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1 Only Connect! Paul Lewis reveals creative connections between Haydn, Beethoven & Brahms in new recital series, including Royal Festival Hall and Carnegie Hall concerts. Pianist s season also comprises prestigious concerto dates with Andris Nelsons and Bernard Haitink, and lieder recitals with Mark Padmore Time and again, you marvel at the confidence and sureness of Lewis's playing, combined with the finesse and musicality that he has always displayed, Gramophone What connects Haydn s endless invention and quirky humour, the emotional fire and formal logic of Brahms and the revolutionary force of Beethoven? Paul Lewis is ready to examine the question with a recital series this season and next. The critically acclaimed English pianist, recently hailed by the Guardian for the intelligence, elegance and wit of his artistry, will become deeply immersed in their music over the next two years. His compelling project begins this season with two programmes devoted to Haydn s piano sonatas, Beethoven s Bagatelles and Brahms s late keyboard pieces. In all, he will give twenty-two performances of his first programme and sixteen of its companion by the season s end, including a date at Carnegie Hall s Zankel Hall (Wednesday 15 November 2017) and recitals in the International Piano Series at London s Royal Festival Hall (Tuesday 23 January & Tuesday 5 June 2018). Beethoven has been central to Lewis s life for many years. Brahms is a more recent presence in his programmes, while Haydn stands as a significant new repertoire addition. In addition to his recital tour, the pianist s diary contains a rich mix of piano concertos, song cycles and lieder evenings with the tenor Mark Padmore, and masterclass sessions. It also includes another personal repertoire rarity, Grieg s Piano Concerto, presented twice on the same evening in company with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Robert Trevino at Dublin s National Concert Hall (Friday 22 September). Lewis performed Grieg s masterwork for the first time in twenty years this August with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner at Edinburgh s Usher Hall. I was indescribably nervous about playing the Grieg at the Edinburgh Festival with an orchestra that played it with the composer, he recalls. But I had a lot of fun performing the concerto and cannot understand why it appears to be out of fashion. It s a great piece, so honest, natural and beautiful. Paul Lewis launched his season at Reykjavík s Harpa Concert Hall on Thursday 7 September, continuing his Iceland Symphony Orchestra residency with the second instalment in their Beethoven piano concerto cycle. He travels to Germany the following week to perform Beethoven s Piano Concerto No.4 with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at Hamburg s Elbphilharmonie and Die Glocke in Bremen (Monday 11 & Tuesday 12 September). The pianist s run of Beethoven performances continues at the end of the month with four performances of the Fourth Piano Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons at Symphony Hall (Thursday 28 - Saturday 30 September & Tuesday 3 October). It s always exciting to work with Andris, notes Paul Lewis. We rehearse in detail, of course, but something extra always happens in performance with him. When you work with certain conductors over time, you build up deep reserves of trust. That means you can each go in any direction in concert and know that the other will be there. That s how it is with Andris. I ve never played Beethoven's G major Concerto with him before and am greatly looking forward to our performances in Boston. Lewis will punctuate multiple performances of the first programme in his Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms recital series with Beethoven s Piano Concerto No.1 at the Cologne Philharmonie with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck (Friday 13 & Saturday 14 October) and two lieder evenings with Mark Padmore at Tokyo s Oji Hall. The latter will include songs by Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms, and Schumann s Dichterliebe and Liederkreis Op.24 (Wednesday 22 & Friday 24 November). Lewis is also set to play Beethoven s Piano Concerto No.3 with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Juanjo Mena, including two performances on the same day at the Maison symphonique de Montréal (Wednesday 17 & Thursday 18 January 2018), and join Daniel Harding and the San Francisco Symphony for three further accounts of the work at Davies Symphony Hall (Thursday 12 - Saturday 14 April).

