Garrick Ohlsson began his cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas last night (which, by the way, is the first in Ravinia Festival history). He performed Sonatas No. 4, 20, 23 ("Appassionata"), and 28. He will complete the cycle of 32 sonatas during his seven remaining performances at Ravinia this season.
The Beethoven festivities began at 6:45 P.M. with a pre-concert talk hosted by Sylvie Desouches. It was an exciting presentation that included information on Beethoven's history, compositional techniques, and musical examples.
When asked how he prepared for this cycle he responded: "You know the famous joke 'how do you get to Carnegie hall.' Well, how do you prepare for a Beethoven Sonata cycle? It is the same answer."
You can catch the remaining Beethoven sonata performances tonight, June 19 and 20, August 28 and 29, and September 5 and 6.
-Justin Brown, Communications Associate
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