Exclusive Chandos Artist Laura van der Heijden’s label debut explores the rich musical heritage of Bohemia. Born in England to Dutch-Swiss parents, Laura’s career highlights already include winning the BBC Young Musician competition (aged just 15), the Edison Klassiek Award 2018 (for her debut album) and BBC Music Magazine’s Newcomer Award in 2019. Laura writes: ‘Jâms and I first met in 2017, where I heard him play and was mesmerized by the sensitivity of his musicianship and the colors he managed to create on the piano. Our first concert together took place in the summer of 2018 and included Janácek’s Pohádka. Both of us felt incredibly drawn to this piece and also to Janácek’s musical language. One of the reasons we were particularly enamored of Pohádka (a Czech word which loosely translates as ‘A Tale’) was the focus of the piece on storytelling and how that invited us to let our creativity and imagination flow. This is the common thread spun throughout the repertoire that we have selected for this album; all the pieces embody the notion of passing on ancient folk tales, tales which have lived amongst peoples and across lands for centuries.’

REVIEWS:

The starting point for this delicious and distinctive Bohemian programme was Janácek’s Pohádka...Laura van der Heijden and Jâms Coleman unleash its power in this big-boned reading, with its hair-trigger transitions from dreaming innocence to cataclysm.

--- BBC Music Magazine

As a creative concept, it is carried through convincingly. The players clearly share a tangible musical understanding and rapport, and catch Pohádka’s ambivalent quality very neatly.

-- Gramophone