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Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Chamber Music

Robert Levin

29 - 31 October 2012
University of Cambridge

Professor Robert Levin delivered two lecture-recitals, one open recital, and a closing concert alongside the Academy of Ancient Music during his tenure as Humanitas Visiting Professor in Chamber Music 2012-2013.

Professor Levin's series focussed around the theme ‘Encountering Mozart’. His opening lecture-recital, entitled ‘Improvising Mozart’, provided a fascinating insight into the challenging and - as Professor Levin explained - methodologically sophisticated task of analysing Mozart's piano improvisations. Professor Levin's second lecture-recital, ‘Composing Mozart’, dealt with the daunting task of completing Mozart's unfinished musical pieces. Developing on the methodological approach to Mozart's original manuscripts that he introduced in the first lecture, Professor Levin explained to the audience the foundations upon which musicologists can complete unfinished works. Throughout, Levin showed that such a task needs not only a sound musicological grounding, but also an innate instinct for creating the most authentically 'Mozart-ian’ sound.

To conclude the series, Professor Levin gave a masterful performance alongside the Academy of Ancient Music. To the delight of a full auditorium, Professor Levin and the AAM played Mozart's Allegro from the Piano Sonata in B-flat major ('Sophie Costanza'), Mozart's Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds, Mozart's Allegro from the Piano Sonata in G minor, and Beethoven's Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds. The final concert was preceded by an open rehearsal in which Professor Levin showed his full potential both as a renowned musician and as a gifted teacher. 

Well-known for his improvised embellishments and cadenzas in Classical period repertoire, Robert Levin has made recordings for DG Archiv, CRI, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, ECM, New York Philomusica, Nonesuch, Philips and Sony Classical. These include a Mozart concerto cycle for Decca; a Beethoven concerto cycle for DG Archiv (including the world premiere recording of Beethoven’s arrangement of the Fourth Concerto for piano and string quintet); and the complete Bach harpsichord concertos with Helmuth Rilling, as well as the six English Suites (on piano) and both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier (on five keyboard instruments) as part of Hänssler’s 172-CD Edition Bachakademie. The first recording in a Mozart piano sonata cycle has also been released by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. A passionate advocate of new music, Robert Levin has commissioned and premiered a large number of works.  He is a renowned chamber musician and a noted theorist and musicologist. His completions of Mozart fragments are published by Bärenreiter, Breitkopf & Härtel, Carus, Peters and Wiener Urtext Edition, and recorded and performed throughout the world.  

To view the flyer for the series, click here.

The Humanitas Chair in Chamber Music has been made possible by the generous support of Mr Lawrence Saper.