BORIS GILTBURG

Boris Giltburg, whose “pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven … enormously pleasurable and revelatory” (BBC Music Magazine), opens his PPI recitals with the composer’s lyrically rhapsodic Sonata No. 31 — a work of both serene respite and operatic pathos that, even upon first listen, envelops the soul with its loving embrace.

From a dark, desolate opening to the heavenly ascension experienced in its final phrase, Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor charts a journey of emotional catharsis filled with plenty of heart-racing moments, while Rachmaninoff’s final preludes showcase the composer’s ability to create grand cinematic scenes using even the most miniature of musical forms.

“virtuosity in service to the sublime”

BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110

LISZT Sonata in B Minor

— Intermission —

RACHMANINOFF Thirteen Preludes, op. 32