Beethoven / Weng - Variations on Themes (CD)

Even so great a composer as Beethoven wrote music that is now almost completely neglected and unperformed. This sequence brings together a portfolio of such works that focuses on his variations on popular operatic music of the time by Giovanni Paisiello, Peter Winter and Andre Gretry, and includes the witty and inventive variations on an arietta by Vincenzo Righini. The Piano Sonata in C major, WoO 51 was found among Beethoven's papers after his death and published in 1830. While it lacks a finale, it too offers a revealing look at an overlooked composition as do the two charming and unusual waltzes. A laureate of the 2016 Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition, Larry Weng has been critically acclaimed by The new York Times. He also garnered critical praise for his 2015 New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall from the New York Concert Review, and from Harry Rolnick of ConcertoNet for his performance of Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso. He has played in major venues around the world as both a soloist and chamber musician. As of the 2017 season, Weng is a full-time member of the Icarus Quartet. Weng graduated from the highly selective joint degree programme between Columbia University and The Juilliard School under the tutelage of professors Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio. He continued his studies with professor Boris Berman at the Yale School of Music, earning his Doctor of Musical Arts in 2019.