Beethoven

I’ve been remiss in keeping up with Andras Schiff’s cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas I’ve been collecting. Volume VI arrived over a month ago, and I have the last two, released simultaneously for some reason, on order. Volume VI has two very famous works – the “Appasionata” (op. 57), arguably the most frequently played of all the sonatas, right up there with the “Moonlight”, and “Les Adieux,” also quite well-know. For me, however, the revelation was in the two compositions that sit between those, op. 78 in F-sharp minor, subtitled “à Thérèse” and op. 79 in G. Both of these are written on a much smaller scale than the famous sonatas, but that is precisely why I find them so appealing – they pare Beethoven down to his essentials and completely avoid melodrama.

The thing I love about Beethoven in general, and his solo piano music in particular, is contrast, usually between major and minor keys in the same work, and frequently in the same movement, and both of these sonatas provide an excellent illustration of what I’m talking about. Op. 78, written in only two movements and, at under 11 minutes total, very short, has a minor-key snippet in the secondary theme of the opening, and while it doesn’t amount to much in and of itself, it gives balance to the whole work and keeps the listener interested.

Op. 79 is a more traditional three-movement, fast-low-fast, work. Again in the opening, there is the major-minor contrast, but for me, the sonata seals the deal with its slow movement in the parallel g-minor. It is a slow-ish (the tempo marking is Andante) barcarolle that opens with a gorgeous minor-key melody that could stand easily on its own. Beethoven is not out to write a tear-jerker, however. The development, and there definitely is one, is unequivocally in a major key. It is quiet, gentle and, to me, prefigures Chopin in some of its phrases, but it avoids sentimentality and one-dimensional melancholy in favor of an almost perfect balance. The closing fast rondo puts us back in a cheerful, positive territory, making for an upbeat and optimistic yet emotionally well-rounded work.

I do not have any other recordings of either of the sonatas, so I cannot offer any meaningful commentary on Schiff’s interpretations, but he sounds good to me. Both works, especially op. 78, sound quite challenging technically, more so than their “light” character would suggest, but Schiff sounds confident, his articulation is excellent, and both performances have that nonchalance about them that only a true virtuoso supremely sure of his skills can convey.

Anyway, highly recommended. I cannot wait for the last two volumes to show up. I have a feeling I’ll be eating takeout and ignoring housework for a few days listening to them.