Igor Levit

Igor Levit once described Beethoven’s music as “reflecting the essence of life itself”. And he should know. Beethoven has been at the core of Levit’s musical career ever since he first heard his work as a teenager. It is therefore no surprise that the genius composer from Bonn is in the spotlight at Levit’s Düsseldorf recital. Despite being so young when he first listened to Beethoven’s music, Levit was immediately consumed by its emotional force, direct impact and inner rawness. “I felt a deep connection”. Several decades later, he has recorded all piano sonatas by this epic composer and also talked about them in a highly successful podcast. At his Heinersdorff concert, he would like to show us how varied the musical content of a sonata can be by playing the four sonatas from 1801 and 1802 that range in style from formal experiments and pianistic jokes to the emotional romantic chords of the Moonlight Sonata. We are very much looking forward to an evening with one of the most acclaimed Beethoven experts of our time.

The joint project of Philharmonie Essen, Kölner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and Heinersdorff Konzerte is under the patronage of Ina Brandes, Minister of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.