Latest / The Piano Maven with Jed Distler / A Deep Dive into Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (rebroadcast)

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A Deep Dive into Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (rebroadcast) · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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you This is Jed Distler, and welcome to The Piano
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consider subscribing. A free subscription is
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perfectly fine too, because then you get all
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of the podcasts, you get to hear them, but all
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the extras, that's for the paid subscribers.
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This month, we launched our second season of
1:30
podcast episodes with a marathon miniseries covering
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64 recordings with 64 pianists in the 32... Beethoven
1:42
piano sonatas and without repeating any pianist
1:46
in any sonata that was really quite a challenge
1:50
and a feat of discographical ingenuity on my
1:56
part but we did it and I thank you all for your
2:00
encouragement and your feedback and all of your
2:05
correspondence that was really really fantastic
2:09
and I'm so happy that we could go through all
2:12
of this together. So I've decided to stretch
2:16
out this Beethoven miniseries a little bit. First
2:20
of all, we had a bonus episode yesterday about
2:24
recorded cycles of the nine Beethoven symphonies
2:28
in the piano transcriptions by Franz Liszt. And
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today, because this is the last day of the week
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and it's the last day of the month, we have another
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bonus episode for you. And we're going to set
2:43
out on a deep dive into Beethoven's monumental
2:48
variations on a waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120, the
2:54
Diabelli Variations. This was Beethoven's last
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major -length solo piano work, and by far it
3:03
is the largest work that Beethoven ever composed
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for solo piano. I've picked 15, 1 -5, 15 recorded
3:14
versions of the D -Belly Variations to discuss
3:18
on this episode. Some of you may know about certain
3:21
of these versions, but others on the list may
3:24
not be. so well known to you. Now, I know that
3:29
I will be leaving out quite a few important recorded
3:32
versions on my list of 15. And I'm leaving them
3:36
out mainly because these are... relatively familiar
3:40
recordings among piano mavens, and when people
3:44
discuss the Diabelli variations, these versions
3:48
usually come up as references, and there's a
3:51
general critical consensus about them. So, as
3:55
such, I won't be going into detail about it.
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Recordings by Rudolf Serkin, or Claudio Orao,
4:03
or Daniel Barenboim, or Sviatoslav Richter, or
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that other Serkin, Peter Serkin. And I won't
4:11
be talking about that influential premiere recording
4:15
of The Deep Bellies that Archer Schnabel made
4:18
in 1937, which is still absolutely fabulous.
4:23
And you really don't need to hear my opinions
4:26
about these because you can actually read what
4:30
I wrote about them in an overview of Diabelli
4:34
Variations recordings that was published in Gramophone
4:37
in 2015. And I know many versions have come to
4:44
light since 2015. But I think this article really
4:48
covers a great... bit of ground. So I've posted
4:52
a link to that article in our episode description,
4:56
along with links to some of the recordings that
4:59
I will be discussing. But before we dive into
5:04
the recordings proper, I thought I should tell
5:07
you the Diabelli Variations backstory. I'm sure
5:11
some of you already know this story, but for
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the benefit of piano mavens new to the Diabelli
5:17
Variations, I think you will find this story
5:20
interesting. At least, I hope you will. If you
5:36
had anything to do with music in early 19th century
5:40
Vienna, you couldn't ignore Anton Diabelli, try
5:45
as one might. You just had to deal with this
5:49
guy. He was... a real man about town. He wrote
5:54
tons of music, and he wrote tons of teaching
5:57
pieces. And to top that off, he was a successful
6:00
music publisher, and he had a flair for self
6:04
-promotion that probably would rival any of these
6:08
young pianists I see who flood social media with
6:12
posts like, I'm waiting for you at Carnegie Hall
6:15
this week, or posts like, My office today, the
6:20
Steinway showroom, or pianists who post endless
6:24
selfies with Martha Argerich before she even
6:28
had a chance to say, no, don't take a picture
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with me. I once had a sit at a dinner party with
6:35
a certain pianist years ago. This was long before
6:38
smartphones were invented. And this pianist kept
6:43
pulling out photos out of his wallet, you know.
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Oh, here's me with Aaron Copland. Here's me with
6:48
Luciano Pavarotti. Oh, here I am with Stephen
6:51
Sondheim. And here I am with Leonard Bernstein.
6:54
And, you know, I was just getting so irritated.
6:57
So I turned around and I said, oh, wow, Leonard
7:01
Bernstein. Oh, my God, that's so impressive.
