Subtlety and gravity: Paul Lewis delves deep

By Mark Thomas, 06 June 2018

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“Lewis brought out every twist and turn of these brief but remarkable pieces”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 5 June 2018

Beethoven, 11 Bagatelles for piano, Op.119

Haydn, Piano Sonata in E flat major, Hob XVI:49

Haydn, Piano Sonata in B minor, Hob XVI:32

Brahms, 4 Piano Pieces, Op.119

Schubert, Allegretto in C minor, D.915

Paul Lewis, Piano

Paul Lewis balances delicacy with power in understated RLPO Beethoven

Glyn Mon Hughes, 12th March

Understatement is key in Paul Lewis' interpretation of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Adam Hickox.

***11

Sprechstimme and yodelling: Schubert’s birthday bash at Wigmore Hall

Mark Pullinger, 31st January

A double-header celebrates Schubert featuring Allan Clayton and Paul Lewis in Winterreise and the Austrian folk/rock band The Erllkings.

****1

Denève, Lewis and the Netherlands Radio Phil in Utrecht

Laurence Vittes, 23rd January

At TivoliVredenburg’s Grote Zaal: a program of Beethoven, Liszt, and Schumann that, intentionally or not, invited reflection on long-range musical continuity.

***11

Concerto Budapest delivers Beethoven with high-octane fire in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 29th November

András Keller’s orchestra offers intensity, finesse and sheer dramatic sweep, from Tchaikovsky’s infernal tragedy to a Beethoven Fifth Symphony driven with exhilarating momentum.

****1

Magnificent Beethoven and Sibelius, intriguing Nørgård in Manchester

Peter Connors, 22nd March

Per Nørgård’s Eighth Symphony is the unusual opener in a programme of magnificent Beethoven and Sibelius from the BBC Philharmonic, Paul Lewis and John Storgårds at the Bridgewater Hall.

****1

Something close to perfection: Lewis, Storgårds and the BBC Phil

Phil Parker, 24th January

Though a perfect concert is hard to define, you know when you’ve attended one – and Beethoven and Shostakovich from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra provide the proof.

*****

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Mark Thomas

A lifelong devotee of classical music, Mark caught the bug after listening to The Planets, The Rite of Spring and Beethoven’s Fifth when he was knee-high to a grasshopper. He has degrees in non-musical subjects and currently works as a Chartered Governance Professional, but these have proved to be mere distractions from the wonders of sonatas, concertos and symphonies. He has been reviewing for Bachtrack since 2016, plays viola and violin (very shakily) and used to sing a bit (even more shakily).

Subtlety and gravity: Paul Lewis delves deep in mature Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms