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| Hungarian Dances |
| Jessica Duchen’s third novel (Hardcover) was published March 6 2008, and the Paperback version will come out August 7 2008. |
Hungarian Dances is a love story, a mystery and a tale of extraordinary personal transformation.
When disaster befalls her best friend, Karina, a young Anglo-Hungarian musician, feels compelled to question the very foundations of her existence. Her discoveries about her Hungarian family background and her Gypsy ancestry will change her life forever. Past and present collide in the intertwining stories of Karina and her grandmother, Mimi, a famous violinist. Love and loss, displacement and continuity mingle in a moving panorama that crosses eighty years and is permeated by the family’s one constant: the sound of the violin.
A CD to complement Hungarian Dances is currently in the planning stages - please check back regularly for updates.
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After having read Rites of Spring, I am now equally thrilled by Hungarian Dances. Jessica Duchen is a very gifted storyteller; her characters are sensitively portrayed. She has observed "Hungarianness" very well indeed. And her understanding of the tragedy and sufferings of the Gypsy people - that is not just history, but very much a problem of our time - gives this book an even more profound meaning.- András Schiff
"The pages of Hungarian Dances just kept turning! Like all the best novels, it asks unexpected and compelling questions. It's a book for anyone with an interest in how history leaves its mark on people and how they in turn come to live with its scars." - Martin Davies, author, The Conjuror's Bird |
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| Read the Classical Music Magazine review on the REVIEWS page. |
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...click on logo to read Jessica's interview with Hungarian national paper Nepszabadsag about "Hungarian Dances". (in Hungarian) |
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Wednesday 5th March
HUNGARIAN DANCES HITS THE ROAD
Jessica's new novel was presented by the British-Hungarian Fellowship at the Hungarian Cultural Centre, Covent Garden, on 4 March 2008. With a stunning performance of Bartok and Monti by Tasmin Little (violin) and John Lenehan (piano), and a deeply touching endorsement for the book from Lady Valerie Solti, who also read extracts to an enthusiastic audience including a number of Hungarian emigres, the event was a dream send-off for the new book. And the Hungarian cheese scones proved especially popular.
Pictured, l to r: Eva Norton, chairman of the British-Hungarian Fellowship, Lady Valerie Solti and Jessica |
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27 May 2008, 6.15pm
Pre-concert talk with Krystian Zimerman, Royal Festival Hall, London
The great Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman offers a pre-concert interview promising some unique insights into the repertoire he'll be performing this evening, including music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Szymanowski. Jessica asks the questions. Admission free to recital ticket holders.
Book online here
or phone 0871 663 2500
Read Jessica's latest interview with Krystian Zimerman from PIANIST magazine, here. |
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03 June 2008, Westminster Cathedral, 'STAY WITH ME'
Leading composer Roxanna Panufnik has written a new choral setting of the prayer ‘Stay with me’ attributed to Padre Pio, with the text specially adapted by Jessica. Part of a project led by the Genesis Foundation, the piece will be premiered at Westminster Cathedral on 3 June 2008, sung by The Sixteen with Harry Christophers conducting. |
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17 June 2008
HUNGARIAN DANCES: THE CONCERT OF THE NOVEL
Queen's Gate Terrace Concerts,
49 Queen's Gate Terrace, South Kensington, London SW7 5PN
A special fundraising concert to back the recording of the Hungarian Dances CD!
This unique evening will be held in the exquisite music salon of 49 Queen's Gate Terrace, which hosts a well-established concert series. Violinist Philippe Graffin and pianist Claire Désert perform music they will be recording for the CD and Jessica reads extracts from the novel. The programme includes music by Bartók, Brahms, Dohnányi and Ravel. The £40 ticket price includes wine and Hungarian canapés. Early booking is advised as places are strictly limited!
Please email jessica.duchen@googlemail.com
for further details on how to book... |
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| ... and here is a PDF flyer for the concert for you to read or print. |
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CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL
19th July 2008, 6:30pm, Cheltenham Town Hall Drawing Room
HUNGARIAN DANCES:
Jessica will be reading from her new novel and discussing its musical roots in the Gypsy soundworld of central Europe with World Music guru Ben Mandelson. Later the same evening you can hear the stunning Gypsy ensemble from Romania, Taraf de Haidouks, performing in the Town Hall.
