![\"RCM-Ehnes_Goodyear\"](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/12\/RCM-Ehnes_Goodyear-featuire_image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Royal Conservatory of Music: Beethoven 250 Festival \u2013 Dec. 11-13, 2020. James Ehnes (violin) and Stewart Goodyear (piano). Available to stream at rcmmusic.com<\/a><\/span> through Dec. 20, 2020.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Lost in the glow and hype of a weekend filled with livestreamed mega-projects from Opera Atelier<\/a><\/span> to Against the Grain Theatre with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra<\/a><\/span>, were three superb concerts that a handful of only a few hundred of us managed to take in these past few days.<\/p>\n If you hadn\u2019t heard about violinist James Ehnes and pianist Stewart Goodyear\u2019s marathon recital series of all ten Beethoven violin sonatas over three days as part of Koerner Hall\u2019s Beethoven 250 series, then you missed something special. Amiably hosted by impresario Mervon Mehta, to whom we are positively grateful for bringing all this together, the highly musical duo of Ehnes and Goodyear, national treasures now in their own right, gave a series of live concert recitals that are destined to become cornerstones of our cultural heritage within the classical music genre.<\/p>\n Here are the highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Superb musical style and eloquent execution throughout Some things I really liked:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Ehnes was a model of self-control up there but took some fine interpretive risks in the later sonatas when needed \u2014 he really made the Sonata No. 9 \u201cKreutzer\/Bridgetower\u201d shine to its fullest potential Why these concerts mattered so much:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 It is rare to see all ten Beethoven violin sonatas played in a row and played so consummately well. Check out these rare recitals \u2014 you won\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 They took every opportunity for sophisticated musical expression in each phrase
\n\u2022 Goodyear\u2019s playing was always satisfying, expressive and unerring, whether boldly splashing some intense runs or balancing burnished tone in passages of hymnal calm
\n\u2022 Ehnes offered glorious tone galore of his own, often with a growing, conspicuous delicacy as each concert forged on. Virtuosity, range, durability, tone \u2014 he had it all.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Goodyear refused to play from memory and read the score in all ten works. I\u2019m grateful \u2014 I prefer it in this context \u2014 he seemed so meticulously connected to the music, channelling an inner harmonic imperative one minute in moments of softest spectral expression and with fine pedalling (especially in the early sonatas 1-3) and then maximizing the glow of Beethoven\u2019s tension-filled phrases at top speed the next
\n\u2022 The performers emphasized contrast but never in an exaggerated manner: what a pleasure to hear the \u201cSpring\u201d sonata\u2019s (No. 5) lyricism give way to passages of luminous velocity \u2014 and they made the structure of Beethoven\u2019s diverse creations sound so effortless
\n\u2022 Hearing the works back-to-back gives a splendid accounting of Beethoven\u2019s musical adventurousness, his consuming fire for terse structures in some sonatas, such as the intense No. 4 in A minor, and maximal long-breathed expressive works like my favourite sonata of all, the meditative No. 10 in A minor\/major.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 There was never a dull moment \u2014 their playing always engaged
\n\u2022 Interpretations were all highly considered, professionally executed
\n\u2022 One could find a unified strength of purpose in both playing and architecture, bringing Beethoven\u2019s voice to prominence at all times.
\n\u2022 Priceless pieces and performances captured for all time<\/p>\n#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/h3>\n