Published: 3 November, 2011
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR

PIANISTS are out in force over the coming week. Tomorrow (Friday) evening, astonishing young Russian pianist Katya Apekisheva is playing in Schubert’s glorious Trout Quintet alongside members the English Chamber Orchestra Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall.

On Wednesday evening there’ll be three pianists in action.

One of our finest and most experienced pianists Julian Jacobson is playing the first of eight concerts of all Beethoven piano sonatas at The Forge, Camden Town. Young British pianist Erdem Misirlioglu is playing Liszt and Beethoven at St James’s, Piccadilly.

Third, superb Swiss pianist Andreas Haefliger is playing Liszt and Schubert at Wigmore Hall.

Thursday lunchtime there’ll be two other pianists in action. Noted Georgian pianist Elizabeth Leonskaja is playing three Beethoven sonatas at LSO St Luke’s on Old Street while young Japanese pianist Mitra Alice Tham is playing pieces by Chopin, Handel, Mozart and Prokofiev at St Pancras Parish Church, Euston Road.

• The London International Festival of Exploratory Music is continuing over the weekend at the Kings Place arts venue on York Way, King’s Cross.

Tomorrow (Friday), Mari Boine is singing jazz and rock added to the joiks of her native Sami people in the far northern part of Sweden, Norway and Finland and, at a second concert the same evening, Soname Yangchen is singing contemporary mountain songs of Tibet.

On Saturday, it’s the turn of astounding singer-songwriter Maria Raducanu from Romania mixing dirges from her home­and with fado, rembetika and blues – and improvising along the way.