Pierre-Laurent Aimard Juxtaposes Contemporary Repertoire with Beethoven This Season, in Recital and on Tour in Europe with Gürzenich-Orchester and François-Xavier Roth

Peerless French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is celebrated worldwide for both his unparalleled expertise in contemporary music and his unique take on the classics. During the 2019-20 season these specialties are brought into dialogue with one another in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, as the pianist contrasts the Classical master’s pioneering spirit with iconic groundbreakers from the 20th and 21st centuries. On a tour of Germany, France and England with François-Xavier Roth and Cologne’s Gürzenich-Orchester, Aimard juxtaposes Beethoven with John Cage and a newly commissioned work by Francesco Filidei. A similar theme galvanizes the pianist’s solo recitals in Paris, Boston and New York: Beethoven sonatas rub shoulders with works by George Benjamin, Alban Berg, and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, while in the latter two cities Aimard gives a second recital combining Beethoven with Schoenberg and Stockhausen. Beethoven also takes center stage as Aimard embarks on his third and final year of a residency at London’s Southbank Centre: he curates and performs in a series of three concerts next spring titled “Beethoven and the Avant Garde.” Rounding out Aimard’s season are multiple performances of Bartók’s three piano concertos; a four-project residency at the Casa da Música in Porto, Portugal; a tour to Russia comprising performances with two different orchestras and a solo recital in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall; performances in Brussels and Amsterdam of Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire with Andris Nelsons leading the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; and much more.

Long recognized for his unique voice as a Beethoven interpreter, Aimard made a historically-informed recording of the complete Beethoven concertos with the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in 2003. Gramophone, declaring that “the freshness of this set is remarkable,” called Aimard “an inspired choice” as soloist. On tour in Germany, France and England with François-Xavier Roth and Cologne’s Gürzenich-Orchester this season, Aimard plays a program inspired by Beethoven’s wide-ranging “Academy” concerts, which showcased his latest works in multiple genres. The pianist performs Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto and “Moonlight” Sonata with a newly commissioned work by Francesco Filidei, and John Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra (Feb 9-24).

Aimard also echoes the theme of the avant-garde Beethoven in recital this season. At the Cité de la Musique in Paris he plays Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata, along with George Benjamin’s Shadowlines, Berg’s Op. 1 Piano Sonata, and a work by the early Baroque Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (Jan 25). He performs similar programs in Boston’s Celebrity Series and at New York’s 92nd Street Y, along with a second concert in both cities combining Beethoven sonatas with works of Schoenberg and Stockhausen (March 28-April 4). Slightly varying the program, the pianist gives performances in Colorado and Schenectady, New York in November featuring two movements from Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux alongside works by Beethoven, Sweelinck and Benjamin (Nov 19, 20, 24). Both Messiaen and Stockhausen are among the modernist masters with whom Aimard worked closely during their lifetimes. He recorded the complete Catalogue d’oiseaux in 2018 to inaugurate his exclusive contract with the Pentatone label, and a recent account of Stockhausen’s Klavierstücke at Musikfest Berlin was hailed as “the performance of a lifetime.”

The 90th anniversary of Stockhausen’s birth was celebrated last season, when Aimard performed two concerts dedicated to the composer’s music as part of his three-year residency at London’s Southbank Centre. This season marks the third and final year of the residency, during which the pianist curates and performs in three concerts dedicated to Beethoven. On February 21, the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall is the venue for one stop on Aimard’s tour with Roth and the Gürzenich-Orchester. On March 10 the pianist plays a solo recital juxtaposing Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata with the “Concord” Sonata of Charles Ives, a program he reprises the following week in Antwerp, and on May 16 he returns to the Southbank Centre to perform Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with Nicholas Collon leading the Aurora Orchestra. When Gramophone reviewed Aimard’s 2003 recording of the complete concertos, his performance of the Fourth was singled out as a “quite exceptional achievement.”

