Following the opening recital by Martin Roscoe in October, Darlington Piano Society welcomes back Grace Yeo, who played previously for the Society in 2015. Grace, from South Korea, is a regular performer of solo and chamber music recitals and of concertos, both in the UK and in her homeland. In addition, she holds teaching posts at King’s College, London and at Seoul University.
Her programme includes a first half of works by Robert Schumann, opening with the Arabesque which, although short in length at about six and a half minutes, is a lovely, poetical work of lyrical beauty, and is one of Schumann’s most popular pieces. This is followed by Kinderzsenen (“Scenes of Childhood”), a work of twelve deceptively simple pieces to which Schumann assigned titles referring to a game or a childhood activity. To end the first half, Grace plays Schumann’s second piano sonata, a substantial work of thirty minutes in length and a work which Clara Schumann was particularly fond and it remains a favourite of performers.
The second half begins with two works by Clara, which amply display the reasons why she has, in the last decade or so, emerged from the shadow of her husband as a fine composer inn her own right. To bring the recital to an end, Grace plays Beethoven’s Sonata in D – a relatively early work with an intensely vibrant and youthful first movement, a grief-stricken second movement and ultimately ending with the music evaporating into silence – often leaving audiences quizzically bemused.
Tickets are available on line at www.dpiano.co.uk, at the reception desk of the Dolphin Centre and on the door on 17th November, priced £14, free for U21.
