Raphael Wallfisch & Simon Callaghan

A recital at Conway Hall in London by cellist Raphael Wallfisch and pianist Simon Callaghan, pairing lesser-heard works by Martinů, Ethel Smyth and Henriëtte Bosmans with Beethoven's Op. 69 Sonata.

Raphael Wallfisch is a British cellist born in London in 1953, whose first album, a recording of the Barber and Shostakovich cello concertos, was released in 1983. Simon Callaghan is a British pianist born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1983, who is named as Artistic Director for this evening. His first album, The Romantic Piano Concerto, Volume 73, appeared in 2017.

The programme moves through a less familiar part of the repertoire. Martinů's Arabesques, with their rhythmic character, are followed by Ethel Smyth's Sonata, described as muscular, and Henriëtte Bosmans's Impressions, described as shimmering. Beethoven's Sonata Op. 69 then closes the first half of the concert's ground, anchoring the evening in the classical tradition. The material highlights Wallfisch's attention to the dramatic content of the score.

The evening suits listeners interested in music that is familiar in parts and due for rediscovery, placed beside a staple of the cello and piano repertoire. Conway Hall is a concert venue on Red Lion Square in London.