Scénarios is a new collection of piano miniatures composed by Richard Harvey and played by the remarkable John Lenehan. Drawn from Richard's notebooks dating back to student days and rich with Mediterranean light and colour, they are innocent and childlike in places, dark and sensuous in others.
Richard Harvey is famous for the broad span of his work as a composer – from his Classic FM Hall of Fame favourite Concerto Antico, written for guitarist John Williams, to the popular Kyrie for the Magdalene, co-written with Hans Zimmer for the film of The Da Vinci Code.
As a composer, Richard moves seamlessly between the classical world and film and TV. He has performed internationally as a sought-after woodwind soloist and conducted top symphony orchestras around the world. He has also recorded for and collaborated with many important contemporary composers, including Sir Paul McCartney, Stanley Myers, John Williams and Hans Zimmer. He won a BAFTA along with Elvis Costello for their work on Alan Beasdale’s political drama GBH and has been nominated for four Ivor Novello Awards. He recently picked up an Annie (the animated film industry’s Oscar) for his score for the The Little Prince, working yet again with his long-term musical partner and friend, Hans Zimmer.
Scénarios has been a labour of love and a highly personal project for Richard. “The audience and I are one and the same,” he says. “It’s important to like what you create and I’m always trying to write music I’d like to hear.”
Pianist John Lenehan’s performances and recordings have been acclaimed wherever he goes. The Times called a recent recital of John’s “masterly” and the New York Times hailed his “great flair and virtuosity”. John has appeared as a soloist with the LSO at the Barbican and the RPO at the Royal Albert Hall and his recitals have graced the great concert halls of Amsterdam, Vienna, Salzburg, New York, Washington, Toronto, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo.
Tonight, alongside the lovely in-house piano at St Pauls, we will be using the amazing Pianoteq computer-modelled piano. This is a French hi-tech marvel that allows performers to take the sound of an individual instrument of their choice with them on a plane, into a hotel room or – in this case – onto the concert stage. This is believed to be the first time a pianist of John Lenehan’s stature has chosen to use one of these extraordinary devices for part of a major London concert.
Scénarios - released on Altus Records, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play and over 200 other platforms worldwide, September 7th.