Ibrahim Aziz (Viola da Gamba) and Dan Tidhar (Harpsichord) will give us an evening of music based on The Lady and the Sultan.

In 1740, Hubert Le Blanc – doctor of law, abbé and amateur viol player – wrote a treatise defending the bass viol against ‘the enterprises of the violin and the pretensions of the violoncello’, after realising that the viol was quickly losing favour with the Parisian audience who had developed a taste for Italian music and concerts in large public spaces instead of small private salons. In his work, Le Blanc refers to the viol as ‘The Lady’ and the violin as ‘The Sultan’. The cello, a relative and close ally of the violin, is in close competition with the refined and noble bass viol.

Ibrahim and Dan will perform a battle between the Viola da Gamba and the Harpsichord including music by Marin Marais, Antonio Vivaldi, François Couperin and Louis Marchand (famed for absconding from a harpsichord contest against J S Bach!).

Ibrahim Aziz performs on viola da gamba and baroque cello with various period instrument ensembles such as Chelys, The Rose Consort of Viols, Follia and Linnet baroque.  He is much in demand as a chamber musician and continuo player and occasionally features also as soloist: recent highlights include working with the RTE Symphony Orchestra in Dublin in J S Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur playing 18th century concertos for viola da gamba. Ibrahim was trained at Trinity College of Music London under Alison Crum and Susan Sheppard and was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes. He has recorded over 20 CDs with various chamber groups and has 2 solo albums on First Hand Records. www.ibiaziz.com

Dan Tidhar (Harpsichord) was first introduced to the harpsichord at the Jerusalem Early Music Workshop. He completed a Masters in harpsichord performance at the UdK-Berlin, studying with Mitzi Meyerson in Berlin and Ketil Haugsand in Cologne, in parallel with a PhD in digital musicology at TU-Berlin. Recent performances include Southwell Music Festival and the Well-Tempered Clavier Marathon in Jerusalem. Dan is the Cambridge Music Faculty’s advisor for historic keyboard instruments, and a member of Wolfson College.

Doors open at 7pm, music starts at 7:30pm and ends by 9:30pm.

This event is organised by the Leatherhead Community Association (LCA) with help and advice from Peter Steadman of the Music on Thursdays (MoT) group.  Members of either organisation can buy a ticket at a reduced price.

Tickets are available online from TicketTailor.

Tickets are also available from the LCA office which is open 9:30am to 12:30pm on weekdays.

We do not have an alcohol licence but if you are of age you are welcome to bring your own.  There are supermarkets nearby.  Please bring plastic glasses or use the paper cups that we supply.

Getting to the Leatherhead Institute

The Institute is at the top of Leatherhead High Street, KT22 8AH, on the corner with Leret Way. Leatherhead is served by bus from Kingston and by bus and train from Guildford, Dorking and Epsom. Nearby car parks are the Swan Centre multi-storey on Leret Way (KT22 7JL) and the surface car park on Station Road (KT22 7AF). Both are free after 6pm.