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Steven Isserlis, cello; Robert Levin, fortepiano
“Isserlis’s playing has spirit to spare. But the fortepiano ensures an even fresher sense of discovery to his cello odyssey.” The Guardian
Steven Isserlis has described playing the Beethoven Sonatas as “a journey through a life.” In this endlessly moving and thought-provoking series, the duo traverses through the early, middle, and late periods of the monumental composer’s life.
Co-presented with the Vancouver Recital Society.
Programme
March 13:
12 Variations on a Theme from Handel’s Judas Maccabeus Wo0 45
Cello Sonata in F, Op. 5 No. 1
12 Variations in F on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen from Mozart’s Die Zauberflote, Op. 66
Horn Sonata Op. 17 (transcribed for cello by Beethoven)
Cello Sonata in A, Op. 69
March 15:
7 Variations on Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fühlen from Mozart’s Die Zauberflote, Wo046
Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2
Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 102 No. 1
Cello Sonata in D major, Op.102 No.2
Programme notes
To be added soon…
Steven Isserlis, cello
To be added...
Robert Levin, fortepiano
Pianist Robert Levin has been heard throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia, in recital, as soloist, and in chamber concerts. His solo engagements include the orchestras of Atlanta, Berlin, Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, La Scala, Los Angeles, Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto, Utah and Vienna on the Steinway with conductors Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Bernard Haitink, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Joseph Silverstein.
On period pianos he has appeared with the Academy of Ancient Music, La Chambre Philharmonique, the English Baroque Soloists, the Handel & Haydn Society, the London Classical Players, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, and Philharmonia Baroque, with Christopher Hogwood, Emmanuel Krivine, Sir Charles Mackerras, Nicholas McGegan, Sir Roger Norrington, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. He has performed frequently at such festivals as Sarasota, Oregon Bach, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Bremen, Lockenhaus, and the Mozartwoche in Salzburg. As a chamber musician he has a long association with violist Kim Kashkashian and appears frequently with his wife, pianist Ya-Fei Chuang, in duo recitals and with orchestra. After more than a quarter century as an artist faculty member at the Sarasota Music Festival he succeeded Paul Wolfe as Artistic Director in 2007.
Robert Levin is renowned for his restoration of the Classical period practice of improvised embellishments and cadenzas; his Mozart and Beethoven performances have been hailed for their active mastery of the Classical musical language. He has made recordings for DG Archiv, CRI, Decca/Oiseau-Lyre, Deutsche Grammophon, ECM, Klavierfestival Ruhr, New York Philomusica, Nonesuch, Philips, and SONY Classical. Among these are the complete Bach concertos with Helmuth Rilling as well as the English Suites and the Well-Tempered Clavier (on five keyboard instruments) for Hänssler’s 172-CD Edition Bachakademie. Other recordings include a Beethoven concerto cycle with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique for Archiv, a Mozart concerto cycle with Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music for Decca/ Oiseau-Lyre, Mozart sonatas for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and the complete piano music of Dutilleux for ECM. A passionate advocate of new music, Robert Levin has commissioned and premiered a large number of works, including Joshua Fineberg’s Veils (2001), John Harbison’s Second Sonata (2003), Yehudi Wyner’s piano concerto Chiavi in mano (Pulitzer Prize, 2006), Bernard Rands’ Preludes (2007), Thomas Oboe Lee’s Piano Concerto (2007) and Hans Peter Türk’s Träume (2012).
Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvwZ5xGVv4