Aimard’s busy season includes a number of other orchestral collaborations and solo performances as well. In addition to their performances with the Gürzenich-Orchester, he and François-Xavier Roth team up for Bartók’s First Piano Concerto with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Oct 30-31) and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Nov 14-15), after recent performances of the Third Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic. The pianist also explores the second of Bartók’s piano concertos with three orchestras: the Ural Philharmonic conducted by Dmitry Liss in Yekaterinburg, Russia (Dec 6); the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia under Konstantin Khvatynets in Moscow (Dec 13); and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia under Josep Pons in A Coruña, Spain (Jan 31-Feb 1). Reuniting with Roth, Aimard performs Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with the Orchestre de Paris at the end of the season (May 20-21), following a tour of the same piece in Belgium with the Antwerp Symphony led by Philippe Herreweghe (May 7-9), and gives a rendering of Beethoven’s Third Concerto with Andrew Manze leading the NDR Radiophilharmonie (Nov 6). Finally, following a residency with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra last season, Aimard joins conductor Andris Nelsons and the orchestra for performances in Brussels and Amsterdam of Scriabin’s seldom-heard Prometheus: The Poem of Fire (Jan 16-19).

High-resolution photos may be downloaded here.

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Pierre-Laurent Aimard: 2019-20 season engagements

Oct 30 & 31
Montréal, Canada
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal / François-Xavier Roth
BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No. 1

Nov 6 at 6:45pm
Hanover, Germany
Hannover Congress Centrum Leibniz Saal
“Carte Blanche” recital

Nov 6 at 8pm
Hanover, Germany
Hannover Congress Centrum Kuppelsaal
NDR Radiophilharmonie / Andrew Manze
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Nov 14 & 15
Leipzig, Germany
Gewandhaus Leipzig / François-Xavier Roth
BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No. 1

Nov 19
Boulder, CO
Macky Auditorium
MESSIAEN: VI. L’alouette-lulu from Catalogue d’oiseaux
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
MESSIAEN: V. La chouette hulotte from Catalogue d’oiseaux
SWEELINCK: TBA
BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101

Nov 20
Denver, CO
Friends of Chamber Music Denver
MESSIAEN: VI. L’alouette-lulu from Catalogue d’oiseaux
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
MESSIAEN: V. La chouette hulotte from Catalogue d’oiseaux
SWEELINCK: TBA
BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101

Nov 24
Schenectady, NY
Union College Concert Series
MESSIAEN: VI. L’alouette-lulu from Catalogue d’oiseaux
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
MESSIAEN: V. La chouette hulotte from Catalogue d’oiseaux
SWEELINCK: TBA
BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101 

Dec 6
Yekaterinburg, Russia
Sverdlovsk State Philharmony Great Hall
Ural Philharmonic Orchestra / Dmitry Liss
BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No. 2
MESSIAEN: Turangalîla-Symphonie 

Dec 11
Moscow, Russia
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 7 in D, Op. 10, No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
SCHOENBERG: Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23
BERG: Sonata for Piano, Op. 1

Dec 13
Moscow, Russia
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia / Konstantin Khvatynets
BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No. 2
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, K. 503

Jan 11
Porto, Portugal
Casa da Música
Remix Ensemble Casa da Música / Peter Rundel
MESSIAEN: Oiseaux exotiques 

Jan 16
Brussels, Belgium
Palais des Beaux-Arts
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Andris Nelsons
SCRIABIN: Prometheus: The Poem of Fire 

Jan 17 & 19
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Concertgebouw
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Andris Nelsons
SCRIABIN: Prometheus: The Poem of Fire 

Jan 20
Ostrava, Czech Republic
SWEELINCK: TBA
GEORGE BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BERG: Sonata for Piano, Op. 1
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”) 

Jan 25
Paris, France
Cité de la Musique / Philharmonie de Paris
SCHOENBERG: Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 7 in D, Op. 10, No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
STOCKHAUSEN: Klavierstück IX 

Jan 31; Feb 1
A Coruña, Spain
Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia / Josep Pons
BARTÓK: Concerto for Piano No. 2

