ALEXANDRE KANTOROW
Since his brilliant victory at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition, Alexandre Kantorow has captivated audiences with the intensity of his interpretations. At 28, he is one of the leading ambassadors of the piano worldwide. In addition to Chopin, he performs the exceptional Sonata by Medtner and a sacred masterpiece: Beethoven’s ultimate Sonata, Op. 111.
Programme
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Prelude in C-sharp minor Op.45
NIKOLAÏ MEDTNER (1880-1951)
Piano Sonata N° 1 in F minor Op. 5
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111
Kantorow plays Liszt: Isoldes Liebestod, S.447, After Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (Verbier Festival)
Chopin’s experimental Prelude Op.45 twists simple melodic material into chromatic modulations, a process revived by Wagner, who was then gleaning his first successes. Beethoven’s last Sonata is equally innovative, “the last step from this world to the next” according to Wilhelm Kempff, so far did the composer venture into the limbo of the compositional language of his time.
It was the discovery of Beethoven’s late works that kindled the artistic flame in the young Medtner, who in this early Sonata composed a formidable synthesis of the heritages of the great European style. The first movement, for example, sounds as if Johann Sebastian Bach had spent a few years under the influence of Slavic Romanticism. But it is the Finale that bears Beethoven’s stamp the most, with its epic pomp and skilfully maintained tension. It is with great enthusiasm that we see Alexandre Kantorow, a great specialist in the Russian repertoire, take on this jewel.