Freddy Kempf plays Beethoven

Freddy Kempf’s Beethoven

Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Napier, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.

February 28-March 4

Wellington, Feb 28, 7.30pm; Wellington, Mar 14, 7.30pm; Tauranga, Mar 4, 7.30pm; Hamilton, Mar 5, 7.30pm; Auckland, Mar 6, 7pm; Napier, Mar 7, 7pm; Christchurch, Mar 10, 7pm; Dunedin, Mar 11, 7.00pm; Invercargill, Mar 12, 7.30pm.

Following last year’s popular NZSO concert series, Beethoven: The Symphonies, the first national tour for 2015 features the composer’s piano concertos performed and directed by British piano star Freddy Kempf.

Renowned for his supreme musicianship and dramatically physical performances, Kempf captures both the lyricism and the passion that defines Beethoven piano compositions. He seems to find emotion in every note with his charismatic interpretations and mesmerising finger work.

A Time Out review noted “The delicacy of his touch was almost excruciating … His right hand twinkled like a music box … The subtle, refined tenderness of Kempf’s musicianship keeps you leaning in … Kempf has the ability to turn his hand to every mood and style necessary.”

This is Freddy Kempf’s fourth visit to New Zealand. He last performed with the NZSO in 2012 when he played works by Gershwin, Bernstein and Shostakovich. The NZ Herald reported he “had the sleekness of a cheetah on the keys; Ravelian cascades were dispatched with feline grace and he subtly caressed the work’s moody chromaticisms into sinuous life.”

In 2010, he performed Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Third with conductor Alexander Lazarev and, in 2007, he performed works by Beethoven and Prokofiev.

This time, Wellington audiences will hear the pianist play all five Beethoven piano concertos over two concerts – from the elegance of the First to the epic sweep of the Fifth, known as the Emperor. Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Napier, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill will encounter the Emperor Piano Concerto No. 5 and the fiery drama of the Third Concerto.

Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, conducted by Freddy, will also be performed in all centres.

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is a study of elegance, with music that seems to suspend time itself. Echoing the works of Mozart and Haydn, the classical Piano Concerto No. 2 charms audiences with radiant exuberance. A more heroic composer begins to emerge in the Piano Concerto No. 3.

With its dramatic opening, wondrous largo and final racing rondo, there is ample opportunity to revel in Kempf’s virtuosic range, exquisitely expressive yet filled with musical fireworks.

From its emphatic opening chords, the Egmont Overture reveals Beethoven’s genius as he shifts effortlessly from the terrifying to the sublime. Intimate yet expansive – these contradictory qualities come together again in his Piano Concerto No. 4, while revolutionary ideas stalk the majestic Emperor Piano Concerto No. 5.

This self-assured work is one of the most beloved Beethoven concertos. It perfectly embodies Beethoven’s spirit.