Latest / The Piano Maven with Jed Distler / Beethoven's 32 Sonatas with 64 Pianists: Op. 57 ("Appassionata")

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Beethoven's 32 Sonatas with 64 Pianists: Op. 57 ("Appassionata") · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

• 0:00
  This is Jed Disler and welcome to the Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 0:15
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• 0:23
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• 0:34
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• 0:44
  We continue our mini series where I've been discussing each one of the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven for which I recommend two recordings for each work.
• 0:55
  One is a recording that's historic, meaning archival or something from the 78 RPM era or the mono LP era.
• 1:06
  And then the second recording is one that is closer to our time, stereo or digital. And it's not necessarily that close to our time.
• 1:15
  I mean, some stereo recordings that you would call a modern recording actually are more than 60 years old.
• 1:22
  So I guess the word modern is relative. Like I've said before, some of the recordings from the 60s and 70s I grew up with.
• 1:31
  So they were new when I was a kid. And now that I'm an old man, I don't feel old.
• 1:38
  I feel young. But then I look in the mirror and I have a big reality check.
• 1:44
  But those recordings from the 60s and 70s still seem new to me.
• 1:50
  At any rate, we have finally arrived at the Appassionata, Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Opus 57.
• 2:03
  At some point, I'm going to have to do a podcast episode where I discuss multiple recordings of the Appassionata because there have been just so many.
• 2:14
  And it's such an iconic composition. And there are so many divergent approaches to this work.
• 2:20
  And listeners definitely have their favorite Appassionatas. And there are a good number of reference versions.
• 2:28
  But there also are some great Appassionata recordings that have long been under the radar and they're rarely discussed.
• 2:35
  But for this episode, we have to stick with our ground rules nominating the historic recording and the stereo slash digital recording.
• 2:45
  And throughout this miniseries, the ground rule has been that we can't repeat a pianist on the list of recommendations for 32 sonatas,
• 2:54
  meaning that we have to have 64 pianists for 32 sonatas and without repeating a pianist.
• 3:03
  Since I've often written about the Appassionata in various booklet notes, I thought I could give you a little bit of background context about this piece.
• 3:13
  In a way, the Appassionata represents the apotheosis of Beethoven's so-called middle period.
• 3:20
  The outer movements are stormy and defiant as if Beethoven was holding up his fist to the sky.
• 3:28
  And Beethoven does this by his uninhibited yet still very canny deployment of the keyboard's full registral scope from bottom to top and from top to bottom.
• 3:41
  In this way, Beethoven conjures up sonorities that have real orchestral impact, yet they still are quintessentially pianistic,
• 3:50
  like the opening movements' fiery arpeggiated chords or those relentlessly rapid figurations throughout the finale.
• 4:00
  One can say that much of the piano writing actually feels under a pianist's fingers in the same way that it sounds to the listening audience.
• 4:11
  I would guess that much of the music's assurance and flow and tactile immediacy stems from Beethoven's fondness from improvising.
• 4:23
  And there's a wonderful reminiscence left by Beethoven's people Ferdinand Ries.
• 4:29
  He and his teacher would go on walks together and Ries described one of these walks.
• 4:35
  And let me read you this quote from Ferdinand Ries now because it's just wonderful.
• 4:41
  He wrote that, during a similar walk, we went so far astray that we didn't get back to Döbling, where Beethoven lived, until nearly eight o'clock.
• 4:53
  The entire way he had hummed or sometimes howled to himself up and down, up and down, without singing any definite notes.
• 5:03
  When I asked what this was, he replied, a theme for the last allegro of the sonata has occurred to me, meaning the F minor sonata, the appassionata.
• 5:15
  When we entered the room, he rushed to the piano without taking off his hat.
• 5:21
  I took a seat in the corner and he soon forgot all about me.
• 5:26
  He stormed on for at least an hour with the new finale of the sonata, which is so beautiful.
• 5:34
  Finally, he got up, was surprised to see me still there, and said, I cannot give you a lesson today.
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  I still have work to do.
• 5:44
  I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall hearing Beethoven improvise,
• 5:49
  because he was considered the Charlie Parker or the Art Tatum of his time in regard to improvising.
• 5:57
  But in spite of the improvisational impulse that seems to drive the appassionata, especially in the outer movements,
• 6:05
  this sonata is actually one of Beethoven's most concentrated and terse musical structures.
• 6:12
  Its material derives entirely from motives spelled out in the first movement's 12 introductory measures.
