Haydn Dickenson - Reception

Reception

Haydn Dickenson has received both public and critical acclaim across Europe and Great Britain for the intensity and conviction of his performances of a wide and eclectic repertoire embracing Baroque through contemporary works. Equally at home in both standard and less-familiar music, Haydn's programmes often feature unjustly neglected works by such composers as Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Rossini, and CPE Bach; little-heard pieces by Beethoven, Chopin, and others alongside better-known compositions; and the twentieth-century and contemporary repertoire that he enthusiastically champions. Haydn has collaborated closely with the major German composer Hans G Leonhardt, receiving dedications from him and performing UK and world premieres of several of his works.

It is with the compositions of his mentor Peter Feuchtwanger, however, that he has become most recently associated. Feuchtwanger's uniquely evocative Piano Works, all influenced by Eastern and Indian Folk and Art Music, have recently been recorded for the first time in their entirety by Haydn Dickenson on the Music Chamber label. Entitled EAST, the CD was released to acclaim with a launch recital at Leighton House, Holland Park, London, in May 2006. Haydn's performances of Feuchtwanger's music have been described in 'STRICTLY OFF THE RECORD' magazine as “revelations of supreme pianistic virtuosity”. Following the launch of EAST, Dr Peter Graham Woolfe, in the online journal 'MUSICAL POINTERS', referred to “piano-playing of great subtlety.” In 'MUSIC AND VISION', Malcolm Miller asserted that the release of EAST was “an event to be celebrated,” also lauding Dickenson as an “ideal interpreter” of Feuchtwanger's music, the effect of which during Haydn's Leighton House recital he described as “astonishing.” In 'MUSICAL OPINION', Robert Matthew-Walker noted on the same occasion:

...”I am particularly grateful to Haydn Dickenson for bringing this unfamiliar music to my attention, and for playing it with such commitment and sense of style. This pianist brought his distinctive approach to music by more familiar composers in other sections of his programme;...a Sonata from Bach...was a rare item indeed, and Medtner's Fairy Tale in A major and Chopin's Variations Brillantes op 12 are equally uncommonly encountered in modern recitals, enabling Dickenson to display his musicianship with consistent application.”

Through his work with Peter Feuchtwanger, who studied Indian Music under Indian masters at the University of London, Haydn developed a keen interest in the music of other countries, continents, and cultures, especially those of the Indian Subcontinent. A fusion/crossover recording project involving the partnership of piano with Indian instruments is planned.

Passionate and evangelical about new music, Haydn Dickenson includes examples of recent contemporary works in his programmes on a regular basis. During the early part of 2007 alone, he has performed UK premieres of ICE by the New York City composer Eric J. Schwartz and of SIX MINIATURES by the Danish composer Claus Gahrn, both of which events met with much public acclaim. In May 2006 Haydn was invited by the composer Michael Chant to perform WE SING FOR THE FUTURE, a substantial late piano work by pathfinding British composer Cornelius Cardew, at a major memorial event for Cardew in Cecil Sharp House, London.

Haydn Dickenson has performed in France, Germany, Switzerland, the Slovak Republic, and across the UK. His performances have been featured on British, French, German, Swedish, and Slovak radio.