2 Other standout highlights of Paul Lewis s season include an evening of Schumann and Brahms lieder with Mark Padmore at New York s Alice Tully Hall (Thursday 19 April), Brahms s Piano Concerto No.1 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Leo McCall (Thursday 22 February), and Mozart s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major K503 with Orchestra Mozart and Bernard Haitink in Lugano and Bologna (Sunday 1 & Friday 6 April). I performed Beethoven s Second Piano Concerto with Bernard in Munich in May, just a few months after his 88 th birthday, the pianist recalls. Everything was so incredibly natural and secure, as it ever was. He says relatively little in rehearsal but everything he does is conveyed so clearly and feels so right. It s just a wonderful experience to work with him. In addition to his concert engagements this season, Paul Lewis will take to the studio for Harmonia Mundi. He has already created the first of two Haydn albums for the label, and will complete its companion in time for its release over the next year. Lewis also intends to finish a recording of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, another welcome newcomer to his repertoire. Bach s Partita No. 1 in B flat BWV825, recorded earlier this year, will be coupled with arrangements by Busoni of the composer s chorale preludes and Thomas Larcher s arrangements for two pianos of Bach motet movements. I hadn t played Bach for eighteen years until the beginning of 2017, says Lewis. I adore the music but never felt physically comfortable with it on the piano after spending so much time focusing on other composers. It took a while to get used to Bach again but I enjoyed it so much. I ll come back to Bach again after the Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms series. For press enquiries, please contact: Valerie Barber PR Suite 2 9a St John s Wood High Street London NW8 7NG Tel: +44 (0) elena@vbpr.co.uk Recital Programme 1 Haydn Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50 Beethoven 6 Bagatelles Op.126 Brahms 6 Klavierstücke Op.118 Haydn Sonata in G major Hob XVI/40 Recital Programme 2 Haydn Sonata in E flat Hob XVI/49 Haydn Sonata in B minor Hob XVI/32 Brahms 4 Klavierstücke Op.119 Friday 22 September 2017 National Concert Hall, Dublin, 7pm & 8.45pm Paul Lewis piano Robert Trevino conductor RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16 Thursday 28, Saturday 30 September & Tuesday 3 October 2017, 8pm Friday 29 September 2017, 1.30pm Symphony Hall, Boston Paul Lewis piano Andris Nelsons conductor Boston Symphony Orchestra Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Op.58

3 Thursday 5 October 2017 Flagey, Brussels, 8.15pm Friday 13 & Saturday 14 October 2017 Kölner Philharmonie, Köln, 8pm Paul Lewis piano Manfred Honeck conductor WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15 Saturday 21 October 2017 Teatro della Pergola, Florence, 4pm Monday 23 October 2017 Queen s Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm Wednesday 15 November 2017 Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York, 7.30pm Sunday 19 November 2017 Vancouver Playhouse, 7.30pm Wednesday 22 & Friday 24 November 2017 Oji Hall, Tokyo, 7pm Paul Lewis piano Mark Padmore tenor Wednesday 22 November 2017 Haydn She Never Told Her Love, Hob.XXVIa/34 Haydn The Spirit s Song Haydn Antwort auf die Frage eines Mädchens Mozart Das Veilchen, KV476 Mozart Abendempfindung an Laura KV523 Beethoven Adelaide, Op.46 Schubert Viola, D786 Schumann Dichterliebe, Op.48 Friday 24 November 2017 Schumann Liederkreis Op.24 Brahms, Schubert, Wolf Selection of songs

4 Wednesday 29 November 2017 Oji Hall, Tokyo, 7pm Monday 4 December 2017 Melbourne Recital Centre, 7.30pm Friday 15 December 2017 St. George s Bristol, 7.30pm Sunday 7 January 2018 Saffron Hall, 3pm Wednesday 17 & Thursday 18 January 2018, 8pm Thursday 18 January 2018, 10.30am Maison symphonique de Montréal Paul Lewis piano Juanjo Mena conductor Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor Op.37 Sunday 21 January 2018 Theatre de Champs Elysées, Paris, 11am Haydn Piano Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50 Brahms 6 Klavierstücke Op.118 Haydn Piano Sonata in G Hob XVI/40 Tuesday 23 January 2018 Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm INTERNATIONAL PIANO SERIES Thursday 1 February 2018 Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik, 7.30pm Paul Lewis piano Matthew Halls conductor Iceland Symphony Orchestra Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major Op.73 Emperor

5 Sunday 4 February 2018 Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik, 5pm Haydn Piano Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50 Brahms 6 Klavierstücke Op.118 Haydn Piano Sonata in G Hob XVI/40 Thursday 22 February 2018 Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 7.30pm Paul Lewis piano Leo McCall conductor City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor Op.15 Sunday 18 March 2018 Saffron Hall, 3pm Monday 19 March 2018 Queen s Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm Wednesday 4 April 2018 Jaen Piano Festival, Spain Sunday 1 April 2018, LAC Sala Teatro, Lugano, 5pm Friday 6 April 2018, Teatro Manzoni, Bologna Paul Lewis piano Bernard Haitink conductor Orchestra Mozart Bologna Mozart Piano Concerto No.25 in C major K503 Thursday 12 April 2018, 2pm Friday 13 & Saturday 14 April 2018, 8pm Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco Paul Lewis piano Daniel Harding conductor San Francisco Symphony Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor Op.37

