Luca Buratto plays Beethoven et Schumann

Italian pianist Luca Buratto, winner of the coveted Honens Prize in 2015, makes his Festival debut in music of Beethoven and Schumann. Buratto has a special affinity for Schumann, and was the third-prize winner in the 2012 International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau, Germany, Schumann’s birthplace. The spirit of the dance infuses the entire eighteen-piece Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the Band of David) in one way or another. Mazurka, waltz, polka, tarantella, ländler, march and other dance forms are used either obviously or subtly transformed in these mood pieces, which are by turns joyous, eccentric, reflective, lively, agitated, and whimsical. The program also includes one of Beethoven’s least-known sonatas, and one of his best-known, the Moonlight