On Thursday, 22 February the Samek/Bell Duo will perform the world premiere of Five Bagatelles by Rob Keeley in the third concert of Lampeter Music Club’s 2023/24 calendar.
Sulamita Aronovsky
CONCERT pianists must have the physical stamina of an athlete, and the dexterity of a juggler. They must have the ability to carry millions of notes in their heads. Often eccentric, sometimes tipping over into madness, they must have a monastic dedication to their art. They are a breed apart.
And so are the people who set up competitions to rank them. For many years the British pianistic scene was dominated by the Leeds Competition, run by the formidable Dame Fanny Waterman who died last December aged 99. And when a Lithuanian pianist named Sulamita Aronovsky set up the London International Piano Competition in 1986, Dame Fanny was outraged at what she saw as an invasion of her turf. But Sulamita was just as formidable, and her roster of winners soon equalled the calibre of those in Leeds: as a result, virtuoso pianism in Britain thrived as never before.