Revelations

On Beethoven, Brendel, and Gilels.

Beethoven and Gioconda de Vito

Astonishing violinists were never two-a-penny.

In the footsteps of young Beethoven

It’s difficult to imagine Beethoven as a little boy.

Forgotten lives: Beethoven’s mother

On the edge of an old German cemetery lies Beethoven’s best friend.

Grigory Sokolov and Beethoven

Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata is one of the vertiginous summits for solo piano. Every great pianist makes the ascent.

Beethoven’s Bacchanalian indolence

Dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph of Austria, youngest son of Emperor Leopold II and Maria Louisa of Spain, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, was completed in 1811. After two hundred years, it still haunts the musical imagination.