From the early Op. 2 set of sonatas to the famous 'Moonlight', find out why Beethoven's piano sonatas broke the mould - and hear from pianists themselves about how they approach performing them.

Even as he struggled with the onset of deafness, Beethoven took the piano sonata into new realms of expressive power and beauty. Beethoven composed his Moonlight Sonata in 1801, the same year that — A ...

Performances in N.Y.C. Advertisement Supported by critic’s notebook Our chief classical critic took on the daunting Opus 110 in college, and now relishes risky recordings. By Anthony Tommasini For my ...

Of all the musical genres (that word again), the Piano Sonata is the only one that Beethoven worked on more or less consistently throughout his life. No large gaps as with the Symphonies or String ...

Long after most of my grandmother’s memories had faded, she would occasionally sit down at the piano bench, pull a yellowing score from a nearby shelf, and begin to play. Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without ...

Absolutely; the focus and stamina were such that a sinking would have been impossible. Any difficulties rest with us, and I confess I have a problem with the biggest movements. Like much in late ...

Ticket seller: Here are your tickets, enjoy the show. Usher: Your tickets, please. Follow me. Jeff Spurgeon: In New York City, there are lots of ways to get to Carnegie Hall, a subway, a taxi, a walk ...

Writing a warm if inevitably parti pris appreciation of Stephen Kovacevich’s nine-CD and 12-year project, producer John Fraser speaks of ‘an artist of almost self-punishing honesty and integrity’.

Much of this success was due to a disregard of composition conventions and rules, pushing the performers and their instruments to their limits. Today there are many artists who have recorded and ...

The most famous of Beethoven’s violin sonatas have nicknames. The Spring is named for its air of pastoral ease – although that choice of name had nothing to do with the composer. The Kreutzer got its ...

"I would never have believed that I could be so lazy as I am here. If it is followed by an outburst of industry, something worthwhile may be accomplished." So wrote Beethoven from the Austrian spa ...