Clare Hammond

Recognised as a ‘pianist of extraordinary gifts’ (Gramophone) and ‘immense power’ (The Times), internationally acclaimed pianist Clare Hammond – winner of the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award and a 2024 Edison Klassiek Award – pairs familiar favourites in this programme with fascinating works by lesser-known female composers. ‘Mélisande’, ‘Desdémona’ and ‘Phoebé’ are from the late-Romantic composer Mel Bonis’s collection of seven piano pieces entitled Femmes de légende.

This impressionistic body of work pays homage to female heroines and holds up a mirror to the historical and societal constraints faced by women at the hands of men.

Famously known for being the only female composer of Les Six, the twentieth-century French composer Germaine Tailleferre’s three-movement Partita masterfully condenses expansive ideas into concise musical forms, stripping away overblown Romantic sentimentality in favour of clarity and precision.

The programme also features cornerstones of the piano repertoire, including Rachmaninov’s virtuosic Second Sonata, the sweeping lyricism of Chopin’s Barcarolle and Ravel’s wistful Sonatine.