Feb 4
Dortmund, Germany
Konzerthaus Dortmund
KURTÁG: Games for Piano (excerpts)
BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier Part I, BWV 846 – 869 (excerpts)
BACH: The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080 (excerpts) 

Feb 9-24
Tour with Gürzenich Orchester / François-Xavier Roth
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Piano No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”): Adagio sostenuto
FRANCESCO FILIDEI: Commissioned work for piano & orchestra
CAGE: Concert for Piano and Orchestra
Feb 9, 10 & 11: Cologne, Germany (late-night performance following Feb 10)
Feb 16: Munich, Germany
Feb 21: London, England (Royal Festival Hall)
Feb 22: Lyon, France (Auditorium Maurice Ravel)
Feb 24: Hamburg, Germany (Elbphilharmonie) 

Feb 13
Paris, France
Cité de la Musique / Philharmonie de Paris
SWEELINCK: TBA
GEORGE BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BERG: Sonata for Piano, Op. 1
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”) 

March 3
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Concert en Congresgebouw de Doelen
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”)
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 7 in D, Op. 10, No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in A-flat. Op. 110

March 5
London, England
Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir George Benjamin
MESSIAEN: Catalogue d’oiseaux III. Le merle bleu (The Blue Rock Thrush)
GEORGE BENJAMIN: Duet for piano and orchestra 

March 7
Baden-Baden, Germany
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”)
IVES: Piano Sonata No. 2 (“Concord, Mass., 1840-60”)

March 10
London, England
International Piano Series
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”)
IVES: Piano Sonata No. 2 (“Concord, Mass., 1840-60”) 

March 16
Florence, Italy
Amici Della Musica
SWEELINCK: TBA
BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101
BERG: Piano Sonata, Op. 1
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in A-flat. Op. 110

March 18
Antwerp, Belgium
deSingel
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”)
IVES: Piano Sonata No. 2 (“Concord, Mass., 1840-60”)

March 21
Porto, Portugal
Casa da Música
Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música / Baldur Brönnimann
MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Celeste 

March 28
Boston, MA
Celebrity Series of Boston
SCHOENBERG: Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 7 in D, Op. 10, No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
STOCKHAUSEN: Klavierstück IX

March 29
Boston, MA
Celebrity Series of Boston
SWEELINCK: TBA
BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101
BERG: Piano Sonata, Op. 1
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in A-flat. Op. 110

April 2
New York, NY
92Y
SCHOENBERG: Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 7 in D, Op. 10, No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Piano No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
STOCKHAUSEN: Klavierstück IX 

April 4
New York, NY
92Y
SWEELINCK: TBA
BENJAMIN: Shadowlines
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101
BERG: Piano Sonata, Op. 1
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in A-flat. Op. 110 

April 24
Porto, Portugal
Casa da Música
Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música / Stefan Blunier
TRISTAN MURAIL: Le Desenchantement du Monde 

April 26
Porto, Portugal
Casa da Música
Remix Ensemble Casa da Música / Peter Rundel
HUGUES DUFOURT: L’Origine du monde

May 2
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Het Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ
Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ
BARTÓK: Seven Pieces from Mikrokosmos for two pianos, four hands
RAVEL: Sites auriculaires: Habañera
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: Keyboard Engine, construction for two pianos
MESSIAEN: Visions de l’Amen
Tamara Stefanovich, piano

May 7-9
Belgian Tour
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra / Philippe Herreweghe
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Piano No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)
May 7: Ghent (Muziekcentrum De Bijloke)
May 8: Antwerp (Koningin Elisabethzaal)
May 9: Bruges (Concertgebouw Brugge) 

May 16
London, England
Royal Festival Hall
Aurora Orchestra / Nicholas Collon
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, Op. 58 

May 20 & 21
Paris, France
Philharmonie de Paris
Salle Pierre Boulez
Orchestre de Paris / François-Xavier Roth
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Piano No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 73 (“Emperor”) 

May 29
Poznań, Poland
Poznań Philharmonic / Łukasz Borowicz

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© 21C Media Group, October 2019