Beethoven's Complete Works for Piano: Part IX
Is Beethoven’s music great? How do we know? Piano department chair Bruce Brubaker encourages curious concertgoers to celebrate and reconsider Beethoven’s music and legacy.
75 NEC pianists present every work for piano that Beethoven ever wrote over the course of 13 recitals in spring and fall 2020. Hear well-known favorites like the “Moonlight” Sonata alongside rarely-performed works and decide for yourself: what does Beethoven mean today?
A virtuoso pianist himself, Beethoven composed dozens of works for the fortepiano, often making use of the new musical resources of the instrument as it developed rapidly throughout the composer’s lifetime. Approximately 1/3 of each concert program will feature rarely performed sets of variations that may offer insight into Beethoven’s own performances as an improviser.
The NEC Piano Department dedicates this Beethoven 2020 project to Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Russell Sherman who celebrates his ninetieth birthday in 2020. Mr. Sherman was the first American musician to record all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and concertos. He has been a member of the New England Conservatory faculty since 1967.
WATCH CONCERT STREAM:
Beethoven's Complete Works for Piano:
PROGRAM NINE
Six variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" from Giovanni Paisiello's opera La Molinara, WoO 70 (1796)
Artists- Masanobu Pires, piano
Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major ("Funeral March"), op. 26 (1801)
I. Andante con variazione
II. Scherzo: Allegro molto
III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un Eroe: Maestoso andante
IV. AllegroArtists- Yandi Chen, piano
Eight variations on "Une fièvre brûlante" from André Grétry's opera Richard Coeur-de-lion, WoO 72 (1795)
Artists- Mengyuan Li, piano
Sonata quasi una fantasia in E-flat Major, op. 27 no. 1 (1800-01)
I. Andante - Allegro - Andante
II. Allegro molto e vivace
III. Adagio con espressione - Allegro vivaceArtists- Hanwen Shi, piano
Sonata No. 28 in A Major, op. 101 (1816)
I. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten Empfindung
II. Lebhaft, marschmäßig
III. Langsam und sehnsuchtvoll
IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit EntschlossenheitArtists- Brian Le, piano