oxford, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was awarded scholarships to all three institutions and upon graduation from the GSMD was appointed a Junior Fellow there. His teachers included Michael Dussek, Graham Johnson, Vanessa Latarche, Malcolm Martineau and Ronan O’Hora. Following a Leverhulme-funded residency, he was appointed an Honorary Research Fellow of Bangor University in 2009. In 2010, Sholto was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Sophie Rosa- was awarded the Second Prize and Audience Prize at the 2nd Manchester International Violin Competition 2011. She has performed across the UK as a recitalist in venues including the Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room and Bridgewater Hall as well as performing live on air for BBC Radio 3. Sophie has recorded at Champs Hill Records and appeared with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata.
Sophie's debut album, 'Reve d'Enfant' was released in 2016 on the Champs Hill Records label. It was described in Musical Opinion as, '....a very fine disc, containing uniformly excellent performances in great style and played with complete musical understanding....a very desirable record of the year'. The disc has also received excellent reviews from Fanfare Magazine, Music and Vision and it was selected as one of the highlights of the year in the Manchester Evening News. Sophie is currently working on a disc of violin duets for EM Records with Midori Komachi and Simon Callaghan, which will be released in April 2017.
Sophie has performed at the MBNA Chester Music Festival, The Manchester Midday Concert Society, The Aurora Festival, Sweden, Musique Cordiale Festival, France, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove. As a chamber musician Sophie has collaborated with notable musicians including Martin Roscoe, Nobuko Imai, Hannah Roberts, Giovanni Guzzo, Craig Ogden and James Gilchrist. Sophie is a member of classical and contemporary music collective, Pixels Ensemble and also performs with Psappha contemporary music ensemble
Sophie has performed regularly throughout the UK and internationally from a very young age. An early highlight was a solo concerto for HRH Princess Margaret when she was just seven years old. In 2006 she was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and was the First Prize winner of the Lions European Music Competition, Cannes. Sophie studied at Chetham's School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music with Wen Zhou Li. She was a recipient of the RNCM Gold Medal and was also awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal in recognition of her musical achievements. Sophie was also a recipient of the prestigious MBF Ian Fleming Charitable Trust Award. After completing her Masters Degree with Distinction, Sophie completed the RNCM International Artist Diploma in Solo Performance and furthered her studies in America where she has been mentored by Midori Goto, Miriam Fried and Donald Weilerstein.
The Lieder Festival is the focal point of Oxford Lieder’s year, presenting more than 35 concerts and dozens of other events celebrating the unique art form of song. It is well established as one of the world’s leading song festivals and the biggest in the UK, attracting many of the world’s greatest artists. Oxford Lieder has a mission to re-establish an appreciation of song; the meeting of words, music, languages and artistry that can be so powerful, yet which has been neglected in recent decades.
Please note that Pushkin House will hold the tickets of latecomers for twenty minutes following the event start time, after which unclaimed tickets will be released.
If you are running late, please contact us in order to avoid this.