Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110 & 111 Cédric Pescia

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109:
• 1 Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109: I. Vivace, ma non troppo 03:39
• 2 Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109: II. Prestissimo 02:12
• 3 Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109: III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung 12:44
• Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 110:
• 4 Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 110: I. Moderato cantabile molto expressivo 06:53
• 5 Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 110: II. Allegro molto 02:14
• 6 Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 110: III. Adagio ma non troppo 10:39
• Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111:
• 7 Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111: I. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato 08:17
• 8 Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111: II. Arietta: Adagio molto, semplice e cantabile 17:14
• Total Runtime 01:03:52

Info for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110 & 111

Similarly to the challenge of the Goldberg Variations (CD 50-2407) which marked his debut with Claves in 2004; Cédric Pescia has launched into Beethoven's last three sonatas for 2009. He has been talking about it for a long time and now he is ready.

Ready to tackle music of which absolutely everything has been said; music that is at the same time puzzling and full of sunny simplicity: three sonatas written between 1820 and 1822; while Beethoven was working on the Missa Solemnis; his "spiritual testament". This coexistence has raised all sorts of wild comments. Richard Wagner for instance puts forth a most unusual theory – coming from him – to explain why the final opus 111 has only two movements: "The first movement corresponds to desire in all its suffering and heroicism; the second corresponds to satisfied desire; as man will experience it once he has become reasonable; vegetarian."

Far from this; Cédric Pescia; one of the most touching pianists of his generation; gives us a heart-moving; sensitive rendition of the deepest interiority.

Cédric Pescia, piano

Cédric Pescia
pianist of dual French and Swiss nationality, was born in Lausanne. He studied with Christian Favre at the Conservatoire de Musique in Lausanne, later with Dominique Merlet at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva where he earned a Premier Prix de Virtuosité with honors and completed his studies with Klaus Hellwig at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

In addition he has studied with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Daniel Barenboim, Henri Barda, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Ivan Klansky, Christian Zacharias, Ilan Gronich and with the Alban Berg Quartet. From 2003 until 2006 he was invited to attend the famous International Piano Academy, Lake Como (Italy) where he worked with Dimitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Menahem Pressler, Andreas Staier and Fou Ts´ong.

Cédric Pescia was the brilliant First Prize Winner (Gold Medalist) at the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition in Salt Lake City (USA).

Concert tours have taken him throughout Europe, China, South America, North Africa and in the USA. He has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Hamburg Laieszhalle, the Mozarteum Salzburg, Carnegie Hall New York, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Wigmore Hall London, Tonhalle Zürich, Vienna Konzerthaus and has appeared in leading music festivals such as: Prague Spring Festival, Lucerne Festival, Menuhin Festival-Gstaad, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Davos Festival, Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, Les Muséiques Basel and Schubertiade Hohenems.

His orchestral appearances have been with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, the Utah Symphony, the Festival Strings of Luzern, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Ensemble Oriol Berlin, the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, the Camerata Bern, the Basler Kammerorchester, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, the Göttinger Symphonie Orchester and the Orchestre National de Lille.

In addition to his activities as a soloist, his love for chamber music regularly leads to performances with other eminent musicians. For many years Cédric Pescia has been working in close collaboration with violinist Nurit Stark.

He is founding member and artistic director of the Lausanne chamber music series Ensemble enScène.

In 2005 and 2007 he served as a jury member in the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey.

He is giving master classes in the USA and in Europe, a.o. at the prestigious Accademia Pianistica Internazionale \"Incontri col Maestro\" in Imola, Italy.

In 2012 he was appointed professor for piano at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève.

In 2007, Cédric Pescia was honoured with the Prix Musique de la Fondation Vaudoise pour la culture. He was a also a prizewinner at the Bourse de la Fondation Leenaards in Lausanne. The duo Nurit Stark (violin) and Cédric Pescia is supported by the Forberg-Schneider Foundation.

For Claves Records, he has recorded Bach\'s Goldberg Variations, Schumann\'s complete works for piano solo (vol. 2 + vol. 5) and a CD of French music featuring Couperin, Messiaen and Debussy, F. Busoni\'s and G. Enescu\'s Violin and Piano Sonatas with Nurit Stark, as well as Beethoven\'s Piano sonatas op. 109, 110 and 111, six CDs which were unanimously acclaimed by the critics. His new recording John Cage : Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano is released by Aeon.

This album contains no booklet.