Igor Levit, Klavier

Over two evenings, Igor Levit will play eight of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas, chosen for their personal significance to him. According to the pianist, who is known for his sense of the bigger picture, this cycle 'tells us more about human beings than any other'. He is not even bringing the late sonatas to Frankfurt; he played two of them during one of his earliest performances here in 2013. For Levit, large or small, such criteria do not exist: "They are all very, very difficult pieces, but it is my comfort zone; the music that makes me feel understood and supported." In any case, the 'Waldstein' Sonata, which Levit always mentions as his favourite Beethoven piece, will be included – it is 'the greatest musical joy I can imagine on the solo piano'.

In both the insistent first movement of the Waldstein Sonata and his other works, Levit often uses extreme tempos in Beethoven's fast movements. Compared to his complete sonata recording for the Beethoven anniversary year 2020, one can also hear a harsher tone. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, he said that the tone had become rougher and that he had become rougher too, as he is always changing. Ultimately, he realised: 'It is my tone. It is not Beethoven's tone. It is mine, and no one can take that away from me. This feeling is growing stronger and stronger in me. I try to understand this piece of music afresh every day. I try to understand what Beethoven wrote there. But the emphasis is on: I try to understand it.'