Franz Schubert Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-flat major, D 960
Robert Schumann Night Pieces, Op. 23
Frédéric Chopin Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
“I have not played Chopin for many years. He simply did not appear in my programs,” says Igor Levit. But that will change with his next appearance at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, where the exceptional pianist will perform Chopin’s Third Piano Sonata, composed in the “key of death” B minor. With this work, Chopin created a mature, richly colored, and monumental piece, five years before his tragically early death at the age of 39. “I am happy and grateful, but at the same time positively tense,” says Levit about this “new chapter in my musical life that I am opening. And I am very much looking forward to sharing it with my friends at the Klavier-Festival.”
The audience at the world’s largest gathering of pianists—or as Levit calls it, “the best piano party ever!”—has been able to witness many intense concert moments. Again and again, Igor Levit has delved deeply into Beethoven’s sonatas, one of his favorite composers. Or he has explored central variation cycles for keyboard instruments, including the “Goldberg” and “Diabelli Variations,” as well as the at times considered unplayable “The People United Will Never Be Defeated” by Frederic Rzewski.
Many of his performances at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr have received almost exuberant reviews. But what does he personally remember most from all these years? “Probably my first encounter with Franz Xaver Ohnesorg, who was taken from us far too soon,” he recalls. “Our first conversation was so full of energy, he was beaming from ear to ear and promised me that from then on, he would invite me every year and support me in any way he could. He kept that promise until the very end.”
The close friendship between the festival and the artist will, of course, continue to be cultivated under the new director Katrin Zagrosek so that the audience will not have to miss out on Levit’s special programs in the future. And the pianist has put together just such a program for his next appearance at “the best piano party.” Alongside Chopin’s mature late work, he will perform Schubert’s final piano sonata, composed two months before his death, which takes us into extreme, sometimes disturbing soul landscapes. And Schumann’s “Nachtstücke,” whose creation was overshadowed by the death of his brother Eduard, leading the composer to note in his diary that he was working on a “funeral fantasy.”
Foto: Christian Palm
Add this concert to your agenda
Download agendaHow to get there by car
Venue address
Historische Stadthalle
Johannisberg 40
42103 WuppertalThank you:
More
Informations
Igor Levit
With an alert and critical mind, Igor Levit places his art in the context of social events and understands it as inseparably linked to them. The New York Times describes Igor Levit as one of the “most important artists of his generation”, the New Yorker as a pianist “like no other”.
Historical Town Hall
Die Historische Stadthalle ist eines der schönsten Konzerthäuser Europas. 1900 wurde die Stadthalle auf Initiative von Bürgern und Unternehmern der Stadt im prachtvoll-üppigen wilhelminischen Stil...
