Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 6, 18 & 23 | Steinway & Sons STNS30106

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 6, 18 & 23

£11.35

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Label: Steinway & Sons

Cat No: STNS30106

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Instrumental

Release Date: 19th December 2019

Contents

About

Steinway & Sons begins their celebration of the Beethoven anniversary year with a new recording from the thrilling Korean pianist Young-Ah Tak, an artist who was born to play this music.

In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Steinway & Sons releases a recording of three of the composer’s piano sonatas performed by Young-Ah Tak in her debut recording for the Steinway label. The works span the short and cheery early Sonata no.6 in F major to the monumental Sonata no.23 in F minor, “Appassionata”.

Like most pianists, Tak has had a long relationship with Beethoven, from her first public solo recital at the age of 9 which included several Beethoven variations on the programme, to her audition for The Juilliard School with the Sonata no.18 in E flat major, featured on this disc. Tak waited a long time to study and perform the “Appassionata”, given the hundreds of interpretations already out in the world, so as to ensure she could give the piece a convincing reading in her own voice.

“Getting to know Beethoven’s sonatas and studying them has given me a different layer of meaning and reason why I became a musician and why I do what I do,” says Tak on this project. “Beethoven put great emphasis on his solo piano works, particularly on his sonatas, and I think studying them, understanding them and living with them has had an important impact and influence on me as a musician and as a human being. It’s a lifetime project to study these sonatas, and I feel privileged and excited to be involved.”

Praised for her “thrilling blend of fury and finesse” (San Antonio Express-News), pianist Young-Ah Tak enjoys a remarkable international career with performances throughout the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany, Italy, Korea and Japan.

Ms. Tak made her New York City debut at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra.  She has since appeared with numerous orchestras including the Roanoke, Lansing, North Arkansas, Imperial, Venice, Filharmonia Pomorska (Poland), Oltenia Philharmonic (Romania) and, in her native Korea, with the Busan, Seongnam, and the Korean Symphony Orchestras.

Ms. Tak has been awarded top prizes in many prestigious international competitions including the San Antonio International Piano Competition, Italy’s Valsesia-Musica International Piano Competition, Korea’s Isang Yun International Music Competition, Corpus Christi International Competition and Germany’s Ettlingen International Piano Competition.

Ms. Tak currently serves as an Associate Professor of Piano and Head of the Piano Area at the Crane School of Music of the State University of New York at Potsdam. Dedicated to educating the pianists of future generations, she is also the Founding Artistic Director of the Crane International Piano Festival. She was a faculty member at the Preparatory Division of The Peabody Institute and at Southeastern University in Florida.

“Her rhythmic incisiveness and technical fluency are marvels to behold, and her playing evinces both boldness and clarity of texturing...”  - Fanfare

“With her unique artistic sensibility, she presented the poetic mood of a pure and elegant spring.” - Piano Music Magazine

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