The extraordinary Elisabeth Brauß played again last night at Wigmore Hall, to the warmest of receptions. The concert last night was live-streamed, and is available to watch for 90 days here. In an engagingly varied programme she offered us some rarely performed Hindemith, Brahms’ late four Klavierstücke, and Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, all done with such verve and then wonderful delicacy, as variously called for — just a delight.
But the recital started Beethoven’s Op. 109 Sonata, which inspired Elisabeth to quite mesmerising playing with heart-stopping moments: transcendental music, and a performance to more than stand comparison with the very best I’ve heard. Extraordinary, as I say.
I was at the Wigmore for this. I’m no expert on music, but my only thought on leaving the hall was “when can I next hear Brauß play Beethoven?”