Max Baillie & Alasdair Beatson
Incantations
| Bohuslav Martinu | Variations on a Slovakian Theme (arr. for viola and piano by Baillie) |
|---|---|
| Juliette Marie Olga Lili Boulanger | Nocturne |
| György Kurtág | Tre pezzi, Op. 14e |
| Ludwig Van Beethoven | Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer" |
A colourful programme celebrating musical links between cultures, whether in the rhapsodic Third Violin Sonata by Enescu and its Romanian folk roots, or Beethoven’s monumental “Kreutzer” Sonata, which inspired Janáček’s string quartet.
Max Baillie and Alasdair Beatson’s programme Incantations traces a web of creative links between composers whose voices are shaped by movement across artistic and geographical borders. From the folk-inflected modernism of Martinů to the rhapsodic, almost dreamlike incantations of Enescu’s Third Violin Sonata, each work reflects a dialogue between inherited tradition and personal expression. In the case of Beethoven’s monumental “Kreutzer” Sonata, it became the seed for both Tolstoy’s novella and, later, Janáček’s First String Quartet.
Boulanger and Kurtág offer their own intimate perspectives on musical identity: Kurtág, filtered through his intensely compressed, aphoristic style that emphasises the stark beauty of small musical gestures, contrasts with the gorgeous Nocturne by Lili Boulanger – a perfect vignette traversing the worlds of late French Romanticism and early modernism.
This event will last approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including an interval.
Concessions & Under 30s tickets
Kings Place Concessions Tickets
We want to ensure that people who may be struggling financially to purchase a ticket can still enjoy visiting Kings Place. A limited number of tickets are allocated for certain events (if the ticket type does not show in the booking pathway, it means they are not available for this event or have all been sold). Concessions tickets are accessible for people on the following criteria (for more information visit our FAQs)
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Disability Benefit
- Income Support or Job Seekers allowance
- Students
£10 ‘Under 30s’ tickets
A limited number of £10 tickets for attendees aged under 30 are available for certain shows. To purchase an ‘Under 30s’ ticket, please choose the ‘Under 30s’ price type when selecting your ticket(s). If the option does not appear, this means all ‘Under 30s’ tickets have sold out or are not available for this performance. Please note that proof of age may be requested at the venue. The £10 offer does not apply to premium price categories.
Plan your visit
Getting here
Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe.
Our address is:
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.
The Venue
Our performance spaces are situated on the lower ground floor. Hall One, Hall Two and St Pancras are located in level -2, reached by stairs, escalator and lift from the ground floor entrance level.
Event Times
Door times indicate auditorium entrance times only. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the Kings Place seating areas, gallery-level art, canal-side terrace, café, restaurant and bar throughout the day and evening.
- Our events begin promptly at the advertised start time. Typically, there is no support unless otherwise stated.
- We recommend arriving in good time before the performance. The Hall doors will open 30 minutes before the performance to allow time to take your seats, or to choose a space for standing shows.
- Latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance where possible
Access
We aim to make your visit to Kings Place as comfortable as possible. For more information about the accessibility of Kings Place, including details about our Access Scheme, please visit this page.
If you would like to discuss your access requirements with a member of our team, please get in touch with the Box Office team at info@kingsplace.co.uk.
Food & Drink
Rotunda Bar & Restaurant
Rotunda, situated on the ground floor of Kings Place, offers a unique dining and drinking experience alongside Regent’s Canal. The concert bar in the venue foyer will also be open for select events.
Green & Fortune Café
Recently re-furbished and now open with a new look, the Green & Fortune Café is open for selected concerts. Serving hot and cold food and drinks, including sandwiches, salads, soup, stew and a pie of the day, alongside a choice of cakes made by the on-site bakery team. See here for selected concert dates and standard opening hours.
About Max Baillie
From soloist and leader-director to chamber musician, programme curator and improviser, Max Baillie has carved a reputation as a uniquely creative musician. He has worked with artists from across the musical spectrum, including Steve Reich, Mischa Maisky, Björk, John Williams, Abel Selaocoe, Thomas Adès, Bobby McFerrin, Zakir Hussain, Max Richter, Anoushka Shankar, James Thierrée and Jacob Collier, among many others.
His group Lodestar Trio, with its distinctive Scandinavian folk interpretations of Bach and other Baroque music, and ZRI, a quintet inspired by the Viennese Red Hedgehog Tavern where Brahms and Schubert heard Gypsy musicians play, have appeared across Europe.
Max was mentored by the legendary violinist Ivry Gitlis and is a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School. He runs a concert series in his hometown of St Leonards-on-Sea, where he collaborates with many of his friends, including Laura van der Heijden, Fred Thomas, Alice Zawadzki, Héloïse Werner and Guy Johnston, among many others. He also plays the mandolin and was awarded first-class honours in Political Philosophy at Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Reviews
‘gutsy’ The Times
‘fearless’ The Guardian
About Alasdair Beatson
Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson is renowned as a sincere musician and intrepid programmer. A prolific chamber musician, Alasdair’s colleagues include Steven Isserlis, Alexi Kenney, Viktoria Mullova, Pieter Wispelwey, the Doric, Gringolts and Meta4 String Quartets, and the Nash Ensemble.
Recent recordings include works by Beethoven and Schubert for violin and fortepiano with Viktoria Mullova, and a solo piano recital, Aus Wien, on Pentatone. Performances during 2025 include regular appearances at Wigmore Hall, appearances as concerto soloist at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and festival engagements including Bath Mozartfest, the Cumnock Tryst, Musikdorf Ernen, Festivalta, IMS Prussia Cove, Lewes Chamber Music, Resonances, and Yellow Barn. Alasdair is Artistic Director of the chamber music festival at Musikdorf Ernen in Switzerland.
Reviews
‘artistry Incarnate’ The Times
‘highly sensitive playing of rare insight’ Classic FM Magazine