Kristian Bezuidenhout, harpsichord and fortepianos

Among the most esteemed and sought-after keyboard artists on today’s concert stages, Kristian Bezuidenhout is known for making centuries-old music sparkle and dance as if freshly conceived. The South African-born London-based artist takes Cal Performances audiences on a special journey through his instrument’s evolution. Moving from the harpsichord to the fortepiano—the gloriously idiosyncratic ancestor of the modern piano—Bezuidenhout performs a sequence of carefully chosen works by J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Clara Schumann, and Mendelssohn. “The listener is drawn in by the myriad subtleties of Bezuidenhout’s playing and by the glorious sounds he draws from his instrument” (Gramophone).