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.

Op. 101 enters the late period with chamber-like intimacy, a march and counterpoint. The Hammerklavier radically enlarges this world: the monumental first movement, the scherzo, the vast Adagio sostenuto and the closing fugue form the largest architectural block of the entire cycle.

programme

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”

Performers

Jan Bartoš – piano

photogallery