Kettner Society presents: Cristian Sandrin performs piano sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, in a thrilling musical feast of intimacy and elemental fire.

Hailed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic for his immaculate technique, crystalline clarity and mature interpretations, Cristian Sandrin’s latest programme is inspired by Prospero’s speech in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest as he reflects on the fleeting nature of life, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep”, a sentiment that appealed to the Romantics. Cristian’s recital features piano sonatas by three pioneers of Romanticism: Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, in a thrilling musical feast of colour and drama, intimacy and elemental fire.

★★★★★ BBC Music Magazine

“Sandrin is a wonderful Beethoven interpreter” – Piano News Deutschland

Critics’ Choice 2025 – American Record Guide

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PROGRAMME

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Piano Sonata in A minor K310

Composed in Paris in 1778 where Mozart enjoyed the revolutionary experience of performing to a paying audience, before his mother fell ill and died. The heartbreaking melancholy of the second movement is a timeless outpouring of grief.

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonata in D minor op. 31 No. 2 ‘The Tempest‘

Beethoven moved from Bonn to Vienna in 1792 in the hope of becoming Mozart’s heir by playing in concert halls to a paying public. When his duplicitous factotum asked what the sonata was all about he is said to have retorted, “Read Shakespeare’s Tempest.”

Franz SCHUBERT
Piano Sonata in A minor D.845

Schubert lived a carefree Bohemian life in Vienna until being diagnosed with syphilis in 1823. The first movement is more tempestuous than any other Schubert sonata. We are then led through a meandering panorama of life towards the final Rondo that seems to rage against fate, reflecting the composer’s tortured soul.

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BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Bucharest into a family of musicians so I have been immersed in classical music all my life. My mother, as a librarian, encouraged me not to take music for granted and instilled in me the love of books, stories and poetry. My father was the distinguished pianist and professor Sandu Sandrin. Our home was always buzzing with his musician friends. From an early age he took me to concerts at the famous Romanian Atheneum Concert Hall and I studied the piano at the Dino Lipatti college with Maringa Dragomirescu and Cristian Dumitrescu, whose teaching centred on the culture of creating beautiful sounds and studying recordings of the great pianists of the past.

I was never pressured to follow in my father’s footsteps. It was my decision, and in 2005 I was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music in London under the tutelage of professors Diana Ketler and Christopher Elton, who encouraged me to be imaginative and daring. In 2018 I received a DipRAM with distinction and completed my final degree at the RAM in 2019.

I like to set myself ambitious musical goals and challenge myself to learn new and unfamiliar music. It is so important to remain curious and to work on pieces that are out of your comfort zone. In 2023 I was invited to become co-Artistic Director of the Kettner Society Concert series at the National Liberal Club enabling me to create solo and chamber music programmes that invite audiences to discover the breadth of classical music in all its glory. It is a pleasure to encourage younger musicians to think imaginatively about their programmes. The audience is a participant in a live performance and can feel the music as well as hear.