Sunday Piano Series: Daniel Lebhardt

Daniel Lebhardt          piano
Beethoven                   Sonata No. 17, 0p. 31, No. 2, ‘The Tempest’
Schumann                   Gesänge der Frühe
Brahms                        Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119

Daniel Lebhardt first appeared in our Series in his early twenties, having won awards and released his first album on Decca. He’s now enjoying a busy international career, and his recital demonstrates the progression of three great composers. The second of Beethoven’s Op. 31 sonatas, the Tempest, is full of anger and despair, perhaps reflecting Beethoven’s increasing deafness, and is one of his most moving pieces. Schumann’s Dawn Songs were his last coherent piano pieces written before his fatal breakdown, described by Clara as unsettling, yet touching and beautiful. Also written in the final years of his life, Brahm’s four pieces are melancholic, yet shot through with warmth and playfulness, increasing in spirit, and ending in defiance.

Our Sunday Piano Series performances are informal and introduced from the stage, and you can chat with the pianists in the bar after the concert and still have time to get back home for Sunday Lunch!