Beethoven’s music has accompanied pianist Jan Bartoš throughout his life, and each return to it raises new questions and reveals previously unseen connections. At Smetana’s Litomyšl, he will perform all thirty-two of the composer’s piano sonatas over four days – ten hours of music in total. Each sonata has a character of its own, but Jan Bartoš also wants to show what unites them: a journey through Beethoven’s world from youthful daring through dramatic struggles to wisdom, compassion and reconciliation. In his view, even after two centuries this music has lost none of its radicalism or its power to speak about the essence of human existence. In 2027, the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, we will set out on this journey with him.
The two concise sonatas of Op. 49 keep their place here according to opus number and publication, serving as a deliberate look back. They are followed by the expansive world of the Waldstein, the enigmatic two-movement Op. 54 and finally the Appassionata as the dramatic peak of the middle period.
programme
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49 No. 2
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”
Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
Performers
Jan Bartoš – piano
photogallery
