For more than 200 years, the music of Ludwig van Beethoven has exerted a unique fascination on audiences as well as performers, for whom this revolutionary classic remains an essential touchstone. Over the course of the 2024–25 season, the composer’s complete piano and violin sonatas will be heard at the Pierre Boulez Saal: eight Sunday afternoons are dedicated to the piano sonatas, performed by Fabian Müller. Violinist Antje Weithaas and pianist Dénes Várjon bring their interpretations of the violin sonatas to Berlin on three evenings in May.
When Fabian Müller made his Pierre Boulez Saal debut in January 2022, his memorable performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata confirmed his reputation as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Now the ARD Competition winner, who was born in 1990 in Beethoven’s hometown of Bonn, takes on the challenge of presenting all the composer’s sonatas as a complete cycle. Dubbed the “New Testament” of piano music by Hans von Bülow— Bach’s Welltempered Clavier was known as the “Old Testament”—the 32 works will be heard over the course of eight Sunday-afternoon concerts. Completing the individual programs are short pieces newly composed by Müller himself, in which he expresses his reflexions on Beethoven’s sonatas.
PERFORMING BEETHOVEN
Fabian Müller on the challenge of bringing Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas to the Pierre Boulez Saal
IN FOCUS
Take a closer look at some of the most celebrated sonatas, including the “Les Adieux” Sonata (heard on December 15)
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Sun, November 3, 2024 4 pm
Sonata in F minor Op. 2/1
Sonata in E-flat major Op. 31/3
Sonata in G major Op. 79 "Sonatine"
Sonata in F minor Op. 57 “Appassionata”
Sun, December 15, 2024 4 pm
Sonata in A major Op. 2/2
Sonata in D minor Op. 31/2
"The Tempest"
Sonata in G minor Op. 49/1
Sonata in G major Op. 49/2
Sonata in E-flat major Op. 81a "Les Adieux"
Sun, January 26, 2025 4 pm
Sonata in C minor Op. 13 "Pathétique"
Sonata in A-flat major Op. 26
Sonata in G major Op. 14/2
Sonata in A major Op. 101
Sun, February 23, 2025 4 pm
Sonata in C minor Op. 10/1
Sonata in B-flat major Op. 22
Sonata in B-flat major Op. 106 "Hammerklavier"
Sun, March 16, 2025 4 pm
Sonata in E-flat major Op. 27/1 "Sonata quasi una fantasia"
Sonata in D major Op. 10/3
Sonata in E minor Op. 90
Sonata in C major Op. 53 "Waldstein"
Sun, April 6, 2025 4 pm
Sonata in D major Op. 28 "Pastoral"
Sonata in C major Op. 2/3
Sonata in F-sharp major Op. 78
Sonata in E major Op. 109
Sun, May 18, 2025 6 pm
Sonata in G major Op. 31/1
Sonata in C-sharp minor Op. 27/2 "Moonlight"
Sonata in F major Op. 10/2
Sonata in A-flat major Op. 110
Sun, June 1, 2025 6 pm
Sonata in E major Op. 14/1
Sonata in E-flat major Op. 7
Sonata in F major Op. 54
Sonata in C minor Op. 111
“You must record the Beethoven sonatas at least once in your life,” says violinist Antje Weithaas. Her recently finished complete recording, for which she was joined by pianist Dénes Várjon, has been lauded as a new benchmark. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, the two artists present these ten groundbreaking works on consecutive evenings.
Thu, May 29, 2025 7:30 pm
Sonata in A major Op. 12/2
Sonata in A minor Op. 23
Sonata in A major Op. 47
"Kreutzer Sonata"
Fri, May 30, 2025 7:30 pm
Sonata in E-flat major Op. 12/3
Sonata in A major Op. 30/1
Sonata in G major Op. 30/3
Sonata in C minor Op. 30/2
Sat, May 31, 2025 7 pm
Sonata in D major Op. 12/1
Sonata in F major Op. 24 "Spring Sonata"
Sonata in G major Op. 96