Paul Lewis Comes to Den Norske Opera This Month

The performance is on November 27.

By: Nov. 07, 2022
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Paul Lewis Comes to Den Norske Opera This Month

Paul Lewis visits the Main Stage twice during the season, in connection with his international tour - which includes all of Schubert's piano sonatas. The performance is on November 27.

"Rarely do you come across a recording that makes you want to dance in the streets and hand out records to wild strangers. This is one of them", Gramophone's reviewer has written about Lewis' recordings of Schubert. In other words, this will be an event!

The first work of the evening is the sonata in E flat major, a sonata Schubert first began writing as a teenager. The work was first published after his death, in 1829.

Furthermore, we get to hear the great A minor sonata, one of the most beloved and complex of all Schubert's sonatas. Schubert was struck by syphilis in 1822, and was strongly affected by the disease for the rest of his short life. This work reflects a far greater seriousness and pain than the previous sonatas.

The final sonata of the evening is one of the three sonatas that were actually published in Schubert's lifetime. Sonata No. 17 in D major is nicknamed the Gasteiner, as it was written while Schubert was staying in the spa town of Bad Gastein in 1825. This was possibly the last time he experienced without too much pain before the heavy darkness descended upon his last year. The D major sonata is grandiose and reflects the surroundings he surrounded himself with in Gastein: green valleys, lakes and rural inspiration.

"Schubert is perhaps the greatest phenomenon in the history of music. The richness of what he created during a life of barely 31 years is unparalleled," said pianist Alfred Brendel.

Nevertheless, Schubert felt in Beethoven's shadow all his life. "I secretly hope to be able to create something of my own power, but who can do anything after Beethoven?", Schubert is said to have confided to one of his childhood friends. He never dared to make contact with the great composer, but rather put the tribute into the music: Almost all of Schubert's works bear the stamp of Beethoven.




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