Paul Potts & Piano

Paul Lewis / Schubert’s Sonatas / Piano masterpieces

Franz Schubert held the torch at Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral. It was a symbolic moment – the younger composer was taking over the Promethean flame from a genius. Despite the pathos, it is an accurate association when comparing their symphonies or quartets. However, Schubert did not take over the flame for long – he died less than two years later. In the last months of his life, he created a series of masterpieces, among them three piano sonatas. After their publication, they were heavily criticised for departing from Beethovenian patterns. However, inspiration does not mean imitation after all! Schubert's style is gentle and less definite. Every play is lined with melancholy; contemplation borders on the sublime and ecstasy. Very few people can portray the entire universe of these three sisters' works as aptly as Paul Lewis. It has to be experienced. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 140 minutes

Paul Jacobs / Organ Concert

Not only is »Livre du Saint-Sacrement« the final and most extensive organ work by Olivier Messiaen, it also marks the grand summation of his entire oeuvre, with the French composer delving right back to his early beginnings. Like his first composition for organ, »Le banquet céleste«, its subject matter is the Holy Communion. Though unequivocally theological, this music also has an overwhelming inner depth. It is an immense source of fascination and sensuality. And, lasting some two hours in total, it is also both a revelation and something of a challenge. The American organist Paul Jacobs, who has been described by the Washington Post as one of the »greatest living virtuosos« and is the first organist ever to win a Grammy, is now headed for the Elbphilharmonie. Since 2002, he has performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in marathon concerts across various US cities, each lasting an inordinate number of hours. No question, then, that Jacobs is just the right man for this quite daunting undertaking.

Manfred Honeck & Paul Lewis

Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor belongs to one of the programmes that have been consistently rescheduled due to the pandemic; fortunately, it can finally take place as it had originally been planned in the spring of 2020 with Paul Lewis as the soloist. The work is an unabashedly Romantic piece in which the young composer portrays the bright, expansive, and playful colors of his homeland in an almost impressionistic way. As one of the most sophisticated pianists of his generation, Britain’s Paul Lewis will render this musical portrait with consummate skill. In conductor Manfred Honeck’s conception, Schulhoff’s Five Pieces for String Quartet will be brought to life with a more expressive, or, to be precise, more Dadaist character: rhythmically concise, ecstatically pulsating – a playful new territory for the BRSO musicians. And, indeed, every concert that includes the Eroica is bound to be one of the highlights of an orchestral season.

Manfred Honeck & Paul Lewis

Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor belongs to one of the programmes that have been consistently rescheduled due to the pandemic; fortunately, it can finally take place as it had originally been planned in the spring of 2020 with Paul Lewis as the soloist. The work is an unabashedly Romantic piece in which the young composer portrays the bright, expansive, and playful colors of his homeland in an almost impressionistic way. As one of the most sophisticated pianists of his generation, Britain’s Paul Lewis will render this musical portrait with consummate skill. In conductor Manfred Honeck’s conception, Schulhoff’s Five Pieces for String Quartet will be brought to life with a more expressive, or, to be precise, more Dadaist character: rhythmically concise, ecstatically pulsating – a playful new territory for the BRSO musicians. And, indeed, every concert that includes the Eroica is bound to be one of the highlights of an orchestral season.

Warum tanzen die Toten, Herr Paul?

Eivind Aadland Paul Lewis Ludwig van Beethoven

Already at 13, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was so skilled at the piano that he could earn his own money as a musician in the court orchestra in his hometown of Bonn. And he had enough confidence as a composer to start writing a piano concerto.When Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, the first attempt was left in the desk drawer. In the suitcase was Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Major, which he wrote late in the 1780s and revised for years. It was not printed until 1801, after Piano Concerto No. 1.Like Mozart, Beethoven used his concerts to demonstrate that he was the best pianist of his time. His role model also inspired the music, but Beethoven’s distinctive features, such as strong contrasts and dramatic shifts, are clear already in the first concertos.In the beginning, Beethoven always played the soloist part himself, and he played it from memory—the part was not even written down. None of the piano concertos was printed until 1801. He most likely wrote Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor in 1800 and played it for the first time in 1803.

Eivind Aadland Paul Lewis Ludwig van Beethoven

Already at 13, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was so skilled at the piano that he could earn his own money as a musician in the court orchestra in his hometown of Bonn. And he had enough confidence as a composer to start writing a piano concerto.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was Beethoven’s great role model. In the 1780s, Mozart dazzled Vienna as a soloist in his own piano concertos. In 1795, Beethoven gave his debut concert in the city, probably with the newly written Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major on the program.Like Mozart, Beethoven used his concerts to demonstrate that he was the best pianist of his time. His role model also inspired the music, but Beethoven’s distinctive features, such as strong contrasts and dramatic shifts, are clear already in the first concertos.When he finished his Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major in 1806, Beethoven was a mature and recognized composer. He premiered the work at a major concert in Vienna just before Christmas in 1808, and it was a great success. This is the most poetic of the five, beginning softly with the piano alone.

Académie Piano-Piano : Elisabeth Leonskaja

Chopin Piano

Yokohama-born Sachiko Furuhata debuted at Carnegie Hall in November 2017 to a standing ovation. She has since performed at major venues such as San Francisco's Herbst Theatre, Edinburgh's Usher Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Philharmonic, and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. She has played with orchestras like the Russian State Philharmonic and German Radio Philharmonic. She is a popular and sought-after pianist in Europe.

Piano Quartet

The Voice of Gabriel Fauré