Winner of prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, Levit gives an all-Beethoven solo recital culminating in \u201cWaldstein\u201d sonata<\/p>\n
DACAMERA presents the first Houston appearance by famed German-Jewish pianist Igor Levit, in an all-Beethoven solo recital, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m., at Wortham Center. <\/p>\n
The New York Times describes Levit as one of the \u201cmost important artists of his generation\u201d; the New Yorker calls him a pianist \u201clike no other.\u201d An astounding virtuoso with deep intellectual insights, Levit provides fresh, compelling interpretations of Beethoven\u2019s sonatas.<\/p>\n
Born in Novgorod, Russia, and now living in Berlin, Levit was named Gramophone\u2019s 2019 \u201cArtist of the Year\u201d following the release of his complete 32 Beethoven sonatas. Levit also received the Gilmore Artist Award, presented every four years and one of the world\u2019s most generous and prestigious prizes, conferred for \u201cextraordinary pianistic artistry.\u201d <\/p>\n
More than simply a virtuoso, Levit won the International Beethoven Award for Human Rights, Peace, Freedom, Fight against Poverty, and Inclusion, an annual humanitarian and cultural prize presented by the Beethoven Academy in Bonn, Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacism, antisemitism, anti-feminism and hostility to human beings are dangerous, often life-threatening and deplorable attitudes. They do not deserve to be jazzed up to the status of legitimate opinions,\u201d Levit said.<\/p>\n
His 53 Twitter-streamed, live house concerts during the COVID pandemic in 2020 garnered a worldwide audience, offering a sense of community and hope in a time of isolation and desperation. A strong supporter of Israel, Levit organized a solidarity concert in Berlin, \u201cAgainst Silence,\u201d in November 2023, to protest antisemitism. <\/p>\n
DACAMERA presents Levit\u2019s first Houston appearance as part of his Beethoven sonata cycle world tour, from European capitals to Carnegie Hall \u2013 a rare chance to hear this outstanding artist in Houston. His thrilling program offers a dramatic selection of sonatas, closing with perhaps the most virtuosic of all \u2013 \u201cWaldstein.\u201d<\/p>\n