Launching his Mozart debut recorded with the Czech Philharmonic and Jiří Bělohlávek (Supraphon 2017), Jan Bartoš drew to himself a lot of critical attention on an international scale. Those who reviewed the album especially appreciated his rare ability to combine thorough understanding both of the musical architecture and the deep emotionality of the works (a quality possessed also by the pianist’s tutors Ivan Moravec and Alfred Brendel). From the early “Haydn-like” Sonata No.3 in C major to the highly dramatic “Appassionata” to the transcendent last Sonata No.32 in C minor, which gives an impression of the composer parting with this world, the pianist facilitates to us the amazing integrity and colourfulness of Beethoven’s piano work. During the thirty years separating his first and last piano opus, the composer tried out numberless experiments, and yet some crucial themes come up again and again; the imprint of his unique musical DNA is discernible from his very first opuses. In the hands of Jan Bartoš, Beethoven whispers, sings and thunders. We encounter a world full of contrasts, an image whose colours remain impressed in our memory for a long time.

This is not “another Beethoven”. This is a fascinating journey through the world full of colours, reliefs and emotions.

Recorded in Prague at the Martinů Hall, Academy of Performing Arts, 3–4 June 2017