Musikfest 2: Storm and Serenity

Between thoughtful recordings and engaging live performances, Igor Levit has spent the better part of the past decade consolidating his reputation as one of the most intelligent interpreters of the solo-piano repertoire. During the darkest days of the COVID pandemic’s first wave, however, he also became one of the great folk-heroes of the lockdown thanks to a series of mini-recitals broadcast via his Twitter account. Although the gradual easing of restrictions meant that Mr Levit was able to realise his plan of taking the complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas on tour in this disrupted year of Beethoven celebrations, the memory of those lockdown performances gave his return to the concert stage in Berlin an extra sense of occasion.

Mr Levit’s sonata cycle had been announced as one of the cornerstones of a Beethoven-themed Musikfest…