OPUS 109 - BEETHOVEN, BACH, SCHUBERT

Following the global success of his Grammy-award winning Goldberg Variations, Víkingur Ólafsson takes his audience on a riveting journey to Beethoven’s late masterpiece, the Sonata in E Major Op. 109, tracing along the way its connections with Beethoven’s own earlier sonata, as well as works by Bach and Schubert.

The programme offers an array of exciting discovery and awe-inspiring music. With an exploration of Bach’s monumental Partita no. 6, Víkingur illuminates the way in which Beethoven’s radical originality was rooted in his deep understanding of the music of Bach. By presenting the rarely performed treasure, Schubert’s Sonata in E minor D 566, alongside Beethoven’s mellifluous Sonata in E minor op. 90, Víkingur makes the case that Schubert’s work, usually considered a fragment, is indeed a complete and assuredly sculpted gem in the mould of Beethoven’s sonata, published in Vienna two years before. Finally, Beethoven’s two sonatas in E major and E major furthermore reveal a neglected facet of the composer’s musical persona: A warm, loving and sonorous euphony that contrasts the sharp-edged, fiery temperament so often on display in Beethoven’s works.

PROGRAMME

J.S. Bach: Prelude in E major BWV 854

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90

J.S. Bach: Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830

Franz Schubert: Sonata in E minor, D 566

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109