Star pianist Daniel Barenboim embarks on a survey of Schubert’scompleted piano sonatas. In each of the four recitals, Barenboim offers a journey through Schubert’s creative life, from the youthful sonatas of the earlier years to the great masterworks written during his final months. Universally recognized as supreme expressions of the Romantic spirit, these works, ignored after the composer’s death for more than a century, today stand at the centre of the piano repertoire, side by side with the piano works of Beethoven, Schubert’s admired predecessor and contemporary. For the pianist and conductor, performing Schubert’s complete piano sonatas has been “an intense and fascinating voyage into these microcosms of harmonic sophistication.” For Barenboim Schuberts piano sonatas are revelatory because they achieve something people rarely can: they bring conflicting emotions together in harmonious unity. Sometimes a single motif can evoke a sense of joy and, simultaneously, provide a glimpse into an abyss of unspeakable melancholy. The press raves about the Maestro’s Schubert interpretation: “Superb Schubert from an Old Master.” (Bachtrack) ”This is Schubert at his most intense. Breathtaking!” (Guardian) The concert series is part of the inaugural season of the new Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin. The hall has been designed pro bono by star architect Frank Gehry and acclaimed acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota according to Daniel Barenboim’s very personal aim to establish a place where musicians and audiences come together to create an environment of communication, listening and understanding. The elliptical hall is a unique modular construction which offers the possibility to see the stage from all directions.

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PROGRAM
Piano Sonata No. 4 in A minor, D. 537
Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, D. 664
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959