August 23rd, 2023Top piano talent plays Daylesford Town Hall
Local music lovers are in for a rare treat as world renown pianist Leslie Howard is giving a once-off afternoon matinee concert in Daylesford next month to support Creswick Health’s hospital and aged care upgrades.
“If there is a pianist alive who knows Liszt’s piano music more thoroughly, intimately and directly than Leslie Howard I would like to meet him – or her – but I doubt that there is anyone on the planet who does,” wrote Guy Rickards for Musical Opinion, reviewing Leslie Howard’s 2021 piano recital at London’s Wigmore Hall.
London-based Aussie pianist Howard is the first and only person in the world to have recorded the complete solo piano works of legendary Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt, who is regarded as one of the greatest pianists and most popular piano composers of all time. This mammoth project, which took Howard decades to complete, now comprises a 100-CD set and includes more than 300 premiere recordings.
Howard has received enormous praise and numerous awards for his Liszt recordings, including the Guinness World Record for the Largest Recording Series by a Solo Artist, six Grands Prix du Disque and the Medal of St Stephen, presented to him by the President of Hungary. He has also held the title of President of the British Liszt Society since 1987.
In addition to his impressive recording career, Howard maintains a busy international concert schedule, which has seen him perform regularly around the world for more than 50 years.
Coming up September 17 this renown Australian pianist, musicologist and composer will give a matinee (2pm) concert at Daylesford Town Hall to raise money for Creswick Health Service. It will be his only performance in Victoria.
The Guardian described Howard as a “master of a tradition of pianism that is in serious danger of dying out”. Those who make next month’s concert at Daylesford Town Hall can expect to hear Mozart, Beethoven and Liszt compositions rendered by a master of the keyboard.
Cost is $35 – proceeds towards to cause – with tickets through Humanitix
