When you have a chance to hear any of Beethoven's last three piano sonatas should be a treat, but what do you call an opportunity to hear all three in a single evening performed by one of the most gifted pianist of our day: "A Night in Heaven." That night was Monday February 2, 2004 at Severance Hall in the concert hall and the pianist was Mitsuko Uchida.

These sonatas were written in the final years of Beethoven's life and unlike the earlier heroic sonatas these turned inward. The pieces themselves push the limit of the known sonata form. There can be a tendency for a performer to overplay these pieces but Uchida gave a straightforward reading of the work. She emerges herself deep into the soul of the work, playing beautifully and insightfully

In Piano Sonata No. 30 she approached variation I. & II. of the Tema sincerely like a slow thoughtful walk and an elegant precise play in the final variation.

On Piano Sonata No. 31 she displayed a style of controlled heroism and performed an amazing transition from the Fuga: to the Allegro, ma no troppo, a disorienting musical moment as if experiencing a moment of personal enlightenment.

In the final Piano Sonata No. 32, she played the Adagio with the presence of an underlying tension, revealing the potential chaos that lurked beneath the surface.

This concert was the second in the Reinberger Recital Series. Coming up on March 9th is Dame Felicity Lott, soprano, a concert not do be missed followed by more Beethoven, this time string quartets performed by the Takacs Quartet on April 18th and 19th.

I applaud Severance Hall for presenting this wonderful evening and I hope this is the beginning of more recital concerts in the concert hall.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Brian Schriefer briancpa@msn.com (:divend:)