Pianist tackles ‘herculean’ tribute in Winter Park: All 32 Beethoven sonatas
Pianist Adam Golka had a very artistic idea about how to celebrate his 32nd birthday. Some would call it ambitious, others might use a shorter word — like nuts.
In honor of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, Golka will perform all 32 of the great composer’s sonatas in a series of back-to-back concerts at Rollins College in Winter Park.
“Anyone who wants to do 32 Beethoven sonatas in a short time is a crazy guy. But a crazy good guy,” said John Sinclair, artistic director of the Bach Festival Society, which will present the concert series — a coup for Central Florida music fans.
The Bach society will augment the concerts with food and drink pairings and lighthearted videos. The concerts themselves also will be made available online. But those who want to experience the music in person will have to act fast:
Only 45 tickets to each program are available to the public, and the series begins Sept. 30.
From an audience perspective, “Adam Golka’s 32@32: Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas”
will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Sinclair says.
For Golka, it might be both the challenge and the reward of
a lifetime. It will take 11 concerts over 2.5 weeks to hear them all — and Golka will perform each program three times, meaning he’s playing 33 recitals during that time.
“It challenges but there’s so much variety, one never gets bored,” Golka said. “It’s just incredible what he did.”
Beethoven composed the 32 sonatas over nearly four decades, between 1795 and 1832. The first pianist to play the complete cycle from memory in concert was a German compatriot, Hans von Bülow, in the mid-1800s. Nearly a century later, Austrian Artur Schnabel spent three years making the first complete recording of the sonata cycle.
Others have accomplished the feat through the years — but it still remains a rarity.
“It is herculean for a pianist, not just for the endurance but for the memory,” said Sinclair, who calls Golka “gutsy.” In all, the sonatas comprise about 12 hours of music.
Golka has been on the concert stage for half his life; he was 16 when he won first prize at the 2nd China Shanghai International Piano Competition. He has been honored by the American Pianists Association and performed at festivals, as soloist with numerous orchestras and in recitals around the world, including in 2018 at Orlando’s Timucua Arts Foundation.
He has played all the sonatas publicly before — back when he was 18. But
some had fallen by the wayside until he began practicing for “32@32” two years ago. “Some feel like I’m with a friend,” Golka said. “Some ... are not like sitting with a best friend.”
Golka has come to appreciate how the various pieces shed light on Beethoven’s personality at different stages of his life. “So much of it is about mood,” he said.
Central Florida became the site of Golka’s “32@32” because of a conversation at last year’s Bach Festival, where Golka was a guest performer. Sinclair recalled telling him, “If you are really serious about doing it, give us a buzz.”
A while later, Sinclair received a call from Golka’s agent: “He’s serious about it. Are you?”
Sinclair didn’t hesitate: “It just seemed way too cool to not say, ‘Sure!’”
The Bach society has partnered with local businesses to create food and drink experiences around the concerts. Videos will play off Beethoven’s welldocumented love of coffee, wine and cheesy spaetzle (think German mac-andcheese), with make-yourown instructions. Wine suggestions and a specialty “Moonlight Sonata” cocktail will be available for pickup.
“We’re trying to bring the personality of Beethoven into it,” said executive director Elizabeth Gwinn. “We are opening our arms to the community” — and farther afield, thanks to the online viewing option.
“There’s interest from beyond Central Florida,” Gwinn said. “Anybody who hears about it can stream it — and make spaetzle at home or coffee like Beetho
ven would have made.”
The performance videos will become part of classical-music history, Sinclair said: “These could truly be things piano teachers will be referring to for years.”
As he prepares, Golka is feeling grateful and honored for the opportunity — especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I feel so starved for playing in front of people, I invite neighbors over, in their masks, to feel that human connection,” he said. “I’m really flattered to bring this magical music experience that’s sure to be an overwhelming experience for all of us.”
Ticket information
Adam Golka’s “32@32: Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas” will be presented Sept. 30-Oct. 18. In-person performances take place in Tiedtke Concert Hall at Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave. in Winter Park. Face masks are mandatory, and concertgoers will be physically distanced. Tickets are $69 per performance — or buy a pass to all 11 for $400. Watching online through the Bach Festival Society’s “Bach at Home” program costs $19.99 for a single concert or $125 for all 11. Inperson tickets also include access to the “Bach at Home” recordings. For more information, go to bachfestivalflorida.org or call 407-646-2182.