ACO Up Close: Olli Mustonen plays Beethoven Sonatas

 

Beethoven wrote sonatas throughout his life, and they now form touchpoints among his astonishing output that demonstrate his ambition, invention and innovation as a composer, from a young musical prodigy to the musical powerhouse who changed music as we know it. Opus 2 is bold and dynamic, with the F minor sonata foreshadowing the drama of the Appassionata. No.2 in A major is a vibrant, rhythmic masterpiece. Opus 54 explores contrast and disruption with elegance and propulsive energy. The concert then culminates in the famous Appassionata, an intense work of rage and energy and power. As Beethoven faced down a devastating diagnosis – the loss of his hearing – he wrote a work of outrageous technical difficulty and explosive excitement that showcases his reinvention of the piano sonata into something wild, experimental, virtuosic and deeply personal. Beethoven compared it to Shakespeare’s The Tempest: a magical storm.

Mustonen is a long-time friend of the ACO, and his gifts as a composer and conductor colour his performances. To hear him play Beethoven, in an intimate venue like The Nielson, is an unmissable experience.