The thing I remember most about this lovely concert was the fact that Rabbi Philip Ginsbury was there and I ascertained that the soloist, Sharona Joshua, was his guest in London. That is about as cool a thing as I could ever imagine finding out about Rabbi Ginsbury, formerly the Rabbi at Brixton and subsequently at Streatham Synagogue.
My theological (or perhaps I should say atheological) journey with Rabbi Ginsbury, in a section labelled “Ginsbury talk”, is included in the piece below:
Anyway, Sharona Joshua was, at that time, an emerging artiste who was a fine exponent of keyboard instruments of various kinds, including the fortepiano which seemed suitable for these classical pieces from the era when the fortepiano was still holding strong [did you see what I did there?] against the piano forte.
We heard:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto in A major K414
- Joseph Haydn – String Quartet in D major Op 71 No 2
- Joseph Haydn – Piano Sonata in G minor Hob XVI/44
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto in C major K415
Here is a version of the A major concerto being played in the small scale with fortepiano more or less as we heard it that night:
Here is the Haydn String Quartet:
Here is a recording of the Haydn Piano sonata on the fortepiano:
Here is the C major concerto also on original instruments not least fortepiano: