BEETHOVEN 200: Eroica at the piano

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Christen Bergs Allé 5,
København

BEETHOVEN 200: Eroica at the piano

Description

Rikke Sandberg, piano Few works give such a clear insight into Beethoven's musical imagination as the Eroica Variations, Op. 35. The set of variations was written on the theme that later became known from the finale of the monumental Symphony No. 3, Eroica, and shows the composer at the height of his inventiveness. With humour, virtuosity and an almost inexhaustible creative power, Beethoven transforms the same theme again and again and creates one of the greatest sets of variations in the piano literature. The concert opens with Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79, one of Beethoven's shortest and most charming sonatas. Despite its modest scope, the work contains elegance, energy and lyrical warmth, and acts as a fine contrast to the grand dimensions of the Eroica Variations. Together, the two works show different sides of the composer's art, from the intimate and playful to the monumental and heroic. The evening's soloist is Rikke Sandberg, who for many years has been among Denmark's most distinctive pianists. She is known for her interpretations of both the core classical repertoire and Danish music, and has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and concert pianist in Denmark and abroad. With her great communicative ability, artistic curiosity and secure musical overview, she has built up a special position in Danish musical life. Rikke Sandberg has made her mark with critically acclaimed recordings of Carl Nielsen, Brahms and Herman D. Koppel, among others, and is a pianist who combines technical virtuosity with a deep understanding of the narrative of the music. It is precisely these qualities that make her an ideal interpreter of the Eroica Variations, where intellect, imagination and joy in playing meet in a work that still sounds as fresh and surprising as when it was created. Everyone is welcome, and admission is free. BEETHOVEN 200 A journey through 32 piano sonatas In 2027 it is 200 years since Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) died. The anniversary year is marked at Timotheuskirken with a large Beethoven festival, where throughout the year the audience has the opportunity to experience all of the composer's 32 piano sonatas. Beethoven's sonatas are counted among the greatest masterpieces in music history and are often referred to as the piano literature's "New Testament", while Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier is called the old one. Together the sonatas paint a fascinating portrait of a composer who again and again moved the boundaries of what music could express. Most of the works are performed on the church's new concert grand, a Steinway Model D, but a few concerts also offer the chance to hear the sonatas on the hammerklavier, the instrument Beethoven himself knew. The American fortepiano specialist Gilbert Martinez takes part in these concerts and gives an exciting insight into how the music may have sounded in the composer's own time. The festival brings together a number of distinctive pianists from both Denmark and abroad. The audience can meet musicians from the USA, Armenia, Japan and Argentina, who all put their personal stamp on the interpretation of Beethoven. In addition to the sonatas, the festival offers a few special bonus programmes. Here you can hear, among other things, the Eroica Variations, Op. 35 and Beethoven's own four-hand version of the monumental Grosse Fuge, Op. 130. Beethoven is also put into perspective through works by other composers: Mauricio Kagel's virtuoso piano study An Tasten (1977), which contains numerous greetings to Beethoven, and Jan Ladislav Dussek's Sonata in D major, Op. 31 No. 2 from 1800. The sonata was written five years before Beethoven's Pastoral Sonata, Op. 28, and the connection between the two works is clear. Today Dussek's sonata is rarely performed, but both works point ahead to Romantic music and mark the transition from the classical style to a new musical age. Timotheuskirken's Beethoven festival runs from 24 January to 14 November 2027. All concerts take place on Sundays at 16.00. Admission is free to all concerts.