6 Thursday 19 April 2018 Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, 7.30pm Paul Lewis piano Mark Padmore tenor Schumann Liederkreis Op.24 (Heine) Brahms Es liebt sich so lieblich im Lenze, Op.71 No.1 Brahms Sommerabend Op.85 No.1 Brahms Mondenschein Op.85 No.2 Brahms Es schauen die Blumen alle, Op.96 No.3 Brahms Meerfahrt, Op.96 No.4 Brahms Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht, Op.96 No.1 Schumann Dichterliebe, Op.48 Gilmore International Keyboard Festival Tuesday 8 May 2018 The Epic Center, Kalamazoo Thursday 10 May 2018 Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, 8pm Sunday 13 May 2018 Vancouver Playhouse, 3pm Friday 18 May 2018, Centre Cultural Terrassa, 9pm Saturday 19 May 2018, Barcelona, 6.30pm Paul Lewis piano Víctor Pablo Pérez conductor Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major op.73 Emperor Friday 1 June 2018 St. George s Bristol, 7.30pm Sunday 3 June 2018 Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, 11am Tuesday 5 June 2018 Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm INTERNATIONAL PIANO SERIES

7 Tuesday 26 June 2018 Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal, Schwarzenberg, 8pm SCHUBERTIADE Haydn Piano Sonata in E flat major Hob XVI/49 Schubert Impromptu No.2 in A-flat major D935 Schubert Hungarian Melody in B minor D817 Brahms 4 Klavierstücke Op.119 Thursday 28 June 2018 Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal, Schwarzenberg, 4pm SCHUBERTIADE Paul Lewis piano Elias String Quartet Mozart Piano Concerto No.12 in A major K414 Saturday 30 June 2018 Flagey, Brussels, 9pm Haydn Sonata in B minor Hob XVI/32 Brahms 4 Klavierstücke Op.119

8 Beauty, Truth and Laughter Paul Lewis explores the delicious wit and wild humour of Haydn s piano sonatas, together with works by Beethoven and Brahms, in landmark recital odyssey this season and next This was beautiful, intelligent playing, Financial Times Perhaps no other composer has shown greater understanding of music s power to shock, enchant and prompt tears of joy and laughter than Joseph Haydn. The wit and humour, pathos and profundity of his finest piano sonatas are set to occupy Paul Lewis this season and next as part of four compelling recital programmes. The acclaimed British pianist has recorded the first of two Haydn albums for Harmonia Mundi, adding fresh repertoire to an award-winning discography already richly stocked with the piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. The new disc is scheduled for release in 2018, and meanwhile his concert diary offers audiences from London and Tokyo to New York and Melbourne the chance to explore the ingenuity and endless invention of Haydn s keyboard works in company with equally inventive compositions by Beethoven and Brahms. Paul Lewis s globetrotting round of recitals, presented in two substantial instalments from September to February and March to June, means he will become fully immersed in the Haydn sonatas that he has wanted to perform for many years. His landmark series of Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms, presented over the next two seasons, include in concerts within the International Piano Series at London s Royal Festival Hall (Tuesday 23 January & Tuesday 5 June 2018), at the Queen s Hall in Edinburgh (Monday 23 October & Monday 19 March), Flagey in Brussels (Thursday 5 October & Sunday 30 June), Tokyo s Oji Hall (Wednesday 29 November) and Melbourne Recital Centre (Monday 4 December), where he will return to complete the series in Other recital highlights this season include an evening at Carnegie Hall s Zankel Hall (Wednesday 15 November), and performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris (Sunday 21 January), Reykjavík s Harpa Concert Hall (Sunday 4 February), Philadelphia s Perelman Theater (Thursday 10 May), and Schubertiade Festival (Tuesday 26 June). The more you become immersed in the works of one composer, the more variety you discover, observes Paul Lewis. Although these programmes are about the parallels and connections between three different composers Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms they really feel like a single body of work. At the end of these concerts I expect to feel, as I did when exploring the piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, as if I am just getting started. The remarkable thing about these great compositions is that we re still discovering things in them more than two centuries after they were created, still relating to things that are so human about this music. They speak to us in so many ways and can articulate feelings and states of mind that are so difficult to express in words. In a very basic sense, their beauty never fades. And perhaps it is even enhanced in a world in which everything is so fast, so loud, so extreme. The chaos that so often surrounds us today makes the need for serenity and beauty more acute than ever. Lewis recalls how he was drawn to Haydn not least by the composer s passion for the comedy of the absurd. Haydn s music, like no other, makes us laugh as well as smile, he notes. Beethoven uses humour but he shocks you into laughter. But Haydn sneaks up and pokes you in the ribs! Mozart can also make us laugh, although he often appears to be there in the background, laughing at us as we wonder how he ever managed to create such extraordinary music. Haydn surprises you by being mischievous; he s never brutal or gruff in the way that Beethoven can be. There s the least amount of malice, the greatest amount of good humour and geniality in Haydn. His outrageous ability to surprise, shock, and poke fun at the listener still feels remarkably fresh in an age when extremes have become the norm. It s such incredible music with such incredible invention, which is why I m so excited to be playing and recording it. Haydn s profound insights into the tragic and the sublime, and the economy of his melodic writing, also stand high on Lewis s list of reasons to celebrate the composer. There s not one single note more than what is necessary in Haydn, he comments. The colour, the character and the meaning of every note matter so much.

