On 8 February, the Great Guild concert hall will host pianist Andrejs Osokins’s only solo concert in Riga this season. It will be Osokins’s tribute to his inspiration, the composer and pianist closest to him in spirit and artistry, Ludwig van Beethoven, on his 250th anniversary.
The conceptual core of the concert programme is fantasy, as the freest, most spontaneous and most improvisatory form of music. Framing the concert like an arch will be the inspirations of Beethoven’s life – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s delicate, ethereally poignant Fantasia in C minor and Robert Schumann’s untamed-soul Fantasie, which was dedicated to the creation of the Beethoven monument. At the heart of the programme will be two of Beethoven’s own fantasias: the least-performed Fantasia, Op. 77, and one of the most frequently heard – the «Sonata quasi una fantasia», better known as the famous Moonlight Sonata. New works have been specially created for the concert, which will receive their world premieres right here at the Great Guild in Andrejs Osokins’s interpretation.
«This year my concert schedule includes extremely varied programmes, wonderful programmes, each with its own mood and energy. But I await this solo concert dedicated to Beethoven’s music in Riga with special excitement and emotion. Together with the audience we will contemplate Beethoven’s monumental personality and its influence on the entire subsequent development of European music. This evening will be entirely devoted to Beethoven’s great spirit, and who knows, perhaps he will truly be there with us.» reveals Andrejs Osokins.