On this week's Saint Paul Sunday, the acclaimed young pianist Shai Wosner -- recent recipient of the Avery Fisher Award -- performs two breakthrough works this week. 

First we'll hear Frédéric Chopin's Opus 49 Fantasy in F minor, a work whose unconventional makeup gave the composer license to break a spell of artistic anxiety and stasis. Its dynamic shifts of mood and color resonate well with the program's concluding work, Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata, of whose Allegro Beethoven said "The piano must break!" The sonata charted fresh territory for the composer, weaving together an astonishing range of techniques new to him, each of which Mr. Wosner navigates with his own special artistry. Between these two masterworks we'll hear a brief haunting "Night Piece" of Robert Schumann.

Music played on this program:

Frederic Chopin: Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49

Robert Schumann: Nachtst cke in F major, Op. 23, No. 4

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 "Tempest"