Jonathan Biss illuminates Beethoven at Ravinia

By Sam Jacobson, 24 August 2016

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“akin to the rocking waves of a stormy ocean”

Reviewed at Bennett Gordon Hall, Highland Park on 20 August 2016

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 4 in E flat major, Op.7

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 17 in D minor "Tempest", Op.31 no.2

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 5 in C minor, Op.10 no.1

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 23 in F minor "Appassionata", Op.57

Jonathan Biss, Piano

Jonathan Biss steps in with Schubert at Toronto’s Koerner Hall

Michelle Assay, 5th October

Stepping in to replace Stephen Kovacevich, Jonathan Biss’ Schubert alternates between insight and impatience.

***11

Haunting Shostakovich 11 from Hrůša and the BBCSO

Roy Westbrook, 31st January

Jakub Hrůša conducts a magnificent Shostakovich 11 and, just after the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a work by one of the many Jewish musicians who perished there.

****1

Playfulness and horror: Beethoven and Shostakovich in Cardiff

Simon Cummings, 11th February

Ryan Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales give an extraordinary, terrifying account of Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Symphony, preceded by a Classical-Romantic tussle in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto.

*****

Shostakovich in the raw from Canellakis and the LPO

Chris Garlick, 28th October

Early Beethoven doesn't convince, but Karina Canellakis’s rendering of Shostakovich 8 pulls no punches: raw, frightening, even chastening

***11

Hannu Lintu conducts the BBC SO in a bold, stimulating programme

Chris Garlick, 28th January

A boldly curated programme, showcasing two ambitious orchestral works premiered during the last two years, proved to be a most stimulating evening.

*****

Brusque Beethoven from Jonathan Biss at Wigmore Hall

Mark Pullinger, 29th September

Exhilarating playing, but speed isn’t everything as Jonathan Biss opens his Beethoven cycle in London.

***11

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Sam Jacobson

Sam Jacobson has been writing for Bachtrack since 2015 and is currently in Pittsburgh, having previously lived throughout the Midwest. A keen traveler, he endeavors to see all the great orchestras and opera houses across the US and abroad. Outside of music, he works as a software engineer. He also maintains a blog which can be read here.

Jonathan Biss illuminates Beethoven’s piano sonatas at Ravinia