Jude Richardson Plays Beethoven
Sunday 3rd March 2024. De Montfort Hall, Leicester
Music is something I have been writing about for a long time. These days, I am as likely to write about classical music as I once was about rock and pop. Throughout my career, as a music journalist, I have witnessed some unforgettable performances and historic moments in the musical life of Leicester. Today’s concert was one of those unforgettable moments.
The main reason I went to this concert, by the Leicester Symphony Orchestra, was to see the concerto played by Jude Richardson. I have written about his work before (see below).
Now aged twenty-three, Richardson was born in Bermuda and later graduated from the Jacobs School of Music in the USA. Jude now lives in Leicester where he works as a piano teacher. Jude taught himself to play the piano and mastered the difficult work of Chopin’s Fantasie impromptu by the age of thirteen. At the Bermuda School of Music he earned a grade 8 Piano at The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Like Sheku Kanneh Mason, who lives in Nottingham, Jude is becoming recognised as one of the stars of the classical music scene across the UK. It is very satisfying that the Midlands continues to produce young musicians of extraordinary talent and ability.
Today’s performance of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, No.5. in E Flat Major, Op. 73, was virtuosic. Richardson’s touch on the piano was both sublime and commanding. Subtle, even tender, when he needed it to be and majestic when called for. There are passages that call for delicacy and that is what Richardson gave us. His performance was full of charm and finesse.
Jude’s command of tone and breathtaking dynamics was exactly what this piece called for and he delivered it all with excellence. Said, by some critics, to be the most perfect piano concerto ever written, the Emperor called for huge resources of musical ability, which Richardson ably delivered. He played without a score, having memorised tens of thousands of notes. One would not expect anything less from a musician of his standard. The finale is a powerful exposition of Beethoven’s genius and Richardson gave us everything that we wanted. His technical proficiency was nothing short of amazing.
The audience applauded each movement. Clearly, everyone in the nearly full hall was captivated by Richardson’s artistry and presence on the Fazioli instrument.
Brilliant that was a word on the lips of many today as they left the hall following a delightful and uplifting concert that saw the introduction of a new musical director to the LSO Dexter Brown who follows in the footsteps of the illustrious Sir Malcolm Sargent (1895 to 1967). Sargent founded the Leicester Symphony Orchestra in 1922 and continued to conduct it until 1939. Our city can feel justly proud of its artistic assets.