The mission
A journey across Beethoven's Sonatas and World
|
When George Lepauw gave his very first public performance, at age 10 in Paris, he performed two of Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas. Already then, his passion for Beethoven was a big part of his life. It has only grown with time. In 2008 he had the distinct honor to give a Beethoven world premiere (Piano Trio H47) as part of the Beethoven Project Trio. And the same year he founded the International Beethoven Project, to produce the recording of this long-lost trio, and which became the production non-profit for several recordings, shorts films, as well as the famous Beethoven Festival and UnFestival in Chicago.
As a performer, George has deepened his understanding and experience playing Beethoven over decades, and after having performed and recorded Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier, considered the "Old Testament of music", he has set upon doing the same for the "New Testament of music", the stupendous 32 Sonatas for piano by Beethoven, a marathon project which few pianists undertake, and which George approaches in his own very distinct way. Indeed, to achieve this epic project, at the center of which stands the 11 hour recording of the complete Sonatas, George has traveled in Beethoven's footsteps from his birth city of Bonn, on the banks of the mighty Rhein River in Germany, to Vienna, where Beethoven chose to spend most of his adult life. In addition to this, George is working with filmmakers to produce a film version of the album, as well as a documentary that will tie together George's personal story with Beethoven's. And along with this will be conversations about Beethoven with experts, artists, and thinkers, as well as collaborations with artists across disciplines to showcase how Beethoven's work still inspires so many people across centuries, cultures, and artistic disciplines. The production phase for this project has begun and will continue to take place in several phases. The first formal recordings, film episodes and artworks will begin to be released in 2023. The entire project will be formally completed in time for the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death in 2027, which will be the most important Beethoven year since the bicentenary of his birth in 1970, especially given that the year of his 250th birthday in 2020 was hampered by the worldwide Covid pandemic. If you wish to get involved, we are open to proposals for creative collaborations, administrative help, and financial support. Please send us an email: ibp [at] internationalbeethovenproject [dot] com. You can also directly make a donation by clicking on the button below. |
Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” |
The Danube Canal in Vienna, (c) Céline Oms, 2022
|
Both Bonn and Vienna have been through a lot of changes in the last two hundred years since Beethoven roamed its streets. And yet, much also remains similar, if not the same, and many traces of Beethoven's life in these two cities of his remain, from his authentic birth house to many of his Viennese residences (he moved over 35 times in the time he liver there!). Part of George's artistic process is to imbibe the atmosphere in which Beethoven found his inspiration, whether the city, or the beautiful countryside, with its magnificent rivers, hills, woods, and pastoral settings. |
George Lepauw in Vienna. Photo by Céline Oms, (c) 2022
|