Mari Kodama – Beethoven Through a Different Lens

Floor van der Holst on April 3, 2020

Mari Kodama’s profoundly nuanced yet natural musicality and her unique ability to unite tonal expressivity with a clear sense of form have made her a leading international pianist. An authoritative Beethoven interpreter, Mari Kodama earns consistent praise for her virtuosity across a broad range of repertoire that includes orchestral, chamber, and solo works by composers of all eras.

Mari Kodama highlights her mastery of such diverse repertoire during her 2019/2020 season as she presents various concerts around the world: She performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in Sweden and Japan with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Santtu-Matias Rouvali; in Marseille, she presented Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 together with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille and Lawrence Foster; and in Osaka, Japan, she played Takemitsu’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra with her sister, pianist Momo Kodama. Duo recitals with violinist Veronika Eberle with works by Schubert, Bartok and Franck also took her to Japan and a contemporary duo recital program with Momo Kodama brought her to Canada.

“It feels to me that playing these adaptations of individual movements gives me the opportunity to ask, even if not directly to Beethoven himself, then at least to Saint-Saëns, Mussorgsky or Balakirev, about their view of Beethoven. Their impressions, as expressed in the transcriptions, will undoubtedly take me further, just as they will hopefully give you a further, deeper or at least new understanding of Beethoven.”
Mari Kodama

Beethoven Through the Lens of Other Great Composers

After her acclaimed complete recording of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, Mari Kodama returns with a programme consisting of Beethoven string quartets transcribed for piano by Saint-Saëns, Mussorgsky and Balakirev, as well as Beethoven’s variations on the finale of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. Most pieces are recorded for the first time. Kaleidoscope is designed as a homage, considering and experiencing Beethoven through the lens of other great composers.