380.贝多芬钢琴协奏曲32/29

Reader86

Daniil Trifonov - Beethoven - Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor, Op 111

Movement I - 00:00
Movement II - 09:22

Reader86

4 Highlights from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32
Highlight 1: Beginning of the first movement – dark and dramatic
The first movement begins with a somber introduction that sets the mood for the entire rest of the movement. As a listener, you get a taste of what is to come:

Highlight 2: Arietta theme in the second movement
Beethoven begins the second movement with a “little aria” – an arietta. Arias are actually vocal pieces; if you go to the opera regularly, you know this, of course. But even in instrumental music, pieces that seem very vocal can be called arias. There are famous examples by Bach and Handel.

The theme of Beethoven’s Arietta is intimate, emotional, and yet so simple. The designation “Arietta” is therefore quite appropriate, for one could really sing along:

Highlight 3: Variations of the Arietta Theme
Then, as far as form is concerned, things get really unusual: Beethoven varies the Arietta theme (Highlight 2) a total of five times. Each variation brings something new – sometimes the tempo contrasts, sometimes the dynamics, sometimes the rhythm – but always we learn new facets of the theme. Overall, it is striking that Beethoven condenses the musical events by “shortening” the rhythm more and more – in other words, “more” happens in the same amount of time. Accordingly, Beethoven has to choose unusual time signatures for this – for example, a 12/32 time signature in the third variation:

Highlight 4: End of the sonata – floating away
At the end, Beethoven once again pulls out all the stops, both as a composer and as a pianist. The finale is fast and virtuosic, but at the end, the music “floats away” into the distance:



https://starkconductor.com/beethoven-piano-sonata-no-32/

Reader86

EARTHLY STRUGGLE - Beethoven Sonata no. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 mvt 1 - Analysis tutorial

Reader86

EARTHLY STRUGGLE - Beethoven Sonata no. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 mvt 1 - Analysis tutorial






HEAVENLY BLISS - Beethoven Sonata no. 32 in C minor Op. 111 mvt 2 - Analysis tutorial

Reader86

Yuja Wang, Beethoven, Sonata opus 106 "Hammerklavier", with score

@Geoplanetjane
2 years ago (edited)
I first heard Hammerklavier in a Philadelphia recital in 1971 by Rudolf Serkin, at which he also played the Moonlight and Appasionata.  This work was the entire second half of the program. I don’t know if a Serkin recording exists now or was ever made.  So far I have not been able to find one. I was not at all familiar with this sonata until the Serkin performance and upon hearing it for the first time,  I was transported to another realm upon hearing it played by maestro Serkin. I vowed then and there that I, a pianistic amateur would one day play it, and I have.  I know every note and I am finding this performance by Ms. Wang by far the best now available, perhaps ever available.  Her phrasing of the mystical, tender sections of the sonata are heartbreakingly beautiful.  I have come to know her as an incredibly strong pianist.  Not only are her fingers agile, but her hands and arms radiate physical strength.  So the sections of Hammerklavier that demand such strength abound and she ably shows her mastery of this aspect of the work.  For those who have not previously known this sonata, I suggest you get a copy of the score and follow it along with this performance or more of them by the many piano masters that have it available here on YouTube.  Learn the sequencing of the piece, its intense chromaticism and if you are a pianist, sight read through it and then begin to play it.  As far as I am concerned, this is the pinnacle of Beethoven’s body of compositions for the piano.  One must also remember that this sonata came toward the end of Beethoven’s life, and as such, it can be compared in its audacity, and dare I say sometimes atonality with the late quartets, especially the Grosse Fuge, and of course the 9th symphony.  And perhaps I do not need to mention it here, but Beethoven never heard this sonata, not during its composition nor in performance.  He clearly heard it in his head. I personally wish that we could bring a hearing-capable Beethoven forward in time and give him the opportunity to hear this sonata played by Yuja Wang on this or some other equally superb Steinway concert grand piano.  Can you imagine his astonishment at everything to do with this performance, Wang’s powerful and sensitive playing, her agility, the brilliance and range of tones and sounds she coaxes from this superb instrument, and of course Wang’s appearance?  Not only is she female, young-ish, non-western in ancestry, but she seems to always dress in revealing, sparkly gowns that to some, upon seeing and hearing her for the first time, may initially doubt her as a serious musician.  I can only imagine that the composer would not only be delighted by her interpretation of his masterpiece, but he might well have had a similar response to that of Freddie Mercury when he first heard Montserrat Caballé singing in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.  Freddie wanted to hear more of her and he wanted to sing with and compose for her, both of which the two of them were able to accomplish toward the end of his life.  I congratulate Ms. Wang for her brilliance and artistic mastery of this work and I congratulate everyone who had anything to do with this recording and video of the performance.