Pianist Series: Ronald Brautigam

Ronald Brautigam

Ronald Brautigam is an authority on the great Viennese composers Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The Dutch pianist, a regular at Het Concertgebouw, cannot get enough of the wealth that this repertoire offers. Brautigam has also taken Schubert's last piano sonatas on stage for years, including D 959. With his penultimate sonata, Schubert wrote a work that pushed the boundaries of emotional expression.

Beethoven

Ronald Brautigam once said in an interview about Beethoven's work: 'I have the feeling that they have become my notes when I play them. With a lot of other music, I still feel like I'm wearing someone else's clothes. Everything fits with Beethoven.' Tonight, Brautigam chooses Sonata No. 26, 'Les Adieux', which owes its nickname to the opening chords where the composer expresses the word 'lebewohl'. It is a farewell from the composer to his patron Rudolf, Archduke of Austria, who was forced by political circumstances to leave Vienna.