Tampere Chamber Music: Opening Concert – Beethoven’s Sonatas 1–3

Information

Thursday 28 January 2027 at 7 pm
Tampere Chamber Music: Opening Concert – Beethoven’s Sonatas 1–3
Small Auditorium, Tampere Hall

Tickets
Standard ticket: €32
Pensioners: €26
Students: €10

Duration: approximately 2 hours, including an interval.

Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven:

Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5 No. 1 (25 min)
Adagio sostenuto – Allegro
Rondo: Allegro vivace
Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2 (27 min)
Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo
Allegro molto più tosto presto
Rondo: Allegro

Interval (approximately 25 min)

Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 (32 min)
Allegro, ma non tanto
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace

Performers:
Robert Cohen, cello
Heini Kärkkäinen, piano

A welcome message from Heini Kärkkäinen, Artistic Director of the Tampere Chamber Music Festival:

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonatas for Cello and Piano

Our long-held dream of performing all of Beethoven’s sonatas for cello and piano as a complete cycle will come true in 2027, marking the 200th anniversary of his death.

These works are intertwined in fascinating ways with his life and his relationship with music.

Beethoven’s First Sonata, Op. 5 No. 1, written when he was 25, belongs to the period following his arrival in Vienna as a brilliant pianist eager to demonstrate his talents as Mozart’s successor. This is reflected in the sonata’s soloistic piano writing, with the cello playing more of an accompanying role. The Sonata in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2, reveals Beethoven’s dramatic side and is filled with dark, emotionally charged colours.

A long pause follows, during which the composer must confront his deteriorating hearing and come to terms with his approaching deafness. During this difficult period in his life, he writes what is perhaps his best-known cello sonata, the Sonata in A major, Op. 69, which radiates happiness, warmth and playfulness. Here, the cello and piano become more equal partners, engaging in a shared dialogue.

As deafness approaches and his inner world grows stronger, the final sonatas venture into searching, idiosyncratic realms. Beethoven draws strength from music, and his rich inner voice, following its own paths, is profoundly moving in its genius. The slow movement of the final sonata leaves the listener speechless with its purity and beauty. The interplay of voices in the fugue and its original, unpredictable melodic lines bring this experience of the full depth of Beethoven’s music to its culmination.

This is a journey worth experiencing: it encompasses all of life and reaches into other dimensions.

Heini Kärkkäinen
Artistic Director
Tampere Chamber Music

This concert is part of the Tampere Chamber Music Festival, taking place from Thursday to Saturday, 28–30 January 2027. This year’s festival theme is “Small but Infinite”. Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 4 and 5 will be performed at Tampere Hall on Friday 29 January 2027.

Subject to change.

Produced by Tampere-talo Oy and the Tampere Chamber Music Festival