Stephen Kovacevich

BEETHOVEN'S DIABELL VARIATIONS: AN ODE TO HUMOR

(TEXT: IVO DELAERE)

A career-long battle against intense stage fright has not stopped Stephen Kovacevich from making himself noticed time and time again, as a pianist and as a conductor. He gave his first concert in 1951, when he was eleven. At the age of seventeen he left Los Angeles for London to study with Myra Hess. Three years later the pianist already played in London's Wigmore Hall. Meanwhile, Kovacevich is seventy and gives us a lot to remember. He played with top orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, was a permanent chamber music partner of Jacqueline Du Prez, made excellent recordings of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms, among others, and won almost all major music prizes. He received both a Gramophone Award and a Diapason d'Or for his recording of Brahms' piano concertos. His penetrating interpretations and unrelenting intensity best characterize this pianist. Kovacevich sees a dark side in himself as well as a bright side, fun alongside sarcasm, traits that are sometimes attributed to Beethoven. Perhaps the reason why his Beethoven interpretations are always welcomed as revelations.