November 1st, 2015
Haydn: Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI:37
Brahms: Fantasies, Op. 116
Rachmaninov: Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
Haydn: Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32
Franck: Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, Op. 21
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 7 in B-flat Major, Op. 83
Brahms: Fantasies No. 1 in D minor
“In Beethoven anniversary year, there will probably be many more “Moonlight”s, meaning the Sonata, than the real thing (though we’ve been lucky to see the crescent in close conjunction with Venus these past two nights). Not many pianists would dare to place it at the beginning of a programme. Denis Kozhukhin’s paradoxically no-nonsense poetry meant that a constant sense of motion culminated in the whirlwind of the finale, a steady move towards implosion mirrored in the piano transcription of Ravel’s La Valse at the end of the programme. In between came perfection in the form of pure song from Schubert and Grieg.”
