First Tuesday Concert - Lisa Chou

Bold Beethoven piano music to celebrate Ludwig Van’s 250 birthday at St Matthew-in-the-City will be part of First Tuesday’s concert on 6 October.

Exquisite Auckland based pianist Lisa Chou will play piano sonata Opus 111, The Ruins of Athens (arranged by Anton Rubenstein) in her programme, and in a link to the symphonies, the 15 Eroica variations. Lisa Chou studied in Vienna with one of the greatest Beethoven players in Europe, Paul Badura Skoda.

Piano concerts sound very fine in St Matthew’s for although it is a large resonant space it is possible to sit close for clarity and further away for a wonderful wash of sound. “Some audience members move about between pieces to enjoy the range of sound” says John Aston, one of the concert organisers. The recently acquired Kawai Shigeru 7.5 foot grand piano is “the ideal piano for Beethoven, percussive with a beautiful lingering sound quality: bold and beautiful in equal measure”, he adds.

A cynic might think that a celebration of a composer’s 250 birthday is a simple record company marketing ploy but such an occasion brings out wonderful groups of music which we may otherwise not hear. In this Covid-19 interrupted year many cycles have either been abandoned or rescheduled. St Matthew’s First Tuesday team hopes that this will proceed as planned and some of the best Beethoven piano music will be heard.