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LondonClassicalConcerts

Mahan Esfahani - Harpsichord

Wigmore Hall, 12-Jun-2024 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 27-Mar-2024 / 19:30

Barbican Hall, 19-Dec-2023 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 25-Nov-2023 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 8-Nov-2023 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 03-Oct-2023 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 02-Oct-2023 / 19:30

Purcell Room, 5-Apr-2023 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 25-Feb-2023 / 19:30

Queen Elizabeth Hall, 14-Oct-2022 / 19:30

Favourite pieces

Bach's Preludes and Fugues No. 6 in D minor BWV851 and No. 4 in C sharp minor BWV849 performed in 2021 (April, 20) and 2014 (July).

Bach's Toccata in F sharp minor BWV910 performed in 2017 (September) and 2014 (July).

Bach's Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B major BWV868 from The Well-tempered Clavier Book I performed in 2021 (April, 20) and 2014 (July).

Wigmore Hall, 16-Jul-2022 / 19:30

  • Bach: Art of Fugue BWV1080

Wigmore Hall, 27-Apr-2022 / 19:30

  • Debussy

Mahan Esfahani performed on the 30th of January 2022.

Wigmore Hall, 21-Oct-2021 / 19:30

  • Pachelbel:
    • Fantasia ex dis
    • Chaconne in D
  • Georg Böhm: Partita on 'Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten'
  • Samuel Scheidt: Allemande: Also gehts also stehts SSWV137
  • Jan Sweelinck:
    • Fantasia cromatica
    • 6 Variations on 'Mein junges Leben hat ein End'
  • Johann Kuhnau: Sonata No. 6 in B flat from Frische Clavier-Früchte
  • CPE Bach, Johann Wilhelm Hässler, WF Bach

Royal Albert Hall, 17-Aug-2021 / 19:30

  • Górecki: Harpsichord Concerto Op. 40 (9 mins)
  • Horovitz: Jazz Harpsichord Concerto (15 mins)
  • Manchester Collective

Wigmore Hall, 21-Apr-2021 / 19:30

An all Bach Harpsichord recital

  • Fantasia and Fugue in A minor BWV904
  • French Suite No. 5 in G BWV816
  • Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor BWV903
  • Fantasia on a Rondo in C minor BWV918
  • French Suite No. 6 in E BWV817

Mr. Esfahani's concerts, unfortunately, cancelled due to the pandemic.

On the 31st of January 2021 with Angela Hewitt at Milton Court Concert Hall.

On the 11th of June 2020 at the Wigmore Hall.

On the 18th of March 2020 at the Wigmore Hall.

Wigmore Hall, 20-Apr-2021 / 19:30

Harpsichord recital

  • Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier Book I

Wigmore Hall, 20-Oct-2020 / 19:30

Harpsichord recital

  • Bach:
    • Prelude in A minor BWV922
    • Fugue in B minor BWV951
    • French Suites:
      • No. 2 in C minor BWV813
      • No. 3 in B minor BWV814
      • No. 4 in E flat BWV815
    • Suite in A BWV819a

Milton Court, 18-Jan-2020

  • CPE Bach:
    • Sonata in D major for viola da gamba and basso continuo WQ137
  • Quantz: Trio Sonata in A minor
  • Bach: The Musical Offering
  • Adam Walker - Flute
  • Antje Weithaas - Violin
  • Richard Boothby - Viola da gamba

Milton Court, 18-Jan-2020 / 13:30

  • Bach:
    • Sonata in E minor for violin and continuo BWV 1023
    • Sonata in E major for violin and harpsichord BWV1016
  • Frederick the Great: Sonata for flute and continuo in C minor
  • C P E Bach: Sonata II in C minor, Prussian

He performed Bach's 15 Inventions BWV772-786, 15 Sinfonias BWV787-801, French Suite No. 1 in D minor BWV812 and Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV894 on a harpsichord on the 2nd of October 2019.

He played Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Quartet in A minor Wq. 93, Manuel de Falla's Harpsichord Concerto, Strauss Suite from Capriccio and a new work for harpsichord and chamber group by Laurence Osborn with the Britten Sinfonia at lunchtime on the 2nd of October 2019 at the Wigmore Hall.

Wigmore Hall, 9-Jul-2019 / 19:30

  • Bach:
    • Sonata in D BWV963
    • Aria variata BWV989
    • Fantasia and Fugue in A minor BWV944
    • Partita No. 6 in E minor BWV830

He became a professor of harpsichord at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2015.

Wigmore Hall, 13-Mar-2019 / 19:30

Recital with Die Kölner Akademie

  • JC Bach: Harpsichord Concerto No. 6 in F minor
  • Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F K37
  • Hugo Distler: Harpsichord Concerto Op. 14

Mr. Esfahani took part in a performance lecture on the 9th of March 2019 at the Barbican Hall.

He performed works by Sunleif Rasmussen Quadroforone and Berio on the 17th of January 2019 at Milton Court.

"When the harpsichord was taken over by the Early Music movement its relevance as a solo instrument - particularly for contemporary music - got left by the wayside. It’s something that I lament, and my sense of drive comes from the fact that I’m obsessed with my instrument and I want to share that with others. The harpsichord is as relevant as anything else that’s beautiful for a 21st-century audience."

St George's Church, Hanover Square, 1-Nov-2018

  • Bach: Gamba Sonatas

Wigmore Hall, 1-Oct-2018 / 19:30

  • Bach:
    • Partita No. 1 in B flat BWV825
    • Sonata in A minor BWV967
    • Italian Concerto in F BWV971
    • Ouvertüre nach französischer Art BWV831

Royal Albert Hall, 5-Aug-2018 / 15:00

  • Bach, Brandenburg Concertos:
    • No. 1 in F major
    • No. 3 in G major
    • No 5 in D major
  • Anders Hillborg: Bach Materia
  • Uri Caine: Hamsa
  • Pekka Kuusisto, Antje Weithaas - Violin
  • Kelly- Flute
  • Uri Caine - Piano, Mahan Esfahani - Harpsichord
  • Swedish Chamber Orchestra
  • Thomas Dausgaard - Conductor

Wigmore Hall, 19-Jun-2018 / 19:30

  • Bach:
    • 9 Little Preludes BWV924-932 from Clavier-Büchlein for W.F. Bach
    • Toccatas in
      • E minor BWV914
      • D minor BWV913
    • 3 Minuets BWV841-843
    • Capriccio in B flat major (Capriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother) BWV992
    • 5 Preludes BWV939-943
    • English Suite No. 6 in D minor BWV811

Wigmore Hall, 9-May-2018 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 9-Feb-2018 / 19:30

Mr. Esfahani performed with Jennifer Pike on the 14th of October 2017 in the Wigmore Hall.

Wigmore Hall, 12-Sep-2017 / 19:30

Wigmore Hall, 21-Dec-2016 / 19:30

Kings Place, 15-Dec-2016 / 19:30

Recital with mandolinist Avi Avital

Royal Over-seas League, 28-Nov-2016 / 19:30

Recital with the Russian Virtuosi of Europe

"I am known to the London public as someone who always has a new surprise in store," said Mr. Esfahani. "You cannot predict what I’m going to play or how I’m going to play it, and with the inclusion of both a modern concerto and a concerto from the golden age of the harpsichord I seek to show how ‘contemporary’ a work by someone like Bach is."

Mr. Esfahani was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, 2008 to 2010, the first harpsichordist to enjoy this honor. In 2009, he received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, once again the first harpsichordist to be decorated as such.

Wigmore Hall, 19-Jul-2016 / 19:30

  • John Bull:
    • Chromatic (Queen Elizabeth's) Pavan and Galliard K87
    • Fantasia XII
  • Viktor Kalabis: Aquarelles Op. 53
  • Jean-Henri D'Anglebert: Suite No. 2 in G minor
    • Prélude, Air d'Apollon du Triomphe de l'Amour, Air ancien: Où estes vous allé, Les Songes agréables d'Atys, Passacaille d'Armide
  • Axel Borup-Jørgensen: Tarocco per il cembalo Op. 124
  • Kaija Saariaho: Jardin Secret II for harpsichord and tape
  • Daniel Kidane: Six Etudes
  • Scarlatti, sonatas in:
    • F major Kk518 / L116
    • F minor Kk519 / L475
    • G major Kk259 / L103
    • G major Kk260 / L103
    • A major Anh. (Barcelona Ms. MS1964 No. 34)
    • E major Anh. (Barcelona Ms. MS1964 No. 31)
    • D minor Kk516 / L512
    • D minor Kk517 / L266

Wigmore Hall, 18-Feb-2016 / 19:30

  • Vivaldi: Trio Sonata in G minor RV85
  • Scarlatti: Sonata in G major Kk91 / L176
  • Yasuo Kuwahara: Improvised Poem
  • Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor Op. 3, No. 8 RV522 'L'estro armonico' (arr. Mahan Esfahani)
  • Bach: Violin Sonata No. 6 in G major BWV1019
  • Mel Powell: Recitative and Toccata Percossa for solo harpsichord
  • Paul Ben-Haim: Sonata a tre for mandolin, guitar and harpsichord
  • Avi Avital - Mandolin
  • Mahan Esfahani - Harpsichord
  • Sean Shibe - Guitar

Wigmore Hall, 15-Jul-2014 / 19:30

  • Couperin: Ordre 26 from Quatriéme livre de piéces de clavecin
  • CPE Bach:
    • Sonata in B flat Wq48 No. 2
    • Sonata in F sharp minor Wq. 52 No. 4
  • Benda: Sonata No. 4 in F
  • Takemitsu: Rain Dreaming

Born in Tehran in 1984, Mr. Esfahani is an award-winning harpsichordist and musicologist who studied at Stanford University in California.

Mahan Esfahani performed CPE Bach's Concerto in E flat for harpsichord & fortepiano Wq.47 on the Harpsichord with Danny Driver on the Fortepiano and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment being conducted by Rebecca Miller at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 30th of January 2014

Kings Place, 18-Oct-2013 / 19:30

Mr. Esfahani played Bach's Goldberg Variations, part of the BBC Chamber Proms on the 18th of July 2011 at the Cadogan Hall.

He made his BBC Chamber Proms debut on the 30th of August 2009 also at the Cadogan Hall.