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The Beethoven
Cycle "This
undertaking has become a journey of self-discovery
as I take the measure of my own
deepening
relationship with this Everest of musical
challenges." - Peter Takács
ON NOVEMBER 19, 1998, in
Finney Chapel, Peter Takács performed the
first of a two-year, eight-recital cycle of the 32
piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. When asked
why he initiated the ambitious project,
Takács replied: "I have lived with these
magnificent works, as performer and teacher, for
many years. I find in them a record of a great
composer's development from his youth as a
brilliant virtuoso, to the peaks of musical
maturity. One recurrent aspect of these sonatas is
their strikingly modern relevance as universal
statements about the human condition&emdash;about
struggle and suffering, healing and transcendence.
In them one gleans a mind intent on surprising and
delighting the listener, pushing the envelope of
accepted rules, and being inspired by nature both
in its pastoral serenity and its turbulence
(reflecting his inner turmoil as well).
"There is great pleasure
in tackling the physical aspects of this music. The
sheer instrumental demands are challenging, but
never as displays of virtuosity. There is also
pleasure in a kind of lateral thinking, in
examining other works&emdash;especially the
symphonies, string quartets and the opera
Fidelio&emdash;for hints of deeper meanings in
these piano works, in terms of instrumental
coloring and emotional content."
Visit www.oberlin.edu/con/faculty/takacs_peter.html
to read (and hear) Peter Takács's The Mind
of Beethoven.
BEETHOVEN
PROGRAMS:
PROGRAM I: NOVEMBER 19,
1998
Sonata No. 1 in F Minor,
Op. 2 No. 1
PROGRAM II: JANUARY 21,
1999
Sonata No. 11 in B-flat
Major, Op. 22
PROGRAM III: MARCH 11,
1999
Sonata No. 5 in C Minor,
Op. 10 No. 1 PROGRAM IV: APRIL 29,
1999
Sonatas Op. 31/1, 2
("Tempest"), 3
1999-2000 DATES
TBA
Program V: Sonata No. 13
in E-flat Major, Op. 27 No. 1, |
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