Pianist Beth Levin Showcases Beethoven Sonatas on A SINGLE BREATH
By: BWW News Desk May. 01, 2013
PARMA Recordings presents A Single Breath, New York based pianist Beth Levin's magnificent live performance recording of the final three Beethoven Sonatas, Op. 109-111. Recorded on April 20, 2012 at Faust Harrison Pianos in New York, A Single Breath is being released on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 on PARMA's Navona Records label.
Beth Levin has honed her interpretive and expressive skills since her days as a child prodigy in Philadelphia. Beethoven's Sonatas 30-32 (Op. 109, 110, and 111), famously composed "in a single breath," serve as fitting source material for Levin to express her skill, exploring the emotionally complex works with originality, grace, and respectful interpretation of Beethoven's innovative and prescient brilliance.
TRACK LIST:
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109
1.Vivace, ma non troppo
2. Prestissimo
3.Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo (Variations 1-6)
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A Flat Major, Op. 110
4.Moderato Cantabile Molto Espressivo 5.Allegro Molto
6. Arioso/Fuga/Arioso/Fuga
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111
7.Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato 8.Arietta: Adagio molto, semplice e cantabile
Pianist Beth Levin's playing style can only be described as one of complete and selfless immersion into music, aided by an impeccable technique and an understanding that can be traced back to her unique artistic lineage. Levin, a former child prodigy who made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 12, was subsequently taught and guided by legendary pianists such as Rudolph Serkin, Leonard Shure, Dorothy Taubman and Paul Badura-Skoda (who praised her as a pianist of rare qualities and the highest professional caliber). It is this lineage that allows Levin to connect the golden age of the great Romantic interpreters to the modern musical landscape and lends itself to her astonishing interpretive ease with all music, whether written one hundred years ago or one hundred days ago.
As a concerto soloist, Beth has appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Boston Civic Symphony, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other symphony orchestras throughout the Americas, working with noted conductors such as Arthur Fiedler, Tonu Kalam, Milton Katims, Joseph Silverstein and Benjamin Zander.
Chamber music festival collaborations have brought her to the Marlboro Festival, Casals Festival, Harvard, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Ankara Music Festival and the Blue Hill Festival, collaborating with such groups such as the Gramercy Trio (founding member), the Audubon Quartet, the Vermeer Quartet and the Trio Borealis with whom she has toured extensively.
Among Levin's many recordings, her renderings of Bach's Goldberg Variations, (Centaur Records, 2008) and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (Centaur Records, 2011) stand as two of her most crowning achievements. Her interpretation of the Diabelli Variations has been described as "consistently fascinating" (Steve Smith, NY Times) and simply "stunning" (Robert Levine, Stereophile Magazine). Of her Goldberg Variations, it is said that she plays "as if she is in love with the notes....with always the sense that she is exploring Bach's genius" (Peter Burwasser, Fanfare Magazine). Her performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, WGBH (Boston), WFMT (Chicago) and WNYC, WNYE and WQXR (New York).
Levin remains committed to the performance of newly written works, collaborating with composers such as Henryk Gorecki, Louis Karchin, Michael Rose among many others. Her closest relationships remain with composers David Del Tredici and Andrew Rudin, both of whom have written works for her. www.bethlevinpiano.com
Photo: Tess Steinkolk
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