9 You sense that throughout the piano sonatas and especially in their slow movements. The depth of what he can convey with relatively few notes is quite astonishing. The pianist s choice of Haydn, which embraces works composed between the mid-1770s and the mid-1790s, spans everything from the turbulent emotions of the Sonata in B minor Hob XVI/32 to the madcap world of the Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50. Paul Lewis s admiration for Brahms, however, was not quite as immediate as that of Haydn. Falling in love with the composer s music was, he reflects, a long, slow process. I m not alone among musicians in having had Brahmsphobia. I felt with Brahms that the expression was locked in to the craft, that the craft was everything. Now that I m in my 40s, I ve come to love that paradox. The composer s fusion of romantic extremes and precise craft, with its striking contradictions of unrestrained expression and refined art, ultimately proved irresistible. There s a clear inner logic to his madness, Lewis observes. Like Haydn, he can convey so much with just one note. Think of the low held D at the opening of his First Piano Concerto, written in the wake of Schumann s suicide attempt in the Rhine. Again we re talking about the economy of writing here there s so much in the themes of each of Brahms s late piano works, the Intermezzi, the Fantasies and the Op.118 & 119 piano pieces. Paul Lewis has chosen to complete the programmes with Beethoven, and will perform the composer s three sets of Bagatelles this season and next before crowning his recital series in 2019 with the Diabelli Variations. The Bagatelles contain elements of humour and wit in some, and impassioned romanticism in others, while the Diabelli Variations consists in an entire universe of emotions and moods. The Bagatelles cover the range from his early Op.33, which date from the last decade of Haydn s life to the late Op.126, Beethoven s final piano work. In terms of the series, Beethoven s compositions provide the glue that holds each of these programmes together. They offer a link with the quirkiness and humour, the surprises and the shocks of Haydn, while some of the later Bagatelles point towards what was coming with Brahms. And with the Diabelli Variations, you re standing on the mountain top looking in all directions, past, present and future. Recital Programme 1 Haydn Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50 Beethoven 6 Bagatelles Op.126 Brahms 6 Klavierstücke Op.118 Haydn Sonata in G major Hob XVI/40 Recital Programme 2 Haydn Sonata in E flat Hob XVI/49 Haydn Sonata in B minor Hob XVI/32 Brahms 4 Klavierstücke Op.119 For press enquiries, please contact: Valerie Barber PR Suite 2 9a St John s Wood High Street London NW8 7NG Tel: +44 (0) elena@vbpr.co.uk Thursday 5 October 2017 Flagey, Brussels, 8.15pm Saturday 21 October 2017 Teatro della Pergola, Florence, 4pm

10 Monday 23 October 2017 Queen s Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm Wednesday 15 November 2017 Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York, 7.30pm Sunday 19 November 2017 Vancouver Playhouse, 7.30pm Wednesday 29 November 2017 Oji Hall, Tokyo, 7pm Monday 4 December 2017 Melbourne Recital Centre, 7.30pm Friday 15 December 2017 St. George s Bristol, 7.30pm Sunday 7 January 2018 Saffron Hall, 3pm Sunday 21 January 2018 Theatre de Champs Elysées, Paris, 11am Haydn Piano Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50 Brahms 6 Klavierstücke Op.118 Haydn Piano Sonata in G Hob XVI/40 Tuesday 23 January 2018 Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm INTERNATIONAL PIANO SERIES

11 Sunday 4 February 2018 Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik, 5pm Haydn Piano Sonata in C major Hob XVI/50 Brahms 6 Klavierstücke Op.118 Haydn Piano Sonata in G Hob XVI/40 Sunday 18 March 2018 Saffron Hall, 3pm Monday 19 March 2018 Queen s Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm Wednesday 4 April 2018 Jaen Piano Festival, Spain Gilmore International Keyboard Festival Tuesday 8 May 2018 The Epic Center, Kalamazoo Thursday 10 May 2018 Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, 8pm Sunday 13 May 2018 Vancouver Playhouse, 3pm Friday 1 June 2018 St. George s Bristol, 7.30pm Sunday 3 June 2018 Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, 11am

12 Tuesday 5 June 2018 Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm INTERNATIONAL PIANO SERIES Tuesday 26 June 2018 Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal, Schwarzenberg, 8pm SCHUBERTIADE Haydn Piano Sonata in E flat major Hob XVI/49 Schubert Impromptu No.2 in A-flat major D935 Schubert Hungarian Melody in B minor D817 Brahms 4 Klavierstücke Op.119 Saturday 30 June 2018 Flagey, Brussels, 9pm Haydn Sonata in B minor Hob XVI/32 Brahms 4 Klavierstücke Op.119