Wigmore Hall, London
The pianist’s performance of sonatas Opp 109, 110 and 111 was full of tender, intriguing details – the works together formed something greater than the sum of their partsBeethoven’s last three piano sonatas are a gift for a pianist as adept at balancing the playful and the profound as Mitsuko Uchida. Each is potentially a work of astonishing individual impact, yet they can come together to form something even greater than the sum of their parts.Perhaps it’s in the way that each sonata seems to pick up on and amplify the conflicts, beauties and struggles of the one before. Op 109 came to its close above a low rumble that Uchida made sound like an earthquake – Beethoven must have thought of sound as something to be felt as well as heard. When similar deep grumbles recurred in the first movement of Op 110 – gentler and unquiet this time, contrasting with tender chords above – they felt like a recollection. The forthright little fugue variation in Op 109 found its fully grown counterpart in the huge culmination of Op 110, and the peace that was so hard won at the end of Op 111 felt like a resolution of a whole evening’s music, not just one sonata. Continue reading...
Tuesday 14 October 2025
theguardian - 20 hours ago
Mitsuko Uchida review – enthralling and exhilarating late Beethoven
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