According to Jörg Widmann, Beethoven’s Opus 130 represents the “string quartet of string quartets.” His own Eighth and Tenth Quartets were written in response to the Viennese master’s late work, in particular its famous slow movement, titled “Cavatina.” The New York–based Juilliard String Quartet frames Widmann’s “Beethoven Studies” with their historical model, including both its traditional version and the Grosse Fuge, the work’s original finale.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
Danish composer Louise Alenius challenges the conventions of classical performance practice with her daring and experimental works. Her latest piece now receives its world premiere at the Pierre Boulez Saal: Apatiens anatomi (“The Anatomy of Apathy”) was written for Trio con Brio Copenhagen, which continues its tradition of presenting a new composition from its homeland in Berlin every season. The program also includes Beethoven’s youthful Opus 1 and Tchaikovsky’s romantic Piano Trio, composed in 1882.
Most recently heard at the Pierre Boulez Saal during the Mendelssohn Festival in December 2023, Clara-Jumi Kang and Sunwook Kim return as a duo to perform four works exploring the full range of the violin sonata repertoire. Bookending their program with a Beethoven classic and an early masterpiece by 23-year-old Richard Strauss, they also present Ottorino Respighi’s 1917 Sonata and the idiosyncratic Fourth Sonata by Mieczysław Weinberg, written in 1947.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
Mignon, Ophelia, and Mary, Queen of Scots—these three towering figures of literature and history provide the inspiration for an evening of words and music created by Christiane Karg, Malcolm Martineau, and actor Helmut Mooshammer. In addition to Goethe settings by Beethoven, Schubert, Wolf, Duparc, and Josephine Lange and Ophelia songs by Brahms, Strauss, Chausson, and Wolfgang Rihm, the program also includes Robert Schumann’s Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, the composer’s final vocal cycle written in 1852.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
British composer Thomas Adès’s Arcadiana combines musical and nonmusical influences—from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte to the paintings of Poussin and Watteau, to Greek mythology—to evoke paradisiacal scenes. In its second concert of the season, the Berlin Staatskapelle String Quartet performs the piece, written in 1994 and already considered a contemporary classic, alongside 19thcentury quartets by Schubert and Beethoven.
Toward the end of their lives, Franz Schubert and Dmitri Shostakovich both composed virtuoso works for famous violinists of their time: Schubert wrote his Cmajor Fantasy for Josef Slavík, known as the “Bohemian Paganini,” while Shostakovich’s only violin sonata was conceived for his close friend David Oistrakh. Leonidas Kavakos and Enrico Pace perform both works at the Pierre Boulez Saal, together with music by Ludwig van Beethoven and contemporary Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
“You must record the Beethoven sonatas at least once in your life,” says violinist Antje Weithaas. Her recently finished complete recording, for which she was joined by pianist Dénes Várjon, has been lauded as a new benchmark. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, the two artists present these ten groundbreaking works on consecutive evenings.
“You must record the Beethoven sonatas at least once in your life,” says violinist Antje Weithaas. Her recently finished complete recording, for which she was joined by pianist Dénes Várjon, has been lauded as a new benchmark. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, the two artists present these ten groundbreaking works on consecutive evenings.
“You must record the Beethoven sonatas at least once in your life,” says violinist Antje Weithaas. Her recently finished complete recording, for which she was joined by pianist Dénes Várjon, has been lauded as a new benchmark. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, the two artists present these ten groundbreaking works on consecutive evenings.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
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