On the night of March 11^th, Piano Virtuoso Rudolf Buchbinder returned to the NCPA with Beethoven and Schubert for the NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2025. As an internationally recognised “authoritative interpreter of Beethoven”, he gave a rendition of the composer’s best-known sonatas, “Pathétique” and “Moonlight”, two pieces composed in Beethoven’s early and mid-career, which set alongside Schubert’s swan song Piano Sonata No. 21, D. 960 that night. Approaching the age of 80, the artist shared his insightful understanding acquired over time, something beyond his mastery of performing techniques.


During his over 60 years of career as a performer, Buchbinder has repeatedly refined his interpretation of Beethoven’s sonatas, now having every detail, note and movement down pat. In the first half of the concert, Buchbinder started with Beethoven’s most popular sonatas “Pathétique” and “Moonlight”. Among the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, “Pathétique” was the first to be titled by the composer in person, the other being “Lebewohl”. Beethoven did so to draw himself a vivid self-portrait. “Moonlight”, something of a fantasia, is filled with power and romantic feelings. When composing it, Beethoven was suffering from an ear disease and lovelornness. So his complex emotions and inner conflicts are evident in the musical structure, which involves freedom and improvisation. Having recorded and performed Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas in public for many times, Buchbinder remains prudent in his performance as if he were an academic researcher, with every note sounding firm and clear on his fingertips. Even each phrase is dealt with in accordance with what is exactly presented in the composer’s manuscripts and the staging traditions.


Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 21, D. 960 was performed in the second half as a highlight of the concert. Reflective of what the composer was thinking deeply about before dying, this piece seems to be a requiem that the Schubert composed for himself. The four movements, different in musical character, seem more like a presentation of a highly unusual, tortuous life journey. Buchbinder builds deep dimensions of time according to timbral changes in the first movement, which lasts more than 20 minutes. In the final movement, a life experience, one beyond the music score, begins to flow, so that those gamboling semiquavers are no longer just a remnant of youth, but more like a testimony to hope that is still fresh after going through all the vicissitudes of life. Buchbinder, an important inheritor of the German-Austrian piano tradition, gives Schubert’s music stronger musical tension. Interpreted in a very flexible manner by him, the spiritual connotations of the work touched the entire audience that night.


In his own inimitable style, Buchbinder proves that classics are attractive because they are worthy of being rediscovered and remeasured again and again. Tomorrow night, the pianist will continue to present much-anticipated works, including Mozart’s Variations on “Ah, Vous Dirai-Je, Maman”, Schubert’s Four Impromptus and Beethoven’s Sonata “Appassionata”.