Making his debut appearance in the prestigious and internationally renowned London Pianoforte Series at Wigmore Hall in July of this year, champion of Polish Romantic repertoire and former Paderewski Festival Gala pianist Jonathan Plowright received a rapturous reception from both the capacity audience and critic, whose review was published on the online ‘Classical Source’ website:
It’s hard to believe that this recital was Jonathan Plowright’s London Pianoforte Series debut at Wigmore Hall. From his substantial body of work for Hyperion and more recently his Brahms series for BIS, you’d think that that particular milestone was long past. For those with ears to hear, however, at this well-attended concert, it’s obvious why his reputation precedes him. Plowright has it all – a restrained stage persona that shies away from rampant histrionics to put the music first, a prodigious but unfussy virtuosity, and an unmistakable identification with style and expression…. For an encore, introduced as “something slow and very quiet”, Plowright played Paderewski’s Nocturne in B-flat, Opus 16/4.
Read the full review at classicalsource.com.
Plowright had another important debut this summer when he took part in the Chopin Institute’s annual international Chopin Festival in Warsaw, which this year focused on the influences that Chopin’s music had on other composers. On August 16, he and the Szymanowski Quartet gave a stirring performance of their recently recorded Piano Quintet by Ludomir Różycki, which was filmed by Polish TV.
On August 19, Plowright and the Quartet gave the opening concert in this now world famous festival of rarely played piano music—the Annual Festival of Piano Rarities in Husum, Germany—performing the Piano Quintets of Ludomir Rózycki and Ignacy Friedman. Plowright, who has previously only appeared as a soloist for the discerning Husum audience proved himself also to be a ‘fabulous chamber musician’ according to the critics.
[Source: artist press release]