WQXR presents Beethoven sonata marathon Nov 20 at The Greene Space
WQXR, New York’s sole dedicated classical music station, offers an extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime experience with a twelve-hour marathon of all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas on Sunday, November 20 at The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, the station’s downtown venue. Hosted by WQXR’s Midge Woolsey and Terrance McKnight, this unique event highlights the station’s Beethoven Awareness Month, and will be streamed live at www.wqxr.org.
Performing the 32 piano sonatas – including such masterpieces as the “Moonlight,” “Appassionata,” and “Hammerklavier” – are some of today’s most promising young Beethoven interpreters, including Inon Barnatan, Alessio Bax, Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Benjamin Hochman, Valentina Lisitsa, Natasha Paremski, and Joyce Yang, as well as rising stars from the Juilliard School. The milestone marathon will be presented in six two-hour parts. All-day passes are available at www.thegreenespace.org, and links for tickets to individual segments are provided below.
No composer has impacted the course of Western music quite like Ludwig van Beethoven. According to eminent musicologist Charles Rosen, the 32 piano sonatas, which Beethoven composed between 1795 and 1822, “form one of the most important collections of works in the whole history of music.”
Graham Parker, Vice President of WQXR, comments: “The opportunity to hear this collection complete in live performance by the most exciting group of young professionals and dazzling students is rare indeed. WQXR is incredibly fortunate to have gathered the newest voices of Beethoven interpretation to contribute to what promises to be an extraordinary marathon.”
Full program details of WQXR’s complete Beethoven piano sonata marathon are given below.
WQXR Beethoven 32 Piano Sonata Marathon
The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, NYC
Sunday, November 20
All-day passes are available here; for tickets to each of the two-hour parts, see links below.
Part I: 11am – 1pm
Marina Radiushina: Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
Hyung Min Suh: Sonata No. 4 in E-flat, Op. 7, “Grand Sonata”
Alessio Bax: Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, “Pathétique”
Philip Edward Fisher: Sonata No. 10 in G, Op. 14, No. 2
Evan Shinners: Sonata No. 11 in B-flat, Op. 22
Tickets for Part I are available here.
Part II: 1pm – 3pm
Daria Rabotkina: Sonata No. 2 in A, Op. 2, No. 2
Michael Brown: Sonata No. 22 in F, Op. 54
Michael Brown: Sonata No. 15 in D, Op. 28, “Pastoral”
Qi Xu: Sonata No. 25 in G, Op. 79
Inon Barnatan: Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
Alessio Bax: Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110
Tickets for Part II are available here.
Part III: 3pm – 5pm
Ching-Yun Hu: Sonata No. 3 in C, Op. 2, No. 3
Yuchiong Wu: Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, No. 1
Yuchiong Wu: Sonata No. 20 in G, Op. 49, No. 2
Inon Barnatan: Sonata No. 6 in F, Op. 10, No. 2
Benjamin Hochman: Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, “Appassionata”
Ching-Yun Hu: Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101
Tickets for Part III are available here.
Part IV: 5pm – 7pm
Valentina Lisitsa: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, “Moonlight”
Benjamin Hochman: Sonata No. 7 in D, Op. 10, No. 3
Drew Peterson: Sonata No. 16 in G, Op. 31, No. 1
Timothy Andres: Sonata No. 21 in C, Op. 53, “Waldstein”
Steven Beck: Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109
Tickets for Part IV are available here.
Part V: 7pm – 9pm
Louis Schwizgebel: Sonata No. 9 in E, Op. 14, No. 1
Jonathan Biss: Sonata No. 12 in A-flat, Op. 26, “Funeral March”
Joyce Yang: Sonata No. 18 in E-flat, Op. 31, No. 3, “The Hunt”
Timothy Andres: Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp, Op. 78, “A Thérèse”
Jeremy Denk: Sonata No. 29 in B-flat, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier”
Tickets for Part V are available here.
Part VI: 9pm – 11pm
Jonathan Biss: Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
David Kaplan: Sonata No. 13 in E-flat, Op. 27, No. 1, “Quasi una fantasia”
Natasha Paremski: Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2, “Tempest”
Louis Schwizgebel: Sonata No. 26 in E-flat, Op. 81a, “Les adieux”
Jeremy Denk: Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
Tickets for Part VI are available here.
WQXR 105.9 FM is New York City’s only all-classical music station, immersing listeners in the city’s rich musical life. WQXR presents new and landmark classical recordings as well as live concerts from the Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the New York Philharmonic. WQXR broadcasts essential shows such as the Metropolitan Opera Radio Saturday Matinee Broadcasts, the New York Philharmonic This Week on Thursday evenings, the McGraw-Hill Companies Young Artists Showcase on Wednesday evenings, and Symphony Hall each weeknight. WQXR also operates Q2 Music, an online music stream dedicated to contemporary classical composers, cross-genre adventures, and performances from New York City’s edgier venues. WQXR.org provides essential playlist info for online listening, as well as original content, host blogs, NYC cultural news, videos, and a free WQXR App.
For further information, please contact:
Jennifer Houlihan, WNYC/WQXR: [email protected], (646) 829-4497
Glenn Petry, 21C Media Group: [email protected], (212) 625-2038