Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Piano Sonata no. 23 in F minor "Appassionata", Op.57

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. 

All the light, tuneful melodies and tuttis of the Ninth Symphony are still somehow Shostakovich, but a Shostakovich during a rare period where he seems to be taking antidepressants.

The French-Canadian pianist replaced an ailing Rudolf Buchbinder, kicking off the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society's first complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle.

Shimmering images from Debussy in his evocative Images had Stephen Hough oozing luminescence, with passion in Schumann and firing on all cylinders in Beethoven’s “Appassionata”.

Juxtaposing Debussy’s music with opuses by Schumann and Beethoven, Stephen Hough brought forward connection points one wouldn't have thought of.

Playing of fearsome technique with fearless regard to the music's demands made for an impressive recital. 

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.

Maurizio Pollini demonstrated why people still flock to hear him perform in sonatas by Beethoven and miniatures by Schoenberg.

Behzod Abduraimov brought his intense and brilliant pianism for his first recital on the main stage of Carnegie Hall

Jonathan Biss is embarking on a traversal of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, and his playing is characterized by an ideal balance of intellectual rigor and emotional expression.  

Kissin's always stellar recital highlighted by a selection of works from Spain.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet gave his thought-provoking, violent and percussive take on Bartók, Ravel and Beethoven - intelligent and uncompromising performance at its best. 

Still partying on: John Lill's 70th birthday celebrations continue with a Beethoven recital in the National Concert Hall, Dublin.

The first of concert of John Lill’s Beethoven piano sonata cycle at Cadogan Hall saw a warhorse of the concert platform performing one of the great warhorses of the piano repertory. Alongside the concluding Op. 57 sonata – the Appassionata – we heard three lesser-known works, namely Op. 10 no. 3 in D, Op. 22 in B flat, and Op. 54 in F, presented in chronological order.

With one week’s notice, Horacio Gutiérrez was indisposed and cancelled his much-anticipated piano recital at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. In his place, it was Valentina Lisitsa to the rescue, the sensational pianist who has now had over 50 million views on her YouTube channel, giving her the status of a rock star.

Despite an abundance of virtuosic Liszt pieces and such force in the Appassionata that he almost fell off his chair at the end, what was most impressive about Behzod Abduraimov in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday was the way he handled the softer parts.

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.

Bringing with them the exuberance of youthful passion and prodigious energy, the students of the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove in Cornwall transformed a starkly unaccommodating town hall into one which thrilled to the talents of classical music's heirs.

When one thinks of the ‘X factor’, it’s fairly certain that the first image that comes to mind is not that of a quiet, unassuming man in his mid-sixties, clad in evening dress.

These Conway Hall Sunday Evening Concerts are always good value, but this one was especially generous: there was a ‘pre-concert recital’, 40 mins before the concert proper. As we were taking our seats, pianist Hiro (Hiroaki) Takenouchi was still driving frantically to the venue, having been severely held up in traffic.

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

Alexandra Conunova, Camille Thomas, Shani Diluka et Finghin Collins ont enchanté, en solo, duo et trio, les auditeurs venus profiter d'un splendide programme beethovénien dans un cadre charmeur.

Mit fünf weiteren Sonaten erkundet Levit die wechselseitigen Spiegelungen der einzelnen Werke.

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.

Juan Pérez Floristán debutó en el Auditorio Nacional dentro del Ciclo Grandes Intérpretes de Scherzo con un programa atrevido y elegante, lo que demuestra las cualidades poco comunes del joven pianista sevillano.

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

Un récital d’Ivo Pogorelich est toujours une expérience musicale hautement singulière. Ce récital à la Salle Gaveau n'a pas dérogé à la règle. 

Personnalité musicale forte, volcanique, le jeune pianiste sicilien Giuseppe Guarrera nous offre un programme Beethoven-Rachmaninov-Chopin-Debussy-Liszt.

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. 

Aimard fühlte sich bei Kurtág offensichtlich zuhause. Er lebt in diesen Werken Es ist fast durchweg reflektierende, manchmal beinahe feierlich-heitere Musik. Interessant und ansprechend, insgesamt!

Au vu de sa Campanella, de son Appassionata, il paraît évident qu’Abduraimov est de ces artistes qui pratiquent au plus haut degré une certaine forme de culturisme technique. Culturisme qu’il pare et sublime sous l’animalité de ses lectures : violence féline, spontanéiste, presque iconoclaste mais toujours fascinante.

Mit technischer Präzision demonstrierte Emanuel Ax fünffachen Beethoven in heiterem Gewand. 

Kissin court hardiment le clavier, toucher fantastique en prime, et ce sont certainement pas les idées qui manquent. Mais comment est-il encore possible, à ce niveau, de commettre pareilles fautes de goût, de pratiquer aussi éhontément l’emphase ?

Verdichter, Veredler, der Musik Ausgelieferter, überirdisches Talent: Jewgenij Kissin überwältigt sein Publikum im Münchner Gasteig.

Pour l'édition 2015 du Festival Musica de Strasbourg, Pierre-Laurent Aimard nous donne un récital centré sur la musique de Pierre Boulez, mais où se côtoient aussi Ligeti et Beethoven.

Nach einigen Startschwierigkeiten begeistert der junge Starpianist Yundi im Münchner Herkulessaal mit chinesischen Werken und Beethovens Appassionata.