T A M A M I
H O N M A
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Tamami Honma is an internationally acclaimed pianist renowned for the spell-binding power and expressiveness of her performances. Based in the San Francisco Bay area, she maintains a busy schedule as a concert soloist, collaborative performer, teacher and recording artist. Last year saw the release of her groundreaking recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas for Divine Art in a stunning new interpretation of these magnificent works.
These recordings are available from here, Divine Art, Amazon, Presto Music, and many other music vendors.
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REVIEWS
"Honma’s performances add to our understanding and appreciation of these great works… Her sensitivity, power, pin-sharp clarity and all-consuming commitment to this music would surely earn five stars from Beethoven.… It grabs the attention in a very Beethoven-like way… a truly admirable and musical account of these monumental works.” (John Evans - Pianist Magazine)
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​“The Pathétique is rendered very well indeed ... So, too, the Moonlight and, initiating the magisterial sequence of the final 10 sonatas,
the Appassionata: Honma ... lets the music sing without any extraneous imposition of personality that has disfigured many an interpretation elsewhere. For many, the acid test of any such Beethoven survey is the later sonatas, particularly the Hammerklavier and its three successors. Suffice it to say that the strengths of Honma’s interpretations of the earlier works persist to the end, whether in the lyrical warmth of Op 90’s finale or the stratospheric heights of the final three.” (Guy Rickards - International Piano)​
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"The “Funeral March” Op. 26 and “Moonlight” Op. 27 No. 2 contain some of the most inspired and dramatically contrasted pianism in Honma’s cycle. Listeners accustomed to a genial “walking” Andante in Op. 28 will be startled by Honma’s terse sprinting. I love the
variety of touch and shifts in emphasis that Honma brings to the Op. 31 No. 1 Allegro vivace’s desynchronized chords, as well as the pianist’s fervency in the “Tempest” Op. 31 No. 2 first movement. … “Les Adieux” Op. 81a stands out for Honma’s combination of
brashness and rhetoric in the first movement, not unlike Artur Schnabel’s arresting conception. … Honma put a great deal of thought, research and practice time into this project, and her most stimulating interpretations provide food for thought.” (Jed Distler - Classics Today)
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"Is Honma a Classical Romantic, or is it the other way around? It hardly matters when Beethoven playing of this stature and invention graces my speakers. [...] suffice it here to say that hers is a set not only rife with the kinds of detail that brings the listener back for more but brimming with the vitality that brings each sonata to life. The final movement of her Appassionata exemplifies perfectly her approach in toto, bristling [...] its way forward with each harmony and intertwining harmonic strand perfectly executed. She never misses a sudden harmonic trick, and again, the recording’s dynamic range places every nuance front and center. " (Marc Medwin - Fanfare)
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VIDEOS
Tamami in conversation with leading Beethoven scholar, Professor Barry Cooper, editor of the ABRSM edition of the Beethoven Piano Sonata discussing how he approached the task of editing Beethoven's revered works and how she approached performing them.
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RECENT CONCERTS
In April and June 2024, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 1824, Ms Honma appeared with Daniel Glover at San Jose State University in two performances of Franz Liszt's extraordinary piano transcription of the work sponsored by the American Beethoven Society in San Jose, California. Both also featured the support of timpani and percussion and one also included a full choir.
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Ms Honma appeared with the Redwood Symphony on September 23, 2023 in a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 4, that was described after its first performance by the composer himself as "the most admirable, singular, artistic and complex Beethoven concerto ever."
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On October 15, 2023 she appeared with the Saratoga Symphony at the McAfee Center in Saratoga, California in a performance of Ferruccio Busoni's extraordinary piano concerto. The work, composed over one hundred years ago, was only recently given its West Coast premiere, an event for which reviewers raved: “Awe and wonder," "Sheer energy and dynamism," "Shot of pure adrenalin," "Kaleidoscopic," and "a once in a lifetime opportunity for audiences." .
REVIEWS
"The Pathétique is rendered very well indeed... So, too, the Moonlight and, initiating the magisterial sequence of the final 10 sonatas. [In] the Appassionata, Honma lets the music sing without any extraneous imposition of personality that has disfigured many an interpretation elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the strengths of Honma’s interpretations of the earlier works persist to the end, whether in the lyrical warmth of Op 90’s finale or the stratospheric heights of the final three."
International Piano
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"Make no mistake Honma is a superb player… a remarkably eloquent achievement… Hearing her performances one appreciates immediately how technically able and interpretatively alert she is… she catches its febrile intensity to perfection…very strongly recommended."
Gramophone
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"An eloquent, powerful performance"
The New York Times
"Honma played with both flair and immediate understanding"
The Independent
