Kaspara Mikuzis [Olivia Da Dosta]

IF you were making a list of the most extraordinary, extravagant and over-the-top piano pieces ever written, a necessary contender would be Leopold Godowsky’s Java Suite. Written in 1925 by a virtuoso performer / composer born in Lithuania but in love with SE Asia, it chronicles a journey there in Technicolor soundscapes. And it’s awesomely hard to play – which is why it doesn’t often get programmed: pianists retreat in fear.

But braving stepping forward on July 1 is a young Lithuanian, Kasparas Mikuzis, who includes part of the Suite in a lunchtime recital for the Proms at St Jude’s – the annual Hampstead Garden Suburb celebration of all things musical that runs June 27-July 5.
It’s a great event, hospitable and (dare I say so) fun, that starts with the youthful Fantasia Orchestra playing Beethoven on June 27; music from the TV series Wolf Hall, featuring its composer Debbie Wiseman with readings by actor Anton Lesser (June 28); and a recital for the odd combination of organ and piano by brothers Jonathan and Tom Scott (June 29).

Beside the music there’s a literary festival whose highlight has to be author Alan Hollinghurst talking (June 27) about his sometimes musically related work (the title of his latest novel Our Evenings comes from Janacek). And then, of course, there’s all that Javan excess from Mikuziz, who I heard for the first time a few weeks ago and thought seriously impressive. Full details: promsatstjudes.org.uk

• There’s in fact a veritable surfeit of pianists on the horizon this week, chief among them Elisabeth Leonskaja playing Schubert at the Barbican, June 23 (barbican.org.uk). But there are also two duo recitals: at Kings Place June 21, where Anthony Gray and Ron Hao play music for two keyboards by Poulenc (kingsplace.co.uk), and at the 1910 Arts Club, Waterloo, June 26, where Kyle Nash-Baker and Raymond Wui Man Yiu play a Pride Week programme of works by gay composers (there’s plenty of choice: 1901artsclub.com).

Also worth your time will be the pianist Drew Steanson, who plays Rachmaninov & Debussy alongside poet Charles Ward reading from his own work at St James Piccadilly, June 24 (sjp.org.uk).

• You probably don’t need to hear another performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons this side of Armageddon. But if you do, and have a sense of adventure, there’s a radical re-imagining of the piece for percussion (yes, percussion) and strings by the young virtuoso percussionist James Larter at the Great Hall of Barts Hospital, Smithfield, June 25. Larter appears with period band Figure under conductor Frederick Waxman. Be amazed. citymusicfoundation.org

• Russian soprano Anna Netrebko is a controversial figure who’s been working hard to live down her politically suspect past and seems now to be rehabilitated by the Royal Opera where she appears in recital, June 24. Theoretically sold out, there may be returns. Don’t bother asking what she’s singing, she won’t say until the day… rbo.org.uk

• Less grand but all the better for it, Spitalfields Festival starts June 26 with a schedule that combines the rarified and the robust. Among the former is In the Belly of the Beast: a dramatised baroque cantata by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre that tells the story of three biblical anti-heroes, including Jonah, from the perspective of women around them. Where the whale comes in I’m not sure. But performers Carolyn Sampson and Dunedin Consort guarantee interest. spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

Chorally, Camden Choir sing Bach at St Mary’s Primrose Hill, June 20 (camdenchoir.london). And Highgate Choral sing works by their late conductor Ron Corp at Cadogan Hall, June 23. (cadoganhall.com)