Independent Classical podcast: Llyr Williams

There aren't many prizes in music that the young Welsh pianist Llyr Williams hasn't already accrued: a BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, his is a searching and inquisitive talent.

He practices for up to seven hours a day at his home in rural Wales, sometimes recording his practice for added insight. His commitment to music is total. He eschews modern technology, like email and the internet, in order to preserve his privacy and minimise distraction.

He walks, he reads, he studies, and in order to maintain that all-important sense of music created in the playing of it, he is constantly striving for "newness" - new insights, new voicings, both in practice and performance.

Anyone watching the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World will have been enthralled by his wonderfully vivid and sympathetic accompaniments in the song competition. He grew up with voices, with opera, and, being a Welshman, he sang. He still does - though mainly through his fingers.

In the great piano literature he has totally immersed himself in the Beethoven Sonatas and in August, at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, he will once more embark upon this epic journey playing all 32 sonatas over a two week period (12-26). A double album of selected sonatas is shortly to appear on Signum Classics.

In this exclusive audio podcast Llyr talks to Edward Seckerson about the journey and where it might now take him.

www.llyrwilliams.com

www.greyfriarskirk.com

Independent classical: Llyr Williams by The Independent on Mixcloud