Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Stephanie Proot

• 1 Andante - Allegro - Tempo I 05:36
• 2 Allegro molto e vivace 02:13
• 3 Adagio con espressione - Allegro vivace - Tempo I - Presto 09:03
• 4 Adagio sostenuto 06:13
• 5 Allegretto 02:13
• 6 Presto agitato 08:09
• 7 Allegro 06:55
• 8 Allegretto 04:24
• 9 Presto 02:34
• 10 Moderato cantabile molto espressivo 07:17
• 11 Allegro molto 02:18
• 12 Adagio ma non troppo - Fuga - Allegro ma non troppo - L'istesso tempo di Arioso - L'istesso tempo della Fuga 11:19
• Total Runtime 01:08:14

Info for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas

In the early days of his career, Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) was especially known in Vienna as a pianist and improviser. His whole life the piano would remain his faithful companion. In fact, it was his innate intimacy with the piano that would set him back on track not only while dealing with personal and artistic crises but also during the process of discovering his most innovative compositional techniques. Apart from a series of variations, piano concertos and chamber music, Beethoven’s oeuvre for piano solo consists of no less than 32 piano sonatas, developed over a 30 year time span. The first sonatas are born in the classical Viennese tradition. Nevertheless, Beethoven, ever the individualist, immediately confronted the stylistic borders of the sonata practices of Mozart and Haydn. These early sonatas show a symphonic texture and style. They mostly consist of four (instead of three) movements and are thus longer, more expansive and heavier compared to what people were used to at that time. Even though the technical difficulty of Beethoven’s sonatas is very high, he loathed meaningless virtuoso passages. In Beethoven’s ‘serious’ music, not one note is exempt from a functional or dramatic sense. His ability to combine structures and ideas of increasing complexity into a strong unity was of the utmost importance.

Stephanie Proot, piano

Recorded at Bijloke Studio Ghent on a Yamaha Grand Piano, November 11, 12 & 13, 2011
Producer: Jos Boerland
Recording, editing and mastering: Jos Boerland

Stephanie Proot
is an exceptional musician with a powerful pianistic mastery. Moreover, she transcends mere virtuosity and is able to sweep away the audience into the most enchanting musical atmospheres. Her colorful interpretations display a unique symbiosis of natural expressiveness and well-considered rhetoric.

Starting to play the piano at the age of 6, Stephanie's great musical talent and artistic potential was immediately clear. She graduated from the Antwerp Conservatory piano class of Levente Kende and continued her education at the Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot in Paris with Ramzi Yassa and at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Brussels with Abdel Rachman El Bacha. At present, she perfects herself at the Frankfurter Hochschule für Darstellende Kunst und Musik with Lev Natochenny. She attended inspiring masterclasses of Jerome Rose, Vladimir Krainev, Cécile Ousset, Richard Goode, Leon Fleischer, Dmitri Bashkirov, a.o.

During her training, Stephanie's outstanding pianistic level resulted in excellent results in numerous piano competitions. Still as a child, she was successful in all major competitions in Belgium; she won first prizes at the Jong-Tenuto -, Charlier -, International Kaufmann -, Cantabile -, André Modeste Grétry - and Dexia Competition. From the year 2005 onwards, she spread her wings and achieved several significant awards on the international scene: the 1st prize at the International EPTA Competition (2005), the 1st prize at the Rencontre international de piano du Mée-sur-Seine (2009), the 2nd prize at the Nuéva Acropolis Competition in Madrid (2006), the 2nd prize at the International Pianocompetition Of The City Of Porto (2008), the 3rd prize in the Pianocompetition For Young Musicians in Enschede (2008) and the 6th prize at the Shanghai International Piano Competition (2009). In the London International Piano Competition (2009) she was given the Educational Award for her exceptional achievement as a very young participant. She won the 3rd Prize at the Svetislav Stancic International Piano Competition in Zagreb (2011) and carried off the public's Favorites Prize at the International Telekom Beethoven Piano Competition in Bonn (2011).

In 2012 she won no less than four of the five competitions she participated; she achieved the 1st prize at the Neue Sterne Piano Competition in Wernigerode, the 1st prize at the Massarosa International Piano Competition, the 3rd prize at the Ricard Viñes Piano Competition in Lleida, the 1st prize at the Maria Hererro International Piano Competition in Granada and the 1st prize at the André Dumortier International Piano Competition in Leuze. In 2013 she reached the semi-finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. With her compelling performances, magnetic stage presence and captivating personality on and off stage she had both the Belgian audience and press on her side.

While Stephanie feels like a fish in water as a soloist performer, she takes particular pleasure in communicating with other musicians. She has worked together with renowned conductors such as Eric Lederhandler, Ivo Venkov, Joanna Carneiro, Alain Paris, Mladen Tarbuk, Theodor Guschlbauer and Augustin Dumay in concertos of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Rachmaninov and Ravel. In 2012, Stephanie decided to give shape to her love for playing chamber music and established the Arensky Trio with Claire and Aurore Dassesse. In 2012 Stephanie recorded her first CD containing four Beethoven sonates. Her second record with works of Schubert and Liszt will appear in 2013.

Booklet for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas