DANIEL LEVY

ONLINE CONCERT: PIANO IMPROVISATIONS

21st October 2021 - 19:30 (BST) / 20:30 (CET)

This unmissable recital consists of ‘Improvisations’ for piano lovingly dedicated to Beethoven. The performance includes spontaneous, electrifying moments recorded during a profound effusion. A unique experience in the world of classical music!

Following the success of the first two online concerts by Daniel Levy with works by Beethoven, which are now available on demand, the Ascona Music Festival now presents its third concert of the series with piano improvisations by Daniel Levy.

The art of improvisation is an art which is largely overlooked in the world of classical music today. For most composers however, including Beethoven, it was an inseparable element of reality of the creative process of a written composition.

Contemporary accounts tell us of Liszt’s electrifying improvisations and it is difficult today to imagine what it would be like to listen to the immediacy of inspiration of Bach or Bruckner at the organ. These are moments which are pure truth for the creative interpreter, moments which are not mediated by any mental process, but instead are often intuitive and profoundly connected to space which is perceived and lived in a magical way. 

During the recording of this concert, Daniel Levy does not start from preconceived assumptions. Nothing is repeated. Editing does not exist, nor would it even be possible. Each note and melody, phrase and rhythm are born and develop following rules which are consonant with music that is lived more than it is thought. When such a situation is recreated, the instrument, the music and the musician become one, finding completion in the conscious listener.

In his book ‘Dialogue with Beethoven’ Daniel Levy talks about the importance of Improvisations:  

“Improvisation today is a word that denotes inexperience, doing things without weighing them up, setting off aimlessly, and many other delights that do not honour what it really is.

Let's call it, at least here, in these pages, ‘Effusion’. A state that an inspired being cannot contain and that is perfectly expressed, intuited and heard internally. An effusion that has different rules from a written composition and that is expressed in another way than the inventions of the mind that constructs.

…Beethoven was characterised by his effusions (improvisations), not only for their so-called virtuosity, but also as the source of his ideas, melodies, rhythms, which seemed to be inexhaustible.”

In the booklet of one of his albums, The Power of Love, which contains piano improvisations, he says:

“He who improvises and therefore composes, must be a very attentive 'deep listener'. The magic is to make audible what existed in his intimate sphere and within that inaudible space let inspiration take place without purely mental interventions.”

DANIEL LEVY

Critically acclaimed as ‘one of the leading pianists of our time’, Daniel Levy’s ability to build an intimate connection with the audience through the ‘passionate thoughtfulness’ of his playing led Fanfare Magazine’s Ian Lace, in his article ‘A Complete Musician’, to proclaim that ‘if the future of music is in the hands of musicians like Daniel Levy, then, personally, I do not think there is much to worry about.’

www.daniellevypiano.com

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The Festival is organised by:

International Academy of Euphony www.academyofeuphony.com

in collaboration with Edelweiss Emission www.edelweissemission.com

Ascona Music Festival www.asconamusicfestival.com

Tickets are available via TicketCo:

‘Musical Moments’ Daniel Levy - Piano Improvisations – 21 October 2021

https://asconamusicfestival.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/daniel_levy_musical_moments_piano_improvisations

NOW AVAILABLE ON DEMAND:

Daniel Levy plays Beethoven: Unheard Works

The programme includes the WORLD PREMIERE of some unknown pieces by Beethoven: four Dances and Menuetti, from sketches found in Beethoven's notebooks.

https://asconamusicfestival.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/daniel_levy_plays_beethoven_i

Daniel Levy plays Beethoven: Bagatelles and Adagios

The second Piano Recital includes beautiful, less-performed Bagatelles, including those without opus numbers and a selection of the Opp 119 and 126. It also includes Adagios from the Piano Sonatas, making  the whole a rich fresco of Beethoven's inventiveness.

https://asconamusicfestival.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/daniel_levy_plays_beethoven_ii