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.
 

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Beethoven's Complete Works for Piano:

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  1. PROGRAM NINE

  2. Six variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" from Giovanni Paisiello's opera La Molinara, WoO 70 (1796)

    Artists
    • Masanobu Pires, piano

  3. 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. Allegro

    Artists
    • Yandi Chen, piano

  4. Eight variations on "Une fièvre brûlante" from André Grétry's opera Richard Coeur-de-lion, WoO 72 (1795)

    Artists
    • Mengyuan Li, piano

  5. 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 vivace

    Artists
    • Hanwen Shi, piano

  6. 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 Entschlossenheit

    Artists
    • Brian Le, piano
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