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Michael Houstoun (piano)

Beethoven

Beethoven Photo: Public Domain

Tonight we begin our series of broadcasts of the complete Beethoven ReCYCLE concerts from 2013 in which pianist Michael Houstoun played all of the piano Sonatas by Beethoven.

Michael Houstoun is not only New Zealand’s foremost Beethoven pianist: he ranks among the great Beethoven pianists of our age. In 2013 he celebrated his 60th birthday with this historic cycle of 32 sonatas, some of the supreme treasures of human artistic endeavour. Organised by Chamber Music New Zealand, this involved 40 concerts performed in 10 centres throughout the country. On Tuesday and Thursday this week, Music Alive at 8pm this week we will broadcast one of those concerts.

In Tuesday’s programme Houstoun performs five piano sonatas, although during the concert the piano developed a fault causing one of its notes to go out of tune. So the concert ends with first movement of Waldstein, you can hear the remaining movements in the second concert on Thursday night.

Recorded live at the Auckland Concert Chamber by RNZ Concert