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Tonight's HausKonzert is dedicated to the Holocaust Survivors on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and Dachau. Needless to say it was very moving and important to Igor as he honors their memory.
Beginning with 3 "Songs Without Words" by Mendelssohn (Sweet Remembrance, Confidence and the Duetto). Followed by a Debussy solo piano transcription of his 6 Epigraph Antiques (transcribed by Debussy in 1915 from his piano duo). First time I've heard Debussy played as Levit rarely plays the French school.
Levit ended the program simply with a stand alone Schubert movement, the middle movement from the A major Sonata, D. 664. Reflective and very poignant.

Tonight featured a rarity: Levit actually plays Chopin! Because he never schedules Chopin on his programs, there was the feeling he dislikes him. But he does love Frederic, just never performs him in public. And the field is quite saturated with him anyways, what with Trifonov, Lisitsa, Yuja, Beatrice Rana and Benjamin Grosvenor releasing Chopin on disc. Leaving artists such as Levit and Schiff to dwell on the 1st Viennese school.
Igor begins with a quick Beethoven country danse, just 16 measures, as a warm up to his wonderful reading of Op. 109. Levit really gets into the music, stomping his feet and contorting his body at times in the scherzo. Then ends with the set of variations, warm, spacious and ethereal.
The Chopin he chose was one he played as a 13 year old, the third Scherzo in c# minor, played as passionately as one could want, with thunderous octaves that rolled off the keys in majestic waves. There will doubtless be future Chopin in his programs, he mentioned one that is a particular favorite but he coyly would not say.

Tonight no HausKonzert, instead a performance with members of the NDR Radio Philharmonie in a graceful and lyrical performance of Wolfgang's Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, in the strings only arrangement. This basically becomes a piano quintet, but the sound is so transparent and well balanced. And the sound and acoustics superior to anything from his home. Andrew Manze conducts. A lovely performance heading into the weekend. As an encore, Igor plays the Aria from the Goldbergs. A soothing tonic.

This marks the 50th HausKonzert that Igor Levit has played. And he shared how important it has been for him to do these home recitals, his passionate need to share his music in a world so far bereft of physical music making with an audience. To somehow connect, to experience a live recital. These twitter recitals will doubtless be one of the highlights of his career. And after playing us the Frederic Rzewski Variations, the Diabelli Variations, he now offers the complete Goldberg Variations by Bach, one of the touchstones of Western Civilization.
This is the closest to a live performance as one gets nowadays (the only other live performances of the Goldbergs I've been to has been Andras Schiff -- twice).
With all the repeats, this one lasted about 80 minutes of breathtaking music. Levit's concentration is amazing, his feet tapping in the dance variations, his hand crossings (and he didn't cheat on them), and his tempos spot on. No reckless rushing in variation 18 a la Gould thank goodness. And as the light slowly changed in the dusk, the famous "Black Pearl" variation was heartfelt, Igor in emotions afterwards, as I'm sure most who were listening were as well. After composing himself, the final 5 variations were then memorably completed, with the final Aria da capo finishing us off into the evening. Danke Igor.

Tonight, from a recording venue, the Busoni transcriptions of late Brahms, his final compositions, 6 Chorale Preludes originally for organ. Written in the last year of Johannes life, he was dying of cancer and he knew it. As such these were his valedictory to the world and very moving. Especially the final three, two versions of the chorale "My Inmost Heart Doth Yearns" and the last "O World, I Must Leave Thee".
Best heard through headphones, as the sound still lacking.

And after 52 HausKonzerts, Igor Levit now takes a well deserved break. He promises to return, but needs the time to regroup and recharge. And "now is the time to spend evenings in moments of silence". In the meantime he'll concentrate on feeding his YouTube channel and one last streaming recital for the Gilmore Festival (which includes the "Hammerklavier" I believe).
Needles to say, I will miss these mid morning recitals.
Tonight was all Beethoven. The first sonata Levit learned, G major, op. 14, No. 2, and then one of my favorites, op. 90 in e minor. The final movement in rondo form can be so banal and repetitious but not in Igor's capable hands. A lovely performance.
Auf Wierdersehen fur jetzt, and looking forward to his return to his HausKonzerts!

Here's the link to Igor Levit's final livestream performance for the time being:
https://youtu.be/VfNTyvsjQtU

A performance for the Gilmore Festival (he is the current recipient). On the program, 3 Beethoven sonatas, op. 14. no. 2, op. 110 and op. 111.

I missed the first sonata, but the performances of Op. 110 and 111 were outstanding. Too bad he couldn't hear me when I shouted "Bravo" at the end.