• 6:21
  A simple spread out minor triad, a cadential trill, and an ominous four note pattern with three repeated notes,
• 6:31
  not unlike the Fifth Symphony's renowned motto theme.
• 6:34
  See, the Fifth Symphony is ba-ba-ba-bum, and then the appassionata is ba-ba-ba-bum, you know,
• 6:40
  ba-ba-ba-ba-bum, ba-ba-ba-bum, and please forgive my singing.
• 6:46
  And this repeated note motif, ba-ba-ba-bum, generates a rock solid pulse for the entire first movement,
• 6:55
  and it also drives the development section toward its staggering climax.
• 7:01
  And just before the finale's coda, the motif reappears in a slightly longer and more insistent counterpart.
• 7:13
  However, the central movement's calm stands in marked contrast to the outer movement's turbulent sentiments.
• 7:22
  Beethoven follows his simple D flat major theme with three meticulously crafted variations,
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  followed by a slightly altered return to the theme with no repeats.
• 7:35
  My late friend and musical collaborator and mentor, Frederick Zewski,
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  wrote his own set of variations on this very theme,
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  and he once commented on how Beethoven's variations were remarkable,
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  not so much for his development of thematic material than for what Beethoven left unsaid.
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  I always like to quote that when I write about the Appassionata or talk about the Appassionata,
• 8:03
  because Frederick really did have a point.
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  So, enough of my preamble, although hopefully you got a little something out of that.
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  But let's get to the recordings.
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  There were so many fine recordings of the Appassionata in the 78 RPM era
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  that we were spoiled for choice in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.
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  But the one I'm going to choose is by a pianist, William Murdoch.
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  His name usually doesn't come up in discussions about legendary pianists of the past,
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  most likely because this Australian-born artist died relatively young.
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  He lived from 1888 until 1942.
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  But he was a truly mindful virtuoso,
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  and his Beethoven recordings reveal a powerful and sometimes explosive temperament
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  that never crosses the line into bad taste or provincialism.
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  I would say that both surging dynamic sweep and controlled freedom
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  characterize how Murdoch plays the first movement of the Appassionata,
• 9:13
  while the central variations receive an integrated, although rather understated reading, I think.
• 9:20
  But it's still very beautiful.
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  But then Murdoch begins the finale at a measured pace
• 9:27
  at which the tumultuous passagework can forge ahead without blurring or speeding out of control.
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  And this all sets the stage for an amazingly fast coda
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  where Murdoch's fingers take off like a rocket, and they never derail for a second.
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  And he even makes such a speed demon like Sviatoslav Richter sound sedate by comparison.
• 9:54
  Although Richter's manic mood swings and foaming-at-the-mouth power
• 10:01
  still make for one of the most gripping Appassionata interpretations I know,
• 10:07
  and Richter's stereo studio recording is my modern recommendation.
• 10:13
  For all of this recording's textual transgressions, it never spills into vulgarity.
• 10:21
  There are a bunch of live Richter Appassionata performances from his best period with this piece,
• 10:28
  which is to say in 1960.
• 10:31
  Richter himself preferred a live 1960 recording that the Melodia label issued.
• 10:38
  I think it was recorded at the Moscow Conservatory.
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  But the studio recording that Richter made for RCA Victor
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  in the middle of his first North American tour in 1960
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  is a recording that Richter didn't really like.
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  But I respectfully disagree with you, Mr. Richter,
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  because studio conditions only added more precision
• 11:03
  and better sound quality to this crazy conception.
• 11:07
  And I think it still makes for thrilling listening.
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  This is not a recording that you can unhear.
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  It's a performance that defines that well-worn phrase, shock and awe.
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  And I think it's just terrific.
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  And there's nothing else like it among studio Appassionati.
• 11:28
  Anyway, both William Murdoch and Sviatoslav Richter are my Appassionata recommendations.
• 11:35
  And as I said before, God knows, there are countless excellent recordings of this warhorse
• 11:42
  that I easily could have mentioned in this episode.
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  And I am sure that you have your favorite Appassionatas.
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  So let me know what they are.
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  Maybe you know some recordings that I haven't heard.
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  I mean, I've heard tons of Appassionati.
• 11:58
  But do you think I can keep a complete Appassionata discography in my little brain all the time?
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  I don't think so.
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  So let me know.
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  And you know, I think we should start a chat on Substack about our favorite Appassionati.
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  Or maybe we'll make this a topic of our first Zoom meeting.
• 12:18
  You never know. It'll be fun.
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  This is Jed Disler, and you've been listening to the Piano Maven,
• 12:24
  your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 12:28
  And I look forward to being with you next time.