On 2 December, Xavi Torres will be presenting em>A Kind of Beethoven at L’Auditori de Barcelona as part of the concert hall’s Sessions, in collaboration with the Barcelona Jazz Festival. The project, which had to be postponed due to the pandemic, can now finally be brought to fruition at L’Auditori. In the concert, the Tarragona musician will revisit a masterpiece of musical literature, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, in a work commissioned by L’Auditori to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. In a jazz rendering by a trio, it offers a new insight into some of the Bonn composer’s sonatas.
With a deep respect for the original sonatas, Torres transports Beethoven’s music to his own personal musical domain, explaining it with the rhythmic exuberance, rich timbre and textural profundity that characterises his music. Thisjourney of discovery into some of the German maestro’s best-known sonatas is strongly marked by Torres’ own personal vision of them, and all the possibilities of sound are explored, from improvisation to rhythms and new textures, always with a respect for the original works. The project, which has already been presented in France and Holland, has received high public and critical acclaim.
For this project, Xavi Torres will be accompanied by Joris Roelofs. A musician considered to be one of the world’s finest bass clarinet players , he has played with Brad Mehldau and Dee Dee Bridgewater, among others. The third member is drummer Joan Terol, with whom Torres has played for over 10 years, hence their superb rapport.
Xavi Torres is one of the top musicians on the Spanish jazz scene. The composer and pianist trained in classical music and jazz at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya and the Amsterdam Conservatory, achieving a command over the piano and musical scope that have singled him out at competitions such as the Keep An Eye International Jazz Award and the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition.
Xavi Torres presenta A Kind of Beethoven, un encàrrec de L’Auditori que revisita les sonates de Beethoven en clau de jazz
30-Nov-2021 – Aleix Palau