Box office: 01242 227979. |
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15 September 2007
‘A WALK THROUGH THE END OF TIME’
A new play about Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’
St Nazaire, France
The premiere of A Walk through the End of Time (translated into French by Feriel Kaddour as Une promenade à travers le fin du temps) took place at St Nazaire’s exciting new experimental arts venue, LIFE, during the opening event of this year’s Consonances Festival.
The one-act play, specially commissioned by the festival’s director, violinist Philippe Graffin, explores some of the ideas and ideals behind Messiaen’s Quartet through a contemporary parable. A long-separated couple meet for the first time in 25 years to hear the work.
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Charles Gonzalès
in rehearsal |
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Can the unifying force of the music, and the figures behind it, spur them to resolve their own differences?
The one-act play starred the great French actress Marie-Christine Barrault and the magnetic and sensual Charles Gonzalès and was directed by Ilonka van den Bercken. It also featured a cameo appearance by the cellist Raphael Wallfisch who later performed in the Quartet. Ouest-France described the play as “…very well-informed and original”.
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The event was part of the very first performance inside St Nazaire’s new venue, LIFE, in Alvéole 14, the last section of the concrete submarine base built by the Nazis during the Second World War. This highly emotional evening opened with a performance by Raphael Wallfisch and Philippe Graffin of the Duo by Erwin Schulhoff, who was a prisoner in the Terezin concentration camp, and a devastating lecture by Anita Lasker Wallfisch, a survivor of Auschwitz and its women’s orchestra.
Following the performance Jessica was presented with the medal of the Ville de St Nazaire by the town’s mayor, Joel Batteux.
Visit the St. Nazaire "Consonances" website
Have a look at the photos from St. Nazaire below
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Jessica's interview
with 'ouest france'
September 14 |
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| RITES
OF SPRING |
Jessica
Duchen’s first novel, Rites of Spring, was
published by Hodder & Stoughton on March 13 2006.
The Paperback Edition was released on July 27 2006. |
| Order
now via Amazon.co.uk, or
direct from H&S. |
Order
from these links:
for Hardcover (click Logos) |
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Order
from this link:
Paperback (click Logos) |
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VIEW an enlarged version of the Paperback Cover |
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| ALICIA'S GIFT |
Jessica Duchen’s second novel was published by Hodder & Stoughton on 8 March 2007. A contemporary drama set in the Peak District concerning the problems of raising a gifted child, ALICIA’S GIFT draws on Jessica’s considerable experience in the music industry and as a pianist herself. A Dutch edition will also be published in due course by De Kern.
Read the first 3 pages (PDF file 727kb) (Set to 100%) ..... here
... a first review of the book:
"The devil in this book is in the detail, the accumulation of every detail that disables middle class life when the unexpected lands, in this case a musically gifted child. You turn the pages with a tremble, in case you crush the fragile family. Unbearably real."
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown |
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| WONDERKIND (Alicia's Gift) |
Jessica Duchen’s second novel 'Alicia's Gift' was published on October 9th in a Dutch edition .... and it looks wonderful.
Click here for details
ISBN: 9789032501778
€ 18,95
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| 06/02/06
- Read Jessica's interview on authortrek.com - ONLINE NOW - |
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| Photogalleries |
London
November 22 2007 |
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Here
are some photos from the Royal Festival Hall after the UK premiere of Korngold's greatest opera, 'Das Wunder der Heliane', on 21 November 2007
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St.Nazaire
September 2007 |
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Here
are photos from Jessica's visit to St.Nazaire in September 2007 |
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Mostar
June 2007 |
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Here
are photos from Jessica's visit to MOSTAR in June 2007 |
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"Consonances" Festival
St. Nazaire
September 2006 |
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Here
are photos from Festival "Consonances" at St. Nazaire in September 2006 where Jessica's 'LE CHANT DE L'AMOUR TRIOMPHANT' was premiered. |
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Trip to
Budapest
September 2006 |
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Jessica's Trip to Budapest can be viewed here as a
Photo Page. |
LINK |
Booksigning,
Waterstones
Richmond
August 2006
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Jessica signing the recently published Paperback edition of her novel 'Rites of Spring'. View an enlarged photo here. |
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Lauch Party 'Rites of Spring'
March 2006
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Here
are photos from the launch party for Jessica's 'Rites
of Spring' at Kew on Wednesday March 2nd 2006 |
LINK |
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