Master pianist Paul Berkowitz performs on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m.

Faculty pianist Paul Berkowitz will open up some musical horizons on Thursday, Jan. 26, when he performs generally unfamiliar selections from classical giants, such as Beethoven, Brahms, and Wagner. He calls the program “Lesser Known Masterpieces,” and it starts at 8 p.m. in Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall.

“I’ll be playing a program where, in some cases, the works are almost unknown, although all are by famous composers,” said Berkowitz, a professor of music. “It is quite exciting to think that many of them will be new to most listeners, and yet are the equal of the best-known pieces by the same composers.”

The program will include Beethoven’s "Sonata in G major, Op. 31, No. 1;" Schubert’s " 3 Klavierstücke, D. 946;" two works of Brahms: “Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, No. 1,” and “Variations on a Hungarian Theme, Op. 21, No. 2;” and Liszt’s transcription of "Am stillen Herd" from Wagner’s "Die Meistersinger."

Acknowledging “no Beethoven Sonata is unknown,” Berkowitz notes that the one he has chosen is rarely played in concert. “Brimming over with good humor in all its movements, it is full of surprises. It’s a mystery to me why it is not played more often,” he said.

Similarly, the Schubert pieces are “almost never heard, at least in North America,” said Berkowitz. “The second piece, in particular, is a very beautiful, lyrical work with two contrasting, more turbulent, interludes that typify Schubert in his last year (1828).”

Admission is $12 general admission, and $7 for students, with tickets available only at the door. For further information, call x7001.

The master pianist was born in Montreal but lived and worked in Britain for 20 years. He has performed frequently at the Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore halls, and on the BBC. In addition, he has been a soloist with major orchestras in Britain and Canada and appeared in music festivals across Western Europe. He left London, where he had been a professor at Guildhall School of Music, to join UCSB’s music faculty in 1993.

He plans to conclude Thursday’s performance with of one of Liszt’s transcriptions from Wagner’s operas—Walther’s song from “Die Meistersinger.” “I am eagerly looking forward to introducing all these wonderful works, in most cases for the first time, at my recital,” he said.