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

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.  

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.

Though born in America, Stephen Kovacevich has lived in London since moving there to study with the great Dame Myra Hess at the age of eighteen. He clearly has a special rapport with British audiences, as his amiable manner in discussing his encores demonstrated.