It was a treasure-packed evening of sublime music by violist Timothy Ridout and pianist Jâms Coleman – the moment we were waiting after more than two years. At last, Soirées at Breinton re-commenced in its original form.
Throughout the concert, which consisted of very two contrasting halves, the duo succeeded in showcasing a skillful maneuver of weaving every note beautifully and incessant tossing phrases back and forth. As we listened, everything we had loved about the Breinton experience in this salon-style setting came flooding back; this utmost feeling of being in a cocoon and almost drowning in the glorious sounds. In this atmosphere, where we could hear a needle drop, we appreciated the full range of style and volume, from the light and joyous Beethoven, the bold, unstoppable go-for-it sound-making in Stravinsky, to the out-of-this-world darkness of Shostakovich. We all held our breath when the long drawing of the last note, barely audible but fixating everyone’s full focus, disappeared in unspeakable silence, seeping deep into the evening.
Timothy Ridout, viola
Jâms Coleman, piano
- Beethoven: Horn Sonata
- Stravinsky: Suite Italienne
- Shostakovich: Viola Sonata
Timothy Ridout, a BBC New Generation Artist and Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellow, is one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. This season he appears as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at BBC Proms, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Hallé Orchestra and makes his Viennese solo debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the Graz Philharmonic. In 2020 Ridout won Hamburger Symphoniker’s inaugural Sir Jeffrey Tate Prize and joined the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center in 2021.
Other highlights this season include recitals and chamber concerts at Wigmore Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid. Further afield, Ridout embarks on a Californian tour with Camerata Pacifica, followed by a series of appearances at Lincoln Centre in New York. In 2022 he returns to Japan to perform Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre.
In recent seasons Ridout has made his debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Hamburger Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lille, Camerata Salzburg, BBC Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestra, undertaken a residency with Baden-Baden Philharmonie, and performed the Walton Concerto with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under the auspices of the Orpheum Foundation. He has worked with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, David Zinman, Sakari Oramo, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Sylvain Cambreling, Nicholas Collon, Martyn Brabbins and Sir Andras Schiff.
Sought after as a chamber musician, Ridout has taken part in numerous festivals across Europe, including Rheingau, Bergen, Rosendal, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sion and Lockenhaus, and regularly collaborates with leading international artists including Steven Isserlis, Joshua Bell, Janine Jansen, Isabelle Faust, Kian Soltani, Benjamin Grosvenor, Lars Vogt, Nicolas Altstaedt and Christian Tetzlaff, among many others.
Ridout records for the Harmonia Mundi label. His latest album – A Poet's Love – was recorded with pianist Frank Dupree and features selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and their own transcription of Schumann’s Dichterliebe.
Born in London in 1995, Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music graduating with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He completed his Masters at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai in 2019 and in 2018 took part in Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World.
He plays on a viola by Peregrino di Zanetto c.1565–75 on loan from a generous patron of Beare's International Violin Society.
From Anglesey, North Wales, Jâms Coleman is a pianist who enjoys a rich and varied musical life performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and vocal accompanist.
In 2022, Jâms looks forward to collaborating with BBC NOW, and Britten Sinfonia; instrumentalists David Adams, Hélène Clément, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Ben Goldscheider, Laura van der Heijden, Steffan Morris, John Myerscough, Alice Neary, Amy Norrington, Elliot Perks, Robert Plane, Timothy Ridout, Colin Scobie, Jonathan Stone, and Maria Włoszczowska; singers Gwilym Bowen, Helen Charlston, Anna Dennis, Gwyn Hughes Jones, Nicholas Mogg, and Nardus Williams, and Yuriy Yurchuk; and the actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
Previous chamber-music engagements include performances in the UK and across Europe with instrumentalists David Adams, Jamal Aliyev, Margaret Faultless, Laura van der Heijden, Luke Hsu, Rebecca Jones, Peter Moore, Steffan Morris, Alice Neary, and Timothy Ridout. Recent highlights include giving a recital at Wigmore Hall with Laura van der Heijden as a launch for their CD with Chandos Records.
As a vocal accompanist, he enjoys collaborating with many singers and his engagements include recitals with James Gilchrist, Andrew Kennedy, Michael Mofidian, Nicholas Mogg, Nicholas Mulroy, Robert Murray, James Newby, Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir John Tomlinson, Ailish Tynan, and Elizabeth Watts. Recent recital highlights include performing with Sir Bryn Terfel in a Radio 3 broadcast from St David’s Hall in Cardiff, and recitals at the Oxford Lieder Festival with Elizabeth Watts, Felix Kemp, and Michael Mofidian.
Recordings include a disc of Czech and Hungarian music for Chandos Records with cellist Laura van der Heijden and a disc of Loewe lieder for Champs Hill with baritone Nicholas Mogg.
Jâms also enjoys working as a concerto soloist and performances include Beethoven’s Third, Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, and concertos by Brahms, Chopin, Ireland, and Mozart.
Jâms read Music at Girton College, Cambridge, where he was also a choral scholar. In 2016 he graduated with a masters from the Royal Academy of Music where he then stayed on as a Fellow. In 2018 he was the Artistic Director of a concert series based in St Clement Danes Church in central London which featured twenty-four lunchtime concerts and five evening concerts.