Oxford Beethoven Festival: John Lill

BEETHOVEN

Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31 No. 1

Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31 No. 3, 'The Hunt'

Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54

Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, 'Appassionata'

John Lill piano

Beethoven's piano sonatas are works with which all mankind can identify. Still, the famous ‘Appassionata’ is every bit the product of Beethoven in the year 1804. For the French essayist Romain Rolland, it was Beethoven ‘unleashing of elemental forces, the passions, the madness of men and the elements’. For the critic of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, it was Beethoven talking ‘from heart to heart.’ Elder statesman among British pianists, John Lill, comes to the church of St John the Evangelist to continue our sonata cycle with the ‘Appassionata’, the restless creativity of Beethoven’s Op. 31 Sonatas and the compact Sonata No. 22.

The concert is scheduled to end at approximately 21.35