Beethoven

Finally got through the last sonata on Schiff's latest Beethoven disc. No. 15 in D, known as the "Pastorale." It's one of his "main" sonatas, but I wasn't familiar with it until now. I enjoyed it for the most part. For once, Schiff agrees with the work's nickname in the liner notes, but I am not sure I heard much nature in the music. The minor-key sections of the Andante are far too dark and emotional, the scherzo is too brash (at least in Schiff's hands) and, at a hair over two minutes, too short to evoke a coherent visual image, and the closing rondo is vintage, juicy Beethoven that sounds, as it should, like good music, not chirping birds or howling winds, and readily echoes the thematic material of the opening, nicely bringing the sonata full circle. Pigeonholing a work as "program" music is almost always a bad idea, and it certainly is here -- this is good, solid piano music, with few gimmicks and no need for non-musical metaphors.

My timing couldn't be better -- the next installment comes out this week. It contains "The Tempest" -- who names these things? -- that I will actually be able to compare with another recording.