ARCHIVED - Beethoven bared showed nothing but naked genius!

There's nowhere to hide when the only thing on stage is a spotlit piano

On Wednesday evening the Ed. was amongst those who attended the first in a new cycle at the Victor Villegas Auditorium in Murcia City celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven with pianist Daniel del Pino.

Sadly, his piano sonatas, written between 1795 and 1822 are performed in public only infrequently, and when they are the most famous pieces such as the Pathétique and the 32nd "Moonlight" sonata, composed for the woman he wanted to marry, Giulietta Guicciardi, are those most frequently selected to pull in the crowds, yet these sonatas are some of the most important pieces he ever wrote, crammed with every emotion the composer could express through his musical genius, and packed to the seams with melodies and musical experiments which leapt from idea to idea as music literally burst from his magical fingers.

But these concerts don´t just showcase the genius of Beethoven, they also include the 18 studies by György Ligeti which are mindbogglingly difficult for even these accomplished concert pianists to perform, and although the Ed. will freely confess to cringing when reading that these chalk and cheese innovators would be offered in the same concert programme was forced to admit that although the experience was akin to opening a box of luxury chocolates to find pieces of peanut brittle spiked with a little hot chili nestling in amongst the champagne truffles, the end result was surprisingly pleasing to the palate.

First the senses were calmed by the ingestion of a smooth caramel cream and the 7th and 20th sonatas, before the peanut brittle was introduced as Liget challenged the sanity of any performing artist with his 1st study, fittingly entitled Disorder, which left nerves in tatters, eyebrows raised in surprised admiration and questions hanging in the air, yet somehow made the champagne truffle of the 19th sonata which followed oh so much sweeter.

Both authors using the same palette of notes, and both creating a varied musical experience, which was surprisingly palatable.

A further element of surprise lurking in the programme was the inclusion of one piece selected by the pianist, who had chosen a work entitled Étude d'Óiseaux by Francisco Lara, who is principally known for his work as an orchestral director rather than as a composer. The piece was easily identifiable as related to the sound of birdsong, but the imagery of delicate birdfeet hopping up and down along a branch was unavoidable as the hands of the performer flowed up and down the keys. Another great surprise, as although the Ed. would have no interest in rushing out to buy the album, the inclusion of these additional pieces made the whole concert so much more balanced and dynamic, highlighting the genius of Beethoven, stripped down to this solitarity instrument and laid bare on the wooden flooring with nowhere to hide other than behind the enormous talents of both composer and performer.

This series of nine concerts has been organised in collaboration with the Madrid Círculo de Bellas Artes which premiered the cycle the night before the performance in Murcia and offers exceptional value for music lovers.

All 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas will be played in these nine concerts along with Ligeti’s 18 Études for piano and a selected piece from each pianist, including one new work commissioned by the MCBA from Tomás Marco as part of the cycle.

Tickets for each of the individual concerts are priced at 10 euros and a season ticket for all nine events can be purchased for 72 euros, and even though the remaining concerts in this cycle now number only 8, the purchase of an abono reduces the price for the 8 concerts to just 9 euros a piece, a tragically small amount for so much talent.

The schedule for the season is as follows, with each concert beginning at 20.00:

23rd October: Daniel del Pino plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 1, 6, 7, 19 and 20, Ligeti’s études nº 1 and 13 and Étude d’Oiseaux by Francisco Lara.

25^th November: Judith Jáuregui plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 2, 13, 25 (cuckoo) and 4, Ligeti’s études nº 11 and 12 and “Study in Stride” by José Luis Greco.

2^nd December: Gustavo Díaz-Jerez plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 9, 3, 12 and 27, Ligeti’s études nº 5 and 14 and two pieces of his own composition, “Metaludios: Succubus” and “Homenaje a Antonio Soler”.

15^th January: Javier Negrín plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 5, 15 and 30, Ligeti’s études nº 3 and 16 and “Juego de tresillos” by Armando Alfonso.

18^th February: Eduardo Fernández plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 10, 11 and 18, Ligeti’s études nº 4 and 18 and “Estudio para Uracilo, un príncipe genómico” by Ramón Paus.

4th March: Alba Ventura plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 14 (the Moonlight Sonata), 17 and 23 (Apassionato; Wagner's favourite!), Ligeti’s études nº 6 and 10 and “Cavatina” by Ricardo Llorca.

28^th April: Mario Prisuelos plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 24, 8 (Pathétique), 26 and 32 (Moonlight), Ligeti’s études nº 9 and 17 and “Toccata Al-Ándalus” by Carles Guinovart.

11th May: The eighth of these concerts features Noelia Rodiles playing the 28^th, 21^st and 31^st sonatas as well as Ligeti’s Études nº 2 and 8 and “Toccata Al-Ándalus” by Carles Guinovart.

3^rd June: Miguel Ituarte plays Beethoven’s sonatas nº 22, 16 and 29, Ligeti’s études nº 7 and 15 and “Upon a Ground” by Jesús Rueda.

Individual tickets for all of these performances can be purchased online here or at the box office of the auditorium, where season tickets are also on sale. Season tickets can only be purchased from the box office.

For full venue details and information regarding other events scheduled at the Auditorio Víctor Villegas go to the English language Murcia Auditorium website or see the feed below.