Boris Giltburg, whose “pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven … enormously pleasurable and revelatory” (BBC Music Magazine), opens his PPI recitals with the composer’s lyrically rhapsodic Sonata No. 31 — a work of both serene respite and operatic pathos that, even upon first listen, envelops the soul with its loving embrace.

From a dark, desolate opening to the heavenly ascension experienced in its final phrase, Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor charts a journey of emotional catharsis filled with plenty of heart-racing moments, while Rachmaninoff’s final preludes showcase the composer’s ability to create grand cinematic scenes using even the most miniature of musical forms.