James Brawn - A Beethoven Odyssey, Vol. 9 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 28 and 29 "Hammerklavier" (2024)

Tracklist

01. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
02. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: II. Lebhaft. Marschmässig
03. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: III. Langsam und sehnsuchtvoll
04. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: IV. Geschwinde, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit
05. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”: I. Allegro
06. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”: II. Scherzo – Assai vivace
07. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”: III. Adagio sostenuto
08. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”: IV. Largo – Allegro – Allegro risoluto

Solo sonatas were seldom played in public in Beethoven’s time; they were chamber music in the true sense, works for domestic sharing and enjoyment. Listeners to recordings and radio broadcasts today are often better off than their counterparts in the back row of a concert hall – though of course this depends on the work being played. There are piano sonatas that storm the heights, like Beethoven’s Sonata No.29, Op.106, and there are others that confide, like Sonata No.28, Op.101. The composer often complained about the limitations of the piano, proclaiming right up to his last year that, “It is and remains an inadequate instrument.” Nevertheless, the piano remained the instrument of Beethoven’s fantasy, invention and virtuosity and he used it to forge his late style, an extraordinary and compelling fusion of fugue, variation and sonata form.

James Brawn began his career at age 12 with an Australian debut in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.25, K.503. Brawn credits subsequent achievements to the great pianists with whom he has studied, taking pride in teachers who trace their pedagogical lineage back to Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Clara Schumann. Born in England in 1971, his career in music began in New Zealand, where he began piano lessons at age seven. He played Bartók on New Zealand television and won his first awards in Auckland. The family moved to Australia the following year, where he studied with Margaret Schofield, Ronald Farren-Price and Rita Reichman, winning major prizes at all the Melbourne competitions and the Hephzibah Menuhin Award, presented by Yehudi Menuhin. In 1987, Brawn reached the concerto final of the ABC Young Performers Awards, which led to concerts with the Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. He continued private study with Rita Reichman in Philadelphia on a grant from the Australia Arts Council, and in 1988 received a full scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won many recital awards, including the Beethoven Prize and 20th Century Prize. At age 19, Brawn won the Keyboard Final of the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. From 1993-2001, Brawn taught piano and chamber music at King’s College and St. John’s College schools in Cambridge. In 2001, he returned to Australia to take up a piano teaching position at highly regarded Scotch College, where he co-founded the biennial Scotch College Piano Festival. Brawn has recorded for RTHK Radio 4 in Hong Kong, SMG Classical in Shanghai, ABC Classic FM, and 3MBS radio in Melbourne. He returned to the United Kingdom in 2010, performing regular solo recitals in London, including St. James’s Piccadilly, Blackheath Halls, Foundling Museum, The Forge, Royal Over-Seas League and St. Olave Church. Significant engagements include recitals at Chichester Cathedral, Cheltenham Town Hall, the Bösendorfer concert series at St. Mary Magdalene and the ‘Pianists of the World’ series at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Brawn has performed in master classes with András Schiff, Tamás Vásáry, Menahem Pressler and Stephen Kovacevich, and studied chamber music with members of the Amadeus and Chilingirian Quartets. Recitals have taken him to France, Italy, China, Canada and the United States. Recent Beethoven concerto performances in the UK have been with the Surrey Mozart Players, English Symphony and Capriol Chamber Orchestras. In 2015, James Brawn was made a Steinway Artist and in 2016 he joined the piano faculty of the FaceArt Institute of Music, Shanghai.

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