represents Beethoven’s early maturity and his independence

from the prevailing classical style, represented by his teacher,

Joseph Haydn. The rhythmic drive, the compact motifs, the

dramatic lyricism (particularly in the slow movement), and

the playful and unexpected ending of this work never fail to

engage the listener.

In contrast to Beethoven, who wrote thirty-two piano sonatas,

Chopin wrote only three. The composer dedicated the majority

of his output to single-movement works for the piano, such as

ballades, scherzi, preludes, etudes, and the dance forms valse, polonaise,

and mazurka. Chopin, a master of lyrical and poetic ideas (many of

them inspired by Bellini’s arias), apparently had a difficult time

molding the musical architecture required by a sonata. In the

Sonata in B Minor, however, he succeeded in organizing his many

musical ideas into one large structure, while utilizing, as in his other

compositions, beautiful melodic lines, complex harmonic shifts, and

contrasts between powerful virtuosity and intimate lyricism. Not

only does Chopin’s BMinor Sonata rank with the great piano sonatas

by Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms, but it is also generally recognized

as the most accessible of the great romantic sonatas.

Program notes by Andreas Klein,

adapted and edited by Elmer Booze

During the months ofFebruary andMarch, recentperformances

by the National Gallery Orchestra can be heard on Wednesdays at 9:00p.m.

on WETA-FM, 90.9.

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery can be heard on the second Sunday of

each month at 9:00p.m. on WGMS-FM, 103.5.

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and 

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery ofArt

2336th Concert

ANDREAS KLEIN, pianist

Sunday Evening, 13 February 2000

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach

(1685-1750)

Allegro

Andante

Presto

Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770-1826)

Italian Concerto, BWV 971

Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major

Op. 7 (1796-1797)

Allegro molto e con brio

Largo, con gran espressione

Allegro

Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso

INTERMISSION

Frederic Chopin Sonata in B Minor

(1810-1849) Op. 58 (1844)

Allegro maestoso

Scherzo: Molto vivace

Largo

Finale: Presto, non tanto

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:30p.m.

The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed.

A native ofBerlin, Germany, pianist Andreas Klein captures any 

audience with his imaginative interpretations, elegant virtuosity,

and ability to create a musical scene with a display of pianistic color 

palette. The New York Times enthusiastically reported that he is “a

fascinating artist with all the indispensable qualities: temperament,

taste, touch, and tone-the four T’s of pianism.” Two German

newspapers were equally excited about his playing: Neue Zeit hailed

him as a person with “exceptional tone sensitivity as a Chopin

interpreter,” while the Buehne Leipzig reported that “he has a wide

range of expressions from the prominent sonorities to the lyrical

phrases.” After early piano studies in his native country, Klein

studied under three ofthe world’s master pianist/teachers, Claudio

Arrau, Nikita Magaloff, and John Perry, and graduated from the

Juilliard School of Music. In the course of the 1999-2000 season,

he will work with the renowned conductors Michail Jurowski

and Hartmut Haenchen and will perform with the Carl Phillip

Emanuel Bach Chamber orchestra, the North German Symphony,

and the Munich Symphony. Andreas Klein records on the FinerArts 

Classical and Ovation Classics labels and appears at the National

Gallery by arrangement with Ultimo Artists, Marianna Schmocker,

artist representative, of Houston, Texas.

Bach’s Italian Concerto is one of the more frequently performed

works of his four-part collection entitled Clavierubung. Vivaldi’s

violin concertos apparently inspired the Italian Concerto, and Bach

adopted Vivaldi’s elegant and brilliant Italian style without giving 

up the German counterpoint and solidity. The elements of tutti

and solo of a typical concerto are here transcribed for a harpsichord

with two manuals, indicated in the score byforte for the tutti and

piano for the solo. An effective performance on a modern piano

depends on an interpretation with tonal shading to illustrate the

dynamic shifts between tutti and solo passages.

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in E-flat Major,; Op. 7, is a remarkable

work. The composer’s subtitle, Grande sonate, could be a reference

to the long duration of its four-movement layout, but more likely

refers to the composer’s favorite “grand” tonality, the key of

E-flat major. Every one of Beethoven’s compositions in this

particular key exhibits his admiration for nobility and heroism,

including the Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Eroica” Symphony No. 3,

and the Piano Sonata, Op. 81a (“Les adieux”). The Sonata, Op. 7, is

dedicated to his student, the Countess Barbara von Keglevics, to

whom he also dedicated his Piano Concerto No.l in C Major. The

sonata was nicknamed TheBelovedby Beethoven’s acquiantances,

who knew of his amorous inclinations toward the countess. It