St Mary's Perivale Events details

Sunday 19 April 3.00 pm

'Myra Hess - National Treasure'

Jessica Duchen (narrator)
Viv McLean (piano)

Throughout World War II, the great British pianist Dame Myra Hess ran daily lunchtime concerts at London's National Gallery. They became the stuff of legend, proving music's power to support the human spirit in the darkest of times. In this narrated concert we tell the story of Hess's life: an artist who became the change she wanted to see because she had to, and who was powered throughout by passion, integrity, idealism and an irrepressible – and very naughty – sense of humour. Jessica Duchen's biography ‘Myra Hess, National Treasure' is published by Kahn & Averill and won a Presto Music Book of the Year Award in 2025.

Piano music to include :

Scarlatti: Sonata(s)

Schumann: Papillons Op 2 (15')

Bach/Hess: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (4')

Ferguson: Two Bagatelles

Beethoven: Piano sonata in A flat Op 110 (21')
Moderato / Allegro / Adagio-Allegro

Come along to St Mary's Perivale
or watch LIVE on YouTube or Facebook
or watch the recording on YouTube

Jessica Duchen is a music critic, author and librettist. Her latest book, Myra Hess – National Treasure (Kahn & Averill 2025) won the Presto Music Book of the Year Award and was praised as ‘magnificent' by The Spectator. She contributes to The Times and Sunday Times, the I News and BBC Music Magazine and her operatic work includes Silver Birch and Dalia with the composer Roxanna Panufnik for Garsington Opera. Earlier books include biographies of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Gabriel Fauré, plus seven novels on music-related topics. Besides giving frequent lectures on music history online for Lockdown University, Jessica has created and presented numerous narrated concerts, working with musicians including Viv McLean, Fenella Humphreys, David le Page, Philippe Graffin and Steven Devine, among others, with performances at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and festivals across Britain, France and Australia. Jessica read music at Jesus College, Cambridge, and lives in London with her violinist husband and their cat. ‘ Jessica Duchen has demonstrated that she, like her heroine [Myra Hess] , is a jewel in the crown of the British music scene' ( CD Choice ).

Since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, British pianist Viv McLean has performed in all the major venues in the UK, as well as throughout Europe, Japan, Australia & the USA. He has performed concertos with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra of the Swan & the Northern Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of such conductors as Daniel Harding, John Wilson, Wayne Marshall, Christopher Warren-Green, Owain Arwell Hughes, Carl Davis, Chloe Van Soederstede, Rebecca Miller & Marvin Hamlisch. Viv often plays with the Adderbury Ensemble and has also collaborated with groups such as the Leopold String Trio, Ensemble 360, the Ysaye Quartet, the Sacconi String Quartet, members of the Elias, Allegri, Carducci & Tippett Quartets, as well as with artists such as Natalie Clein, Fenella Humphreys, Daniel Hope, Lawrence Power, David Le Page, Adrian Brendel & Mary Bevan. Viv has appeared at many festivals including the International Beethoven Festival in Bonn, the Festival des Saintes in France, Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway & Cheltenham International Festival in the UK.He has recorded for labels such as Sony, Naxos, Nimbus, Signum Classics, Lyrita, Stone Records, RPO Records & ICSM Records and has also recorded regularly for BBC Radio 3, as well as for radio in Germany, France, Australia, Norway & Poland.

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