After a popular performance during the 2016–2017 Fortas season, extraordinary Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini returns to the Concert Hall with a program celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday. The Grammy® winner and Gramophone Hall of Fame inductee shines as a legendary artist and “one of the most impressive pianists of any generation” (Los Angeles Times). Celebrated for his exquisite performances of classic repertoire, he plays with penetrating intellect and virtuosity while respecting the composer’s intentions—the perfect spirit for playing Beethoven.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
11 Bagatelles, Op. 119
Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111

A Note from Joseph “Yossi” Kalichstein, Artistic Director of Fortas Chamber Music
“Beware of excessive superlatives,” or so goes the conventional wisdom. But sometimes you have no choice....we are happy to have back with us a great pianist playing the greatest music! Even when you consider all of Beethoven’s outstanding creations, the last piano sonatas occupy a rarified field. The deep emotion of the opus 110 Adagio, the monumental first movement of opus 111, and the out-of-this-world-ness of the variations that follow, all leave one speechless. And, surprising as always, at the same time he wrote these larger-than-life masterworks, he also composed two sets of incredibly inspired miniatures (dubbed, modestly, Bagatelles), foreshadowing the Romantic era signature Klavierstucke. These works are minute in scope and length, yet have the same depth, character, and inventiveness that their larger relatives do.