{"id":2302,"date":"2021-06-24T14:25:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T12:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firkusny.cz\/koncerty\/igor-levit\/"},"modified":"2021-08-20T14:45:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T12:45:01","slug":"igor-levit","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/firkusny.cz\/en\/programme\/igor-levit\/","title":{"rendered":"Igor Levit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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Igor Levit for the first time in Prague<\/h2>\n

The Rudolf Firku\u0161n\u00fd Piano Festival, as the first in the Czech Republic to do so, is proud to present the pianist Igor Levit. The New York Times describes him as \u201cone of the essential artists of his generation\u201d. When he gave a recital to monumental acclaim in New York\u2019s Carnegie Hall in May 2019, the daily published a review headed: \u201cA Pianist\u2019s Profound Vision of \u2018Life,\u2019 in Just 2 Hours\u201d<\/em>. That same month Levit appeared at London\u2019s Wigmore Hall. \u201cYou seldom hear a Champions League-level roar of approval at the Wigmore Hall. Last night, though, Igor Levit drew a throaty collective bark of appreciation from the audience after (for once) an awed hush had followed the final dying cadences of the aria\u2019s return in Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations. Had he earned it? Absolutely,\u201d<\/em> stated an article on the review website The Arts Desk.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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An insatiable desire to find new paths<\/h2>\n

Levit cannot be accused of a lack of courage. For his debut album on the Sony label at age 25, he chose supreme masterpieces of the piano repertoire \u2013 Beethoven\u2019s last five piano sonatas. He followed up on the 2013 album last year by issuing of a complete set of Beethoven\u2019s piano sonatas. A review on the server Classical Review said: \u201cLevit\u2019s Beethoven is firm, well-articulated and considered. He is completely immersed and confident in his views, and the results are often edgy, stressful or even unforgiving. Those characteristics are conveyed without any hesitance. You can\u2019t really ask for more in such a crowded field.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This fits well with a statement he made in an interview: \u201cPhrases like \u2018the performer, a servant of the composer\u2019 are alien to me. I don\u2019t think anyone should serve anyone, at any level. \u2018I play what Beethoven writes\u2019 is about the hollowest statement there can be.\u201d<\/em> Levit\u2019s priority is interpretive freedom that arises from the unique approach of each performer.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Mr. Levit was honoured by a prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, which is conferred once every four years to exceptional pianists whose artistry weds virtuosity with individuality and an insatiable desire to find new paths (among the past recipients have been Leif Ove Andsnes, Piotr Anderszewski, and Rafa\u0142 Blechacz<\/strong>). That same year he was named Instrumentalist of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society.<\/p>\n

Despite his youth, he has also earned a university position \u2013 last spring he was appointed to a professorship at his alma mater \u2013 the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik in Hanover.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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…in a single breath<\/h2>\n

The leitmotiv for Mr. Levit\u2019s recital at the Firku\u0161n\u00fd Piano Festival is Beethoven. Just as Mozart\u2019s last three symphonies exhibit a high degree of interrelation, Beethoven\u2019s last three piano sonatas can also be seen as a trilogy in which the composer has returned to a more austere, briefer form, but his treatment of that form exhibits all the more freedom. Not bound by conventions, he wrote these three masterpieces alongside his Ninth Symphony and his late string quartets. He himself said he wrote these works in Vienna in 1821-1822 in a single breath. And it is in just this way, without breaks, that Igor Levit will play them in Prague.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Watch the excerpt from Sonata by Beethoven from Gilmore Keyboard Festival 2020 <\/h4>\n <\/div>\n