Béla Hartmann

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Sonata No 14 Op. 27 No.2 “Moonlight Sonata” (Beethoven)

i Adagio sostenuto, ii Allegretto, iii Presto agitato

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie “Giulietta” Guicciardi. Although known throughout the world as the Moonlight Sonata, it was not Beethoven who named it so. The name grew popular later, likely long after Beethoven’s death.

Béla Hartmann

Tanzende Tränen (Hartmann)

Tanzende Tränen was inspired by a poem by Rilke, in which the author describes a state of sadness that is nevertheless alive and creative, a sense of longing that is expressed in beauty and light, modest in scope but deep and intense in its expression.

Johannes Brahms (1883-1897)

Rhapsodies, Op. 79 (Brahms)

i Agitato, ii Molto passionato, ma non troppo allegro

The Rhapsodies, Op. 79, for piano were written by Johannes Brahms in 1879 during his summer stay in Pörtschach, when he had reached the maturity of his career. They were inscribed to his friend, the musician and composer Elisabeth von Herzogenberg. At the suggestion of the dedicatee, Brahms reluctantly renamed the sophisticated compositions from “Klavierstücke” (piano pieces) to “rhapsodies”.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90 (Wagner)

i Prelude (arr. Kocsis), ii Liebestod

Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. First conceived in 1854, the music was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered at the Königliches Hoftheater und Nationaltheater in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting. While performed by opera companies, Wagner preferred the term Handlung (German for “plot” or “action”) for Tristan to distinguish its structure of continuous narrative flow (“endless melody”) as distinct from that of conventional opera at the time which was constructed of mundane recitatives punctuated by showpiece arias, which Wagner had come to regard with great disdain.

Performers

Béla Hartmann - Piano

Since becoming a semi-finalist at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2000 Béla Hartmann has enjoyed a wide ranging career, performing in venues from New York (Carnegie Hall) and London (Wigmore Hall) to smaller venues across the UK and Europe. His London series of the complete Piano Sonatas of Schubert at Steinway Hall culminated in the release of his highly praised debut CD of Schubert Piano Works (Meridian), and his performances for the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe at St James’s Piccadilly featured Beethoven’s piano variations, including the monumental Diabelli Variations. Aside from that his repertoire includes contemporary works by composers such as Birtwistle, Boulez and Bussotti, and he gave UK premieres of works by Widmann and Petr Eben. His most recent CD features the early Piano Concerto in A Minor by Mendelssohn, recorded with the Keld Ensemble. Béla Hartmann is also a keen musical essayist and has published articles and reviews on a wide range of music-related topics.