Pianist and Co-Artistic Director of the Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival Igor Levit played key works by Johannes Brahms at the 2024 Musikfestival - in a solo recital and together with Fellows and fellow artists. In the video, he raves about music that should never end and introduces special features on the piano.
In four concerts between March 22 and 28, 2024, the Fellows - a group of excellent young musicians from Europe and the USA who have won awards at major competitions - performed in alternating formations with Igor Levit. The spectrum ranged from solo works to piano quartets, from a duo on two pianos to the late Clarinet Quintet, perhaps the composer's most moving chamber music work, which the Israeli clarinettist Sharon Kam worked on with the Fellows. The meeting of young musicians in the Musikfestival is in the tradition of the Heidelberger Frühling Akademien, in which Igor Levit played a central role over the years. Rehearsals and music-making take place in the spirit of friendly learning from one another. In public rehearsals, the audience was able to take part in the working process. The fellows of the Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival 2024 included pianist Lukas Sternath, violinists Stella Chen and Charlotte Thiele, violist Matthew Lipman, cellist Julia Hagen, clarinettist Martin Fuchs and the Leonkoro Quartet.
Levit could also be heard in his solo recital, in which the famous late piano pieces op. 116 to 119 were on the program, as well as in a duo with the violinist Renaud Capuçon.
In this interview, Igor Levit talks about his solo recital, favorite passages in Brahms' chamber music works, and his great anticipation of working with the young fellows and fellow artists.