Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 4, 9, 18, 25, 29 Saleem Ashkar

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand Sonata":
• 1 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand Sonata": I. Allegro molto e con brio 08:19
• 2 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand Sonata": II. Largo, con gran espressione 08:19
• 3 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand Sonata": III. Allegro - Trio 05:01
• 4 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand Sonata": IV. Rondo. Poco allegretto e grazioso 06:50
• Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1:
• 5 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1: I. Allegro 06:29
• 6 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1: II. Allegretto 04:32
• 7 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1: III. Rondo. Allegro comodo 03:26
• Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt":
• 8 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt": I. Allegro 08:28
• 9 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt": II. Scherzo. Allegretto vivace 04:53
• 10 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt": III. Menuetto. Moderato e grazioso 06:27
• 11 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt": IV. Presto con fuoco 05:14
• Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79:
• 12 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79: I. Presto alla tedesca 05:06
• 13 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79: II. Andante 02:39
• 14 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79: III. Vivace 02:02
• Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier":
• 15 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": I. Allegro 12:03
• 16 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": II. Scherzo. Assai vivace 02:55
• 17 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": III. Adagio sostenuto 18:25
• 18 van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": IV. Largo - Allegro risoluto 12:01
• Total Runtime 02:03:09

Info for Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 4, 9, 18, 25, 29

Berlin-based Israeli-Palestinian pianist Saleem Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an international career. Recent and future concerto highlights include the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig and the St Louis, Vancouver and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras.

He has also performed with the Wiener Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de Lyon and on a three week tour to Australia. Saleem has a close relationship with many leading conductors including David Afkham, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kazushi Ono and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

Saleem Ashkar, piano

Saleem Ashkar
made his New York Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since worked with many of the World’s leading orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, La Scala Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, NDR Hamburg, DSO RSB and Konzerthaus orchestras in Berlin, Maggio Musicale Firenze, Santa Cecilia Rome, Mariinsky Orchestra St. Petersburg, and Danish Radio Orchestra among others.

He performs regularly with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Ricardo Chailly, Fabio Luisi, Lawrence Foster, Philip Jordan, Nikolaj Znaider, Pietari Inkinen and Jaakub Hrusa. Following a highly successful debut with Christoph Eschenbach and NDR Hamburg, Eschenbach invited Saleem to play the Schumann Concerto with the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra in the special Schumann Birthday Concert in June 2010. He toured extensively with Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performing Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto in appearances that included the Proms and Lucerne Festivals, in a tour celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of the composer’s birth. Chailly re-invited Saleem for concerts and to record with him the Mendelssohn Concerti for Decca.

A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, Saleem’s current focus is a complete Beethoven Sonata Cycle presented by the Konzerthaus, Berlin which spans the 2016/17 season. Saleem will perform the cycle in parallel in Prague and Osnabrück and his home country of Israel. He has appeared in series at venues including the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Mozarteum Salzburg, Musikverein Vienna, Conservatorio Guiseppe Verdi Milan, Florence and at festivals including Salzburg with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Proms with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, at Tivoli with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, in Lucerne, Ravinia, Risor, Menton and the Ruhr Klavier Festival, collaborating with artists including Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaj Znaider and Waltraud Meier.

Highlights of the current and future seasons include performances with Bamberg Symphoniker and Eschenbach, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and Znaider, a tour to Australia to include the Adelaide Symphony and a third consecutive re-invitation to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He will also travel to Canada and the US for a re-invitation to the National Arts Centre Ottawa with Alexander Shelley, an appearance at Cal Performances, San Francisco and a residency at Brown University.

Saleem’s second Decca CD released in Spring 2014 features both Mendelssohn Piano Concertos recorded with Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. His first Decca release included Beethoven’s First and Fourth Piano Concertos recorded with Ivor Bolton and the NDR Hamburg Orchestra.

Saleem is Ambassador to Music Fund (www.musicfund.eu), which supports musicians and music schools in conflict areas and developing countries.

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