Danny DriverPiano

Danny Driver

Tuesday, November 8, 2022 |  7:30pm

Herbst TheatreVenue Information

$65/$55/$45

About This Performance

Danny Driver’s profound understanding of the music he plays reveals to audiences interpretations of striking originality. “This was a performance of dauntless clarity, understated wit and graceful vitality” (The Guardian UK).

THE SHENSON PIANO SERIES

Program

FAURÉ: Prelude in D-Flat Major, Op. 103, No. 1; Barcarolle No. 4 in A-Flat Major, Op. 44; Theme and Variations in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 73; Barcarolle No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
FRANCK: Prélude, Chorale and Fugue, Op. 18
LILI BOULANGER: D’un Vieux Jardin; D’un Jardin Clair
RAVEL: Une barque sur l’Océan
SCHUMANN: Symphonic Studies, Op. 13 (1852 Version)

Performance Sponsors

James and Kathleen Leak, Sponsors

Artist Information

Performer Biography

Acclaimed British pianist Danny Driver is recognized internationally as an artist of sophistication, insight and musical depth. His studies at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music inspired his uniquely holistic approach to performance and have enabled him to cultivate an enviably broad repertoire encompassing works from Bach and Handel to Ligeti and Adès. In 2021, Driver released his latest album of Ligeti’s Etudes on the Hyperion label to unanimous high praise, with BBC Music Magazine writing, “The Études require even more virtuosity...of a brain-teasing sort, and Danny Driver supplies it all.” Despite the difficulties of lockdown, Driver has given four live streamed recitals from Wigmore Hall, some also broadcast by BBC Radio 3.

A Gramophone Award nominated artist, Driver has performed with orchestras across the globe, highlights of which include BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC NOW, Hallé Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Hong Kong Pro Arte, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Uppsala Chamber Orchestra. His long-standing collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra continues and has seen performances across the UK, at London’s Cadogan Hall and the BBC Proms (where he has performed twice as a soloist). He has worked with conductors Andrew Litton, Martyn Brabbins, Dalia Stasevska, Alexander Shelley, Mario Venzago. Marzena Diakun, Rebecca Miller, Rory Macdonald, and Sir James Macmillan, to name but a few.

Driver is equally at home as a recital artist, bringing his unique and insightful brand of programming to concert halls and music festivals across Europe, Asia and North America. Most recent highlights include recitals at the Wigmore Hall (where Driver is regularly invited to perform), London Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series, Lichfield Festival (as their Artist-in-Residence), Ryedale Festival, Gothenburg Chamber Music Festival, Music Toronto, Salle Bourgie in Montreal, Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, and several performances of Ligeti’s Piano Études interlaced with Debussy’s complete Images across the United States, the U.K and Japan. Driver’s passion for chamber music sees him regularly invited to such esteemed chamber music festivals as Oxford May Music, O/Modernt, Eilat, Bard Music Festival, Carducci Festival, and Australian Chamber Music Festival while he enjoys long-standing musical partnerships with violinist Chloë Hanslip and baritone Christian Immler.

Driver’s decade-long relationship with the prestigious Hyperion Records label has spawned a varied and internationally acclaimed discography of works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Handel, York Bowen, Benjamin Dale, Mili Balakirev, Robert Schumann, and Erik Chisholm. His current release of György Ligeti’s Piano Études has met with great critical acclaim; “Driver, as fleet of finger as this formidably challenging writing demands, has a mind that searches beyond contrivance; these are transfixing performances” (Sunday Times).

As a recording artist Driver has always excelled. He has recorded Volume 70 of Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series, featuring piano concertos by Amy Beach, Dorothy Howell, and Cécile Chaminade. His recordings have won him numerous awards, including Limelight Magazine’s Instrumental Recording of the Year 2014, and his recent inclusion in the New York Times’ list of 2017’s Best Classical Recordings (Beach, Howell and Chaminade concertos with BBCSSO). He has also recorded the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with recital partner Chloë Hanslip for the Rubicon label.

Artist Video

Danny Driver plays Handel Suite No. 5 in E Major (HWV 430)