St Giles Cripplegate provides the backdrop for this extraordinary opportunity to hear two of Beethoven’s majestic piano concertos in their arrangements for piano and string quintet. His last piano concerto, No 5 or The Emperor, is one of the piano repertoire’s most demanding but glorious works here performed by renowned French pianist Elizabeth Sombart.
There will be a free pre-concert talk at 6.45pm, with writer and broadcaster John Suchet introducing the evening's concert by discussing Beethoven the man: the complex, tortured, passionate man behind some of the greatest music ever written.
Summer Music in City Churches is a fledgling festival, founded in 2018, presenting beautiful music to inspire, divert and engage, in ancient and architecturally stunning churches in London's Square Mile. Standing cheek by jowl with City offices, these churches are glorious settings in which to listen and reflect: oases of history, beauty and peace amidst the 24-7 hurly-burly of City life.
The theme for the second festival in June 2019 is Words and Music. During a week and a half of events, you will find sumptuous settings of poetry, lyrical music inspired by poetry, plays and literature, words that illuminate music with biographical insight and context, music of significance to literary heroes and heroines, and more: a lyrical celebration.