Sunday, October 6, 2019

StarTribune.com: "Kreutzer" Sonata was first dedicated to George Bridgetower

George Bridgetower


October 6, 2019

Beethoven with a side of poetry


"Sonata for a crazy mulatto." The dedication Beethoven wrote on the score of his towering "Kreutzer" Sonata was presumably meant affectionately, but would not play well today. The dedicatee in question was George Bridgetower, an Afro-European violinist who gave the first performance of the "Kreutzer" in 1803, with Beethoven on piano. The sonata is the centerpiece of LOFTrecital's Oktoberfest concert, where Alastair Witherspoon's performance with pianist Sofia Mycyk will be intercut with readings from Rita Dove's "Sonata Mulattica," a set of poems about Bridgetower read by Paige Reynolds. (7 p.m. Sat., Good Arts Collective, 810 S. 7th St., Mpls.; pay-what-you-can from $5, facebook.com/LOFTrecital)

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