Friday, March 9, 2007
8:00 P.M.
Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
In the Evening Standard, Barry Millington wrote of Paul Lewis’s playing—and we think this remark is true of all of Paul Lewis’s work—“the overriding impression was of perfectly weighted chording and immaculately executed phrasing throughout.” This Beethoven recital features Sonata No. 26, otherwise known as "Les Adieux"; then the three sonatas of Opus 10. See associated events on October 13, March 9, and May 11.
When Paul Lewis commenced his eight-concert Beethoven Piano Sonata cycle at Middlebury, in Feburary 2005, Performing Arts Series Director Paul Nelson commented, "We first heard Paul Lewis a number of years ago. Our colleagues had praised Lewis profusely; so when we had the chance to hear him at Wigmore Hall in London, we went with high expectations. We were not disappointed." Says Paul, "The prospect of hearing him play all of Beethoven's sonatas at Middlebury was irresistible: an admirable young pianist, surveying all the sonatas of the composer who first moved us to love piano music."
Reserved Seating: $15/12/5. http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets or 802-443-MIDD (6433).
Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Reservations required. http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets or 802-443-MIDD (6433).
Concert Program:
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 no.1
Molto allegro e con brio
Adagio molto
Finale: prestissimo Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10 no.3
Presto
Largo e mesto
Menuetto. Allegro
Rondo. Allegro
Intermission
Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 no.2
Allegro
Allegretto
Presto
Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a, "Les Adieux"
Das Lebewohl: Adagio – Allegro
Abwesenheit: Andante espressivo –
Das Wiedersehen: Vivacissimamente
For program notes, please contact Events and Residency Manager Allison Coyne Carroll at carroll@middlebury.edu
Artist Biography:
Paul Lewis is one of the most sought after artists of his generation, appearing regularly at the world’s major musical venues and festivals. He studied with Ryszard Bakst at Chetham's School of Music and Joan Havill at the Guildhall in London, after which he received regular coaching from Alfred Brendel. After many competition successes, including the 1994 London International Piano Competition, he was selected for the BBC’s inaugural “New Generation” artist scheme, and was chosen by the Wigmore Hall for the European Concert Halls Organisation’s “Rising Stars” Scheme. His highly acclaimed Schubert piano sonata series, presented at venues throughout the UK, including the Wigmore Hall, won him both the South Bank Show Classical Music Award, and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year Award in 2003, and his recordings for Harmonia Mundi have won many international awards including 2 successive Edison awards in Holland in 2004 & 2005. More recently he was awarded the 25th Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Following on from the success of his Schubert Sonata series Paul Lewis is currently performing a complete cycle of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas at venues across Europe and the US through to the end of 2007.
His recent international schedule has included recital and concerto debuts throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, and Australia. He has also appeared regularly at the BBC Proms, including the televised “Last Night” in 2005, and at both the Cheltenham and the Edinburgh international festivals, the Schubertiade Festival in Schwarzenberg, the Roque d’Antheron Festival, and both the Risor and Vancouver Chamber Music Festivals. He has appeared with many of the worlds leading orchestras including the Vienna Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, CBSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Kammerphilharmonie, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, and Seattle Symphony, under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Mark Elder, Sir Chalres Mackerras, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Marin Alsop, Ivor Bolton, Richard Hickox, Emmanuel Krivine, Alexander Polianichko, Joseph Swensen, Vassily Sinaisky and Gerard Schwarz. As a much sought-after chamber musician, he has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Collins and Ernst Kovacic, Adrian Brendel, Steven Osborne, the Sine Nomine Quartet, and the Leopold String Trio.
In addition to his ongoing Beethoven Sonata series the 2005-2006 season also included concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink, and the London Philharmonic, the Mozart Concerto for 2 Pianos with Till Fellner at the 2006 BBC Proms, and a nationwide recital tour of Australia for Musica Viva.
Paul Lewis’s recordings for Harmonia Mundi include two all Schubert CDs, the first winning a Diapson d’Or Choc de l’Année in France in 2002, and the second won the 2004 Edison Instrumentalist Award in Holland. His third disc for them featuring the Liszt sonata, also won the Edison Instrumentalist Award in 2005. The first CD of his complete series of Beethoven Sonatas was released in September 2005, and the second volume, a triple CD box set, will be released in the UK in October 2006. He has also recorded both Mozart Piano Quartets and Schubert’s Trout Quintet with the Leopold String Trio for Hyperion Records.
Press Quotes:
"Lewis's performance (Waldstein Sonata) was faultless as he brought out the poetry, warmth and exuberance that pervades this monumental work. Beg or steal a ticket for the concerts in March and May.” -- The Scotsman 11/30/2005
"There is in Lewis's playing a strong physicality, a firm connection between his deep thinking about the music and his articulation of it. He knows and can define its character, and can show how its rhythmic, harmonic and melodic components coalesce. This was playing of intellectual rigour and imaginative vigour." -- Geoffrey Norris, The Daily Telegraph
"For a young pianist to tackle three of the most elusive and sublime masterpieces in the repertoire all in one recital may seem an act of hubris. But Paul Lewis's odyssey through the complete sonatas of Schubert brought him last night to the trio of great sonatas from the composer's last year. Any one of these on its own would have been a challenge. To bring off all three in such superlative performances is a feat of extraordinary concentration. With his tousle-haired appearance and singing tone, Lewis enables one to imagine Schubert - only a few years older than him when he wrote these works - at the piano. Certainly, he offers a very convincing solution to their interpretative dilemmas.... Lewis gets the balance exactly right for my taste... the overriding impression was of perfectly weighted chording and immaculately executed phrases throughout. This was Schubert playing of the highest order."
-- Barry Millington, The Evening Standard