Join us at 12:01 AM, December 16! Streaming link available through December 26 on Oberlin Stage Left.

This program features Oberlin piano faculty and alumni performing seventeen of Beethoven's piano sonatas in celebration of the 250th anniversary of his birth widely accepted as December 16, 1770.

PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)

Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2, No. 1 (1795)
  Allegro
  Adagio
  Menuetto: Allegretto
  Prestissimo
Peter Takács*

Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2 (1795)
  Allegro vivace
  Largo appassionato
  Scherzo: Allegretto
  Rondo: Grazioso
Scott Cuellar '11*

Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Op. 7 (1797)
  Allegro molto e con brio
  Largo con gran espressione
  Allegro
  Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso
Haewon Song*

Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, “Pathétique” (1799)
  Grave—Allegro di molto e con brio
  Adagio cantabile
  Rondo: Allegro
Peter Takács*

Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2 (1799)
  Allegro
  Andante
  Scherzo: Allegro assai
Yury Shadrin '05

Sonata No. 11 in B-flat Major, Op. 22 (1800)
  Allegro con brio
  Adagio con molto espressione
  Minuetto
  Rondo: Allegretto
Zheyu (Crystal) Jiang '19

Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26 (1801)
  Andante con Variazioni
  Scherzo: Allegro molto
  Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe
  Allegro
Spencer Myer '00

Sonata No. 13 in E-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 1, “Quasi una Fantasia” (1801)
  Andante—Allegro—Andante
  Allegro molto e vivace
  Adagio con espressione—Allegro vivace—Adagio—Presto
David Breitman*

Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28, “Pastorale” (1801)
  Allegro
  Andante
  Scherzo: Allegro vivace
  Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Michael Bukhman '05

Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3 (1802)
  Allegro
  Scherzo: Allegretto vivace
  Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso
  Presto con fuoco
Terry Eder Kaufman '79

Sonata in C Major, Op. 53, “Waldstein” (1804)
  Allegro con brio
  Introduzione: Adagio molto
  Rondo: Allegretto moderato—Prestissimo 
Tian Lu '06

Sonata No. 22 in F Major, Op. 54 (1804)
  In tempo d’un menuetto
  Allegretto
Scott Cuellar '11*

Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57, “Appassionata” (1805)
  Allegro assai
  Andante con moto—Allegro ma non troppo
Jingge Yan '10

Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 (1809)
  Presto alla tedesca
  Andante
  Vivace
David Breitman*

Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Op. 81a, “Les Adieux” (1810)
  Das Lebewohl: Adagio—Allegro
  Abwesenheit: Andante espressivo
  Das Wiedersehn: Vivacissimamente
Terry Eder Kaufman '79

Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier” (1818)
  Allegro
  Scherzo: Assai vivace
  Adagio sostenuto
  Largo—Allegro risoluto
Dongfang Wen '17

Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110 (1821)
  Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
  Allegro molto
  Adagio ma non troppo—Allegro ma non troppo
Spencer Myer '00

*denotes Oberlin Faculty member

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Oberlin Conservatory Piano Faculty
David Breitman, Associate Professor of Historical Performance; Director, Historical Performance Program
Link to faculty webpage

Scott Cuellar '11, Assistant Professor
Link to faculty webpage

Haewon Song, Professor of Piano
Link to faculty webpage

Peter Takács, Professor of Piano
Link to faculty webpage

Oberlin Conservatory Piano Alumni
Terry Eder Kaufman ’79
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Peter Takács. Performing and recording artist and teacher, attorney, philanthropist, and founder of KEY PIANISTS—a recital series at Weill Recital Hall.

Spencer Myer ’00
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Joseph Schwartz and Peter Takács. Active solo and collaborative artist and piano faculty at Longy School of Music of Bard College. First Prize winner at the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa and the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association; Gold Medalist at the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition.

Yury Shadrin ’05
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Monique Duphil. Co-artistic director at the Baltimore Piano Festival, soloist and recitalist. First Prize winner of the Rome International Piano Competition.

Michael Bukhman ’05
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Robert Shannon, where he became the first in the institution’s history to graduate with an Honors in Piano Performance. Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano and Chamber Music at Texas Christian University. First-prize winner at the 2006 Corpus Christi International Competition.

Tian Lu ’06
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Monique Duphil, where she earned both a B.M. and Artist Diploma. Co-artistic director at the Baltimore Piano Festival. First Prize at the International Piano Competition in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Jingge Yan ’10
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Peter Takács. Lecturer in piano at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. First prize winner of the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn in 2011. In 2016, Yan started recording the complete 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and has since become the first Chinese pianist in history to interpret and record all 32 sonatas.

Dongfan Wen ’17
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Peter Takács. Completed her M.M. in Piano Performance at the Manhattan School of Music; currently working toward a D.M.A. at the Mason Gross School of Music at Rutgers University.

Zheyu Crystal Jiang ’19
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory with Peter Takács. Oberlin Conservatory 2018-19 Concerto Competition winner; currently a master’s student at University of Missouri-Kansas City where she won their 2020 Concerto/Aria Competition.

View the Stage Left: Beethoven Piano Sonatas program (PDF)