From the first dramatic chord of the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata, Beethoven fills the air with the tension and turbulence of the late 1700s. Celebrated pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho opens the Festival with this work that exemplifies Beethoven ‘The Revolutionary’. In turns, Beethoven lulls the listener into a false sense of calm, only to rudely wake them with tempestuous virtuosic passages.

Beethoven’s piano sonatas all push the soloist to the extreme of their ability, but none more so than the ‘Waldstein’ Sonata, which made use of all the available notes on a newly invented, larger piano. In fact, one reviewer commented after the premiere: ‘The first and last movements belong among the most brilliant and original pieces for which we are grateful to this master, but they are also full of strange whims and very difficult to perform.’

Please note start time.