Canadian pianist Robert Silverman, whose artistry has made him an audiophile legend, is set to continue his complete Beethoven Sonata Cycle Series in San Jose, CA. The four remaining concerts are scheduled for February 3 and 10 and April 7 and 14 in the excellent acoustic of San Jose's Le Petit Trianon Theatre. All proceeds from the performances will benefit the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.
Producer of the series, Michael
Silver of Audio High in Mountain View, CA, has
retained Marc Willsher to make high-resolution digital
recordings of the entire series. Judging from an
unedited hi-res master of the first movement of
Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata, the clarity and
truthfulness of Silverman's sound in Le Petit Trianon
are first-class.
The recordings could be as revelatory as the
recordings that John Atkinson and Ray Kimber have and
continued to make of Silverman performing other
repertoire. Stereophile will release a new recording
of Brahms' Handel Variations and Schumann's Symphonic
Études later this year, and IsoMike has recently
released a 7-CD set of Silverman performing all the
Mozart piano sonatas. (JA's photo shows Robert
performing a Mozart sonata at the 2010 Rocky Mountain
Audio Fest.)
After Steve Hoffman masters the Beethoven recordings,
they will become available later this year in both
redbook CD and hi-res download formats. All proceeds
will again benefit children at Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital at Stanford.
The quality of the sound suggests that attending the
live events is mandatory for lovers of fine pianism.
Surprisingly, it appears easier to lure Bay Area
audiophiles to equipment demos that include hi-res
files than to live performances by a living master
performing in an exceptional acoustic.
February 3's concert includes two "name" sonatas,
"Tempest" and "Les Adieux." February 10 includes the
"Pathétique," and April 7 the knuckle-breaking
"Hammerklavier." The final performance in the series,
on April 14, concludes with Beethoven's final piano
sonata, No.32 in c, Op.111.
Silver, who has studied and played many of the
Beethoven sonatas, and is extremely familiar with all
the major recordings (and recent live performances by
Andras Schiff), speaks with excitement about
Silverman's most recent performances in San Jose. "I
was sitting in the back room listening with
headphones, making marks in my score as Robert was
playing the Op.27, No.2 "Moonlight" sonata in C-sharp
minor, when I heard someone in the audience gasp and
make a comment about how beautiful it was," he
reports. "They were so taken by his playing that they
couldn't help speaking. That's how special it was.
"Silverman's Op.109 almost moved me to tears. He has
this uncanny ability to bring out the inner voices. He
has a sense of line in the music that enables you to
hear things that other pianists do not bring out. When
he plays, he understands the music in a way that you
probably haven't before no matter how many times
you've heard it. The last movement of the 109 was an
absolutely amazing performance. I'm thrilled to be
doing this."
A major benefit
Details of how the proceeds will benefit the Lucile
Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford have been
refined since the concert series commenced. In
addition to Elf Foundation Rooms of Magic on every
floor of the hospital's new wing, set for completion
in 2016, the non-profit wing of Silver's Audio High is
donating $70,000 plus all the labor necessary to
upgrade an existing audio-visual room built in the
hospital by 49ers quarterback Steve Young. Additional
significant donations from SIM2, Stewart Filmscreen,
Kaleidescape, and other companies are enabling Silver
to upgrade equipment, install a high-grade media
server, and stock the room with hundreds of children's
films.
"It will be a huge, huge transformation," says Silver
of work that will begin in February. "Everyone is
thrilled about it. Hopefully publicity from the
concerts will encourage additional companies to
donate."
Silver and his wife have spent the last 13 years
establishing and supporting their non-profit that
helps raise money for cystic fibrosis research and
other causes. The couple's daughter, now 17, lives
with cystic fibrosis, and has been treated at Stanford
Hospital since birth. Every sale at Audio High
contributes to the non-profit, 100% of whose
fundraising goes to non-profit organizations.
Silverman is also performing the entire cycle in
Vancouver's Jazz Cellar on Broadway. For his thoughts
on his ongoing cycle, click here.
