SA: Johannesburg Musical Society 2020 season to kick off with Beethoven’s sonatas

The first performance, which celebrates Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, will feature Russian-German violinist Alissa Margulis and South Africa-based Portuguese pianist Luis Magalhães.

The show forms part of the activities that have been planned by the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival.

The concert will showcase the last three violin sonatas that Beethoven wrote: Sonata in G Opus 30 No 3, Sonata in G Opus 96 No 10, and Sonata in A Opus 47 No 9 (the Kreutzer Sonata).

Sonata No 9 was dedicated to George Bridgetower with whom Beethoven fell out over a woman. Beethoven then backtracked on the sonata's title and dedicated it to Rodolphe Kreutzer who was regarded as one of the best violinists at the time. However, Kreutzer hated the piece and never played it.

Margulis is a regular performer with orchestras around the world. She has played in Jerusalem, St Petersburg, Munich and Osaka, as well as in England, Belgium and France. She has also performed with artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, David Geringas, Ivry Gitlis and Mischa Maisky.

In addition to the performance, a brief talk on the three sonatas will be given in the Space Frame Theatre next to the Linder Auditorium at 7pm.

The JMS concert starts at 8pm and tickets can be purchased here.

For more information, visit the JMS official website.