Programs

Luciano Berio: Sonata for Piano

"The highlight and heart of the evening was Berio, whose shimmering “Erdenklavier” provided the encore. His one-movement Sonata, written in 2001, is a single note’s surprisingly poignant stand. It opens with a B-flat, powerfully struck and sustained by Mr. Kigawa, as if in declaration. Then the note continues, a little arrhythmically, occasionally interrupted by dissonant clusters.
In the sonata’s middle section, the B-flat recedes as chaos dominates. But that little note is difficult to dislodge from the mind; its occasional appearance sticks out, all the more so in Mr. Kigawa’s interpretation.
Is it possible to root for a musical note? I found myself doing as much when, despite tumultuous phrases lasting until the final moments of the sonata, a lone note emerged. Against all odds, it had persisted." - Joshua Barone, The New York Times