Spirio Spotlight in April 2023

Rachmaninov’s 150th, Springtime on Spirio, Beethoven’s Last Sonata

This month marks the 150th birthday of one of the most celebrated STEINWAY IMMORTALS, Sergei Rachmaninov. As a composer, he boldly propelled Romanticism well into the 20th century with some of the most famous works and melodies created in classical music. He was a formidable pianist as well and his virtuosic writing for the keyboard is a hallmark of his creative work. We are privileged to have many performances of his favorite works by great STEINWAY ARTISTS, including new performances of the 4-Hand Six Morceaux, Op. 11, with Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Emanuela Friscioni, the complete Etudes Tableaux, Op. 33 with Shen Lu, and the vibrant Polichinelle in F sharp minor with the Rachmaninov specialist Olga Kern. And we also have a new SPIRIOSYNC video with rising star Wei Luo Performing the much-loved Vocalise.

And we are very proud to have Rachmaninov himself performing on SPIRIO in a set of tracks we have re-created from performances from the 1940s, including his original works as well as brilliant transcriptions of works by Bach, Kreisler, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. And as we begin the spring season — always a time of musical inspiration — we are pleased to present new playlists to set the mood, including our latest Spring Vibrations, and others that suit the seasonal theme.

As we continue to expand the Spirio repertoire of essential classical repertoire, this month we release the final sonata of Ludwig van Beethoven. Zhenni-Li Cohen provides a dramatic and moving performance the C minor sonata, Op. 111, a visionary masterpiece. Olga Scheps also contributes a new performance of the preceding sonata, Op 110 in A flat major as well as the spring-like Ballade No. 2 of Frédéric Chopin.