Steven Osborne
Following his universally acclaimed complete piano works of Ravel, Steven Osborne is returning to his former loves, Beethoven and Schubert. He has already demonstrated at deSingel that he is quite at home in the Early Romanticism of Vienna.
Schubert deliberately intended the ‘Drei Klavierstücke, D946’ not to be published. Fortunately, more than forty years later they were published anyway, by a great admirer, one Johannes Brahms. They shared a love of small-scale piano works. But smaller definitely does not mean less intense or expressive. One might view the ‘Drei Klavierstücke’ as the third series of impromptus. Schubert leads you through a labyrinth of feelings by means of harmonic exploration and subtle chiaroscuro effects.
By this time, Osborne will be well warmed up before tackling the two gigantic Beethoven sonatas. Both the opus 101 and the ‘Hammerklaviersonate’ are typical of the more abstract, polyphonic style of the late, introspective Beethoven.
Schubert deliberately intended the ‘Drei Klavierstücke, D946’ not to be published. Fortunately, more than forty years later they were published anyway, by a great admirer, one Johannes Brahms. They shared a love of small-scale piano works. But smaller definitely does not mean less intense or expressive. One might view the ‘Drei Klavierstücke’ as the third series of impromptus. Schubert leads you through a labyrinth of feelings by means of harmonic exploration and subtle chiaroscuro effects.
By this time, Osborne will be well warmed up before tackling the two gigantic Beethoven sonatas. Both the opus 101 and the ‘Hammerklaviersonate’ are typical of the more abstract, polyphonic style of the late, introspective Beethoven.
Works
Drei Klavierstücke, D946
Sonate voor piano nr 28 in A, opus 101
Sonate voor piano nr 29 in Bes, opus 106 'Hammerklavier'