Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Piano Sonata no. 14 in C sharp minor "Moonlight", Op.27 no.2

A fine and sensitive pianist, Alice Sara Ott captivates with Field Nocturnes and Beethoven sonatas at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. 

In a magical outdoor environment, one of the elder statesmen of French piano traces the progression of Beethoven's style through his sonatas.

Challenged with a demanding programme of Beethoven, Franck and Rachmaninov, the Russian pianist gave proof of his personal, telluric approach to intense repertoire.

Two Beethoven sonatas form the core of Pierre-Laurent Aimard's Berlin recital, laced with extracts from Messiaen's Catalogue d’oiseaux, plus Kurtág and Stockhausen. 

The Russian pianist's nuanced approach bears most fruit in Schubert and Grieg, less so in Beethoven and Ravel.

Chinese American Li, once another purveyor of typically scorching performances, is better known these days for his sensitivity and nuance. 

There are not many classical musicians on the international circuit who could achieve the ‘legend’ status; whose concerts would be attended by adoring fans rushing to the stage at the conclusion of the recital, who would be referred to by a nickname, suggesting an ongoing relationship and familiarity with their fans.

The pianist’s ability to easily bring out the melodic qualities, the shifts in mood and color from amidst the swirling pyrotechnics is remarkable for someone so young.

A concert built on works central to the classical piano repertoire demonstrated Murray Perahia's understated virtuosity and his ability to allow the music to speak for itself.

Superb pianism in unexpected repertoire from Paul Lewis, while the Beethoven with which he made his name doesn't quite stack up.

Coupling Busoni's arrangements of Bach with Beethoven and Liszt with Mussorgsky, Paul Lewis's programme ranged from inward contemplation to thrilling drama. Despite his elegant lyricism and nuanced readings, the recital was slightly marred by some surprising technical flaws.

Rudolf Buchbinder is a name now synonymous with classical piano interpretation. He has over 100 recordings in his discography, and his recent series of complete Beethoven sonatas the world over has given him an authority of nearly biblical proportions.

In a similar vein to the previous evening’s rather German-orientated “Grosse Streichquartette” concert given by the Artemis Quartet, tonight’s mozart@augsburg concert contained Beethoven piano sonatas interspersed with recitations: a “Sea of Harmony”. It was also to be the last of the festival’s concerts that I was to experience this year.

A broken crane dangles precariously over 57th Street near Carnegie Hall at the moment. Thankfully for the hall it seems the danger has passed, but rather than cancel this concert along with so many others in New York over the past week, Carnegie delayed the recital from Friday to Sunday and moved it to Avery Fisher Hall.

An impassioned evening of Beethoven was drawn from the fingertips of the fascinating young pianist Shuann Chai last Wednesday in Utrecht’s Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh. Presenting three of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most well-known sonatas for piano, the Pathétique, Moonlight, and Appassionata, Ms. Chai wove an intriguing and constantly changing musical soundscape.

With more than 30 million YouTube channel views, there is simply no doubt that Valentina Lisitsa is already a classical music star to contend with.

Thursday, composer David Ludwig joined Princeton audiences to hear Jonathan Biss perform his newly-penned Lunaire Variations in Richardson Auditorium. Ludwig’s piano cycle, though the shortest work on the program, became the centerpiece of Biss’ recital, which also featured works by Janáček and Beethoven.

With his wild hair and frowning brow, French pianist François-Frédéric Guy bears more than a passing likeness to Ludwig van Beethoven, so it seemed entirely appropriate to be listening to a recital in which the Frenchman played three of the Old Radical’s most well-loved and well-known piano sonatas, nicknamed the ‘Pastoral’, the ‘Moonlight’ and the ‘Hammerklavier’.

Chinese pianist Di Xiao is already making a name for herself with sell-out concerts in many of Europe’s most prestigious venues and a triumphant tour of China, as well as two recordings. Her debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall was a programme conjuring up images of moonlight while “illuminating other byways along the way”.Di Xiao opened with Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 27 No.

In an age where most performers dedicate their whole life to music, Stephen Hough is a remarkable exception. Something of a Renaissance man, not only is he one of the world's foremost concert pianists, but he also paints, composes, writes poetry and blogs. This evening's programme on the theme of 'strange sonatas' was framed by two of the best-known works by Beethoven and Liszt.

Bringing to a close this season of Music Up Close concerts, Nikolai Demidenko delighted a packed Haddington Town House with a programme of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt. The programme opened with two much loved Beethoven works: Piano Sonata in C minor, 'Pathétique' Op. 13 and Piano Sonata in C# minor, 'Moonlight' Op. 27 No. 2.

L'ancien impétrant du Concours Chopin de Varsovie a donné un récital Beethoven-Schubert-Chopin captivant et frustrant, se montrant capable de franches réussites comme de fautes inexplicables.

Dans un programme pourtant prometteur car intelligemment agencé, le pianiste expose des lacunes pianistiques et rythmiques étonnantes pour un musicien de ce calibre.

Dans le cadre intime de La Piccola Scala, le trop méconnu pianiste français a livré un récital renversant, aussi convaincant dans Beethoven que dans Debussy ou dans une création de Fabien Touchard.

Si le jeu du jeune pianiste russe impressionne, son interprétation des œuvres déroute plus d'une fois.

De Franck comme de Beethoven, le pianiste russe propose une interprétation historique.

Formidable première journée au Festival Muse&Piano dans le Pas-de-Calais, avec de mémorables récitals de Florian Noack, Sélim Mazari, Gaspard Dehaene et Anne Queffélec.

Nicht nur der Pianist, auch Beethoven ging mit diesen vier Sonaten neue Wege.

À la Philharmonie de Paris, la pianiste déçoit dans un récital intégralement consacré à Beethoven, malgré quelques pages magnifiques sur le plan sonore.

Khatia Buniatishvili interpreta cuatro de las sonatas más conocidas de Beethoven en el ciclo "Grandes Intérpretes" de la Fundación Scherzo haciendo alarde de virtuosismo y expresividad.

À la Philharmonie, Nelson Freire a donné un récital magistral, une leçon d'interprétation, de poésie et de lumière.

Clarté, continuité de la ligne, absence de pesanteur. Un grand récital 100% Beethoven à la Philharmonie.

S’il est un pianiste qu’on ne saurait taxer de “superficiel”, c’est bien lui. Le plaisir qu’on a à entendre Michel Dalberto s’apparente à un plaisir de la redécouverte. 

Fünf Instrumente verlangen jeweils ganz unterschiedliche, spezifische Spielweisen und Techniken, die zu präsentieren der Künstlerin hervorragend gelang: ein ungemein bereichernder Abend!