Paul Lewis: Beethoven, Brahms & Mozart

Hailed as a successor to his teacher, the great Alfred Brendel, Paul Lewis is among Britain’s best-loved artists. 

And like Brendel, he has built an enviable reputation in the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.

Today’s recital is dedicated to them, bookended by two of Beethoven’s most powerful sonatas, both in the dramatic key of C minor.

He opens with the composer’s fifth sonata: here is Beethoven as the rebellious young pianist who had Vienna at his feet. This contrasts ideally with the elegant and witty Mozart Sonata in C Major.

Next, Lewis plays Brahms’ three Intermezzi, tenderly introspective pieces that the composer described as ‘lullabies of my sorrows’. 

The concert ends with Beethoven’s last piano sonata, which travels from existential anguish towards heavenly peace.