Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano
Edison Box Office: 314-935-6543
Adult: $20
Senior, WU Faculty/Staff: $15
Students and Youth: $10
Washington University students: free (limit one per ID)
PROGRAM
BEETHOVEN Rondo No.1 in C major and No.2 in G major, Op.51
BEETHOVEN Sonata in D major, Op.10, No.3
Interval
HAYDN Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII:6
BEETHOVEN Sonata in C minor, Op.13, ‘Pathétique’
Pre-concert Lecture: 6:30 P.M. by Ben Duane, Assistant Professor, Theory and Composition in the Pillsbury Theatre
“Auditory Signposts: How Haydn and Beethoven Exploit the Psychology of Hearing.”
The music of Haydn and early Beethoven exhibits a certain transparency of form. Themes are conspicuous, phrases are clearly shaped, and one section leads to the next with a logic both precise and overt. Yet this clarity stems as much from the listener’s brain as from the music itself. In particular, Haydn and Beethoven exploit principles of human perception and cognition—which have since been studied by cognitive scientists—to create auditory “signposts” at crucial points in the music’s structure.
Kristian Bezuidenhout is one of today’s most notable and exciting keyboard artists, equally at home on the fortepiano, harpsichord, and modern piano. Born in South Africa in 1979, he began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music, and now lives in London. After initial training as a pianist with Rebecca Penneys, he explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Kristian first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize, and audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition.
Kristian is a regular guest with the world’s leading ensembles including the Freiburger Barockorchester, Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester; and has guest-directed (from the keyboard) the English Concert, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Tafelmusik, Collegium Vocale, Juilliard 415, Kammerakademie Potsdam and Dunedin Consort (St Matthew Passion).
He has performed with celebrated artists including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Giovanni Antonini, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Alina Ibragimova, Rachel Podger, Carolyn Sampson, Anne Sofie von Otter, Mark Padmore & Matthias Goerne.
Kristian's rich and award-winning discography on Harmonia Mundi includes the complete keyboard music of Mozart (Diapason d’Or de L’année, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, & Caecilia Prize); Mozart Violin Sonatas with Petra Müllejans; Mendelssohn and Mozart Piano Concertos with the Freiburger Barockorchester (ECHO Klassik); Beethoven, & Mozart Lieder, and Schumann Dichterliebe with Mark Padmore (Edison Award). In 2013 he was nominated as Gramophone Magazine’s Artist of the Year. Recent releases include Volume 2 of Mozart Piano Concertos with the Freiburger Barockorchester.
In the 2017/18 season, Kristian becomes an Artistic Director of the Freiburger Barockorchester and Principal Guest Conductor with the English Concert. He play-directs programmes with both orchestras and also with Camerata Salzburg, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Zürcher Kammerorchester . As a soloist he performs with Orchestre des Champs Elysees/Herreweghe, Les Violons du Roy/Cohen and Le Concert Olympique/Caeyers. Solo recitals and chamber music take him to London, Rome, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Munich, Cologne, Berlin, USA and Japan.
Sponsored by Charles J. Metz