English Blog

Living with Beethoven’s Life 1/21/19

January 21, 2019

I am focusing on Beethoven’s music in the 2018-19 season. I was little overwhelmed few weeks ago preparing so many Beethovens! I just performed Beethoven’s 3 cello sonatas, and will perform Beethoven’s 3 piano sonatas in February. It was almost “miracle” that I started to feel comforted once I passed the stage being overwhelmed. Beethoven’s life has given us the great imagination for many years in the world. He is a giant and he is a human-being. I often find moments in his music “Ludwig, you are trying to trick us?!” or “You are having an amazing time!” or “You are giving me a hard time…” or just simply “I love your music”. It has been and it will be an honor to live with Beethoven’s music and life.

Beethoven wrote various sonatas for various instruments in a different part of his life and it is a wonderful journey to survey those pieces with his life. I am preparing Op. 31 No. 3 “Hunt”, Op. 53 “Waldstein”, and Op. 109, “Hunt” as one of the happiest sonatas, “Waldstein” as one of the most virtuoso ones, and Op. 109 as most tender one. He tells a lot of stories in those sonatas. As I wrote in the past 2 main facts should be examined for studying piano sonatas, one to be the instrument development (pianoforte to modern piano), and another one to be his deafness which transformed his existence. I imagine Beethoven loved new gadget. If he would live in the current era I am sure he would love the technology! So piano development was a big part of Beethoven’s piano composition.

My concert for 3 Beethoven Sonatas will be on Saturday February 16 at 4pm at First United Methodist Church of Pasadena (500 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101) as a part of 3rd@1st Concert Series . I will speak about the pieces and will perform.