Roberta Pili meets Beethoven at Carnegie Hall

April 9, 2009 - PRLog -- Italian pianist Roberta Pili broke a record in the classical music and shows one more time her high artistic skills: in March 2009 she performed the last five sonatas by Beethoven in one single evening at Zankel Hall / Carnegie Hall New York.
"The Last Big Five" was the title of this unique event, where the artist took on this challenging pianistic "tour de force" for a humanitarian purpose: all ticket sales were to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, founded by Evelyn H.Lauder.

TimeOut New York Magazine (March 2009) announced Pili´s performance at Carnegie Hall as a "monumental task", since the last five Beethoven´s sonatas - among them the titanic piece "Hammerklavier" Op.106 - have been performed in one evening by only two male pianists, one was pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow during his "historical concerts" in 1878/79.

Beyond doubt Roberta Pili is high-grade artist, with great professional approach to music and a very charismatic personality.
A pianist who is adventuring a warm-up in concert with the sonatas Op.101 and Op.106 "Hammerklavier", to complete the program with the trilogy of the last three sonatas Op.109, Op.110 and Op.111, needs huge physical and mostly mental power.
Roberta Pili has both requirements, being the first female pianist who performed the last big five Beethoven´s sonatas in only one concert evening.

Her performance was a great challenge, as a concert program and a well-directed intention at the same time: to keep the great tradition of polyphonic and ultra-polyphonic piano playing and sound esthetic of the Romantic era.

She has set a clear artistic goal before herself: "Great artists as Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bülow, Teodor Leschetizky, Ferruccio Busoni, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Arthur Rubinstein, Josef Lhevinne, Josef Hofmann, Leopold Godowsky, Vladimir Horowitz, Rosalyn Tureck, Glenn Gould marked this important Romantic era in the classical music history, not only for the overdimensioned piano recitals, but also for their profound musicality, for their understanding of polyphony and their serious interpretation. This tradition unfortunately disappeared with the death of great pianist Shura Cherkassky in 1995. Since I have been involved in this tradition through my musical education, I have to pursue this way. Audiences really hunger for experiencing true music and not being forced to listen to short and quite superficial concert programs." explains Roberta Pili.


Her recent album "Mirrors" is also the result of an excellent live recording of a solo recital in Germany 2007: a triple CD released on her own label and distributed at international shops and online sotres.
The recorded works, related to the last big five Beethoven´s sonatas for both dimension and level of difficulty, build an interesting and exciting journey from Bach to Rachmaninoff, where pieces from different musical styles are reflecting each other.
"Mirrors" was praised by the international press, special radio portrait about the artist and her recording has been broadcasted on the Bavarian radio station Bayern 4 Klassik.

Pili´s Beethoven at Carnegie Hall was unforgettable, standing ovation was obvious for this event.  The Welsh composer, pianist and piano teacher Dafydd Llywelyn considers Roberta Pili as "the greatest pianist alive".

Next projects will take her to Germany, England and Japan.
Roberta Pili understands to give audience unique concert experiences.



Roberta Pili, pianist, born in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy comes from a musical family background.
She had her first piano lesson at the age of five.
She is prize winner at international renowned piano competitions.
Concert activity in Europe, US and Japan.
She is artistically involved in several roles: pianist, author, musicologic research and analyst of the art of piano interpretation, producer, label owner, mentor for polyphonic and ultra-polyphonic piano playing, teacher for masterclasses.
Recent recording: Album "Mirrors"
In March 2009  she performed, as the first woman, the last five Beethoven´s piano sonatas in one single evening at Zankel Hall / Carnegie Hall.

Website:
www.robertapili.com
Blog / Magazine:
www.thepianist.com - making pianists feel at home