Camerata Pacifica presents landmark works for solo piano by Beethoven and Chopin as well as a Mozart tour de force for woodwinds and horn on a milestone program that launches “Beethoven 32,” a momentous three-year cycle featuring Principal Pianist Gilles Vonsattel on all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in a hybrid blend of solo recitals and chamber programs. Setting the tone for this significant project, Vonsattel performs Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier,” considered among the most demanding and monumental pieces in the solo piano repertoire.
A counterweight to the titanic “Hammerklavier” is Mozart’s Wind Serenade in E-flat Major, K.375, at once ceremonial, seductive, and witty, offering striking aural and emotional contrast to the Beethoven. It features oboists Nicholas Daniel and Claire Brazeau; clarinetists Jose Franch-Ballester and Pascal Archer; bassoonists Eleni Katz and William Wood; and Melia Badalian, horn.
To close the program, Vonsattel, “a pianist well worth watching” (The New York Times), plays Chopin’s Nocturne No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 37, No. 1.
Presented at four Southern California locations, the performances are Tuesday, October 28, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Wednesday, October 29, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; Thursday, October 30, 8:00 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; and Sunday, November 2, 2025, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum.
For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $94.40, including fees, at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.
