Igor Levit piano

It takes a pianist of rare musical and emotional intelligence, not to mention supreme technical skills, to uncover fresh ideas in the ‘Appassionata’, one of Beethoven’s best-known works. Igor Levit possesses the attributes needed to reveal the piece in new light. He prefaces it this evening with the two-movement Sonata No. 22 in F, an all-too-easily overlooked yet towering example of Beethoven’s inventive brilliance. His recital’s first half, launched with the skyrocketing opening bars of Op. 10 No. 1, probes the surprising emotional depths of the composer’s Mozartian Op. 49 sonatas.