Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.31 in A♭ major, op.110

Comparing recordings with the following artists: Wilhelm Backhaus (1966), Paul Badura-Skoda (1969), Daniel Barenboim (1984), Ronald Brautigam (2008), Emil Gilels (1985), Friedrich Gulda (1967), Igor Levit (2013), Maurizio Pollini (1976), Svjatoslav Richter (1965), Artur Schnabel (1935)

Igor Levit — Tonhalle Zurich, 2014-10-21

Igor Levit was born 1987 in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky); in 1995 his family moved to Germany; he grew up with the piano (his mother is a pianist whose teacher had once studied with Heinrich Neuhaus), did his musical studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover and finished with the best notes ever given by that institution. Aged 17, he was the youngest participant at the International Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, in 2005; he won the second prize, plus several special awards, such as the special prize for chamber music, and the audience award…