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How did Leonard Bernstein ever get to have his
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picture taken with you? And, of course, my sarcasm
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and my irony was totally lost on this jerk, who,
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as it happened, never wound up having a real
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piano career. But getting back to Anton Diabelli,
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what an opportunist he was. In 1819, he decided
7:30
to launch one of his biggest projects. He wrote
7:34
this short and rather innocuous waltz. And then
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he sent this waltz out to more than 50 composers,
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who he called... the foremost tone poets and
7:46
virtuosi of Vienna and the Austrian states. And
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Diabelli requested from each of these 50 personages
7:56
that each of them would compose a variation on
8:00
his waltz. The combined variations then would
8:04
be gathered together and published by Diabelli's
8:09
firm under the rather pompous title Watterlandischer
8:14
Kunstlerverein. Would you like to be part of
8:20
a collection with that name? Maybe so, if they
8:23
paid me enough. Among the composers approached
8:26
and who accepted were Schubert, Hommel, Archduke
8:32
Rudolf, Mozart's son, Karl Czerny, and this 11
8:38
-year -old prodigy named Franz Liszt. And at
8:41
the top of this list of 50 composers was this
8:45
guy named Ludwig van Beethoven. So the legend
8:49
states that Beethoven saw this waltz and he thought,
8:54
oh, this is ridiculous. He dismissed the waltz
8:57
as a Schusterfleck, which means a cobbler's patch.
9:03
And then he turned Diabelli's proposal flat down.
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But then he offered instead a small group of
9:11
variations for a price. Now, whether or not that
9:15
story is true, the fact is, is that When Beethoven
9:19
got this waltz, he kind of became intrigued.
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And then he started writing one variation on
9:27
it, and then he wrote another, and then another,
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and another. And it just seemed like he couldn't
9:33
stop. And he completed 23 variations by the summer
9:38
of 1819. Then he set these variations aside for
9:43
a few years. And then he came back to them and
9:46
he added a few more variations. And eventually
9:50
he completed the work by early 1823. And the
9:56
end result was 33 variations. Now, the totality
10:02
of this must have taken Anton Diabelli totally
10:05
by surprise. being the wily publisher that he
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was, he was no fool. So he brought out Beethoven's
10:15
33 variations as part one of the Vaterlandische
10:20
Künstlerverein, and then the other composer's
10:24
variations comprised part two. So let's get to
10:28
the recordings. Because of the work's great length
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and wide range of techniques from outright parody
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and raving virtuosity to contrapuntal rigor and
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spacious lyricism. The deep belly variations
10:44
are as challenging for a performer to hold together
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as they are for a listener to fully absorb the
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music's deceptively complex architecture and
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rather uncompromising time scale. My great friend
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and late colleague, Harris Goldsmith, once described
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three basic interpretive approaches to the Diabelli
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variations. Certain interpreters, he said, strive
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for a cumulative emotional effect by building
11:19
drama and momentum within larger groups of variations.
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And then, by contrast, you have some pianists
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who aim to give each variation its own particular
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voice, treating them as separate structural or
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intellectual entities. Then there are those pianists
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who are primarily concerned with pianism per
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se and the work's potential for virtuosic scintillation
11:49
and surface excitement. In most respects, the
11:53
cumulative approach is the most difficult one
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to bring off, yet arguably the most rewarding
11:59
of them to bring off of these three approaches.
12:02
And the cumulative approach definitely characterizes
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the Arthur Schnabel and Rudolf Serkin and Claudio
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Arrau recordings. But the earliest recording
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that I'm going to recommend on this list of 15
12:17
that I'm proposing... goes more for the variation
12:20
-by -variation approach, giving each one its
12:23
own character. But still, there's a sense of
12:26
unity about this performance, and this is a recording
12:30
that Harris Goldsmith used to talk to me about
12:32
all the time. It finally appeared on CD some
12:36
years ago after years of my kvetching and complaining
12:41
and trying to convince the powers that be that
12:45
it should be reissued. And it's a recording...
12:48
the features the Swiss pianist Paul Baumgartner,
12:51
and his recording of the Diabelli Variations
12:55
for the Deutsche Grammophon label dates from
12:58
1952. It's very well engineered for its time,
13:04
and the recording captures Baumgartner's warm,
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full -body tone and wide dynamic range in a slightly
13:13
distant yet very realistic concert hall kind
13:16
of perspective. And Baumgartner's pianism and
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musicianship are quite distinctive. There are
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a lot of wonderful details to savor in this performance.
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The very flexible rubato in variation number
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three, or how Baumgartner's subtle cross -rhythmic
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accentuation in that really fast tenth variation
13:40
makes the music sound much faster than it actually
13:44
goes in this performance. And the slow minor
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key variations have great lyricism and repose,
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and they hardly prepare you for how Baumgartner
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literally pounces on the fugue, which is Variation
13:59
32. He sounds like Rudolf Serkin in Heat. This
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recording... was reissued on CD by Australian
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Eloquence, and it was coupled with Eric Tenberg
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playing Max Rager's notoriously tedious Telemann
14:16
Variations. And this disc also found its way
14:20
into the recent Eloquence Piano Library box set,
14:25
containing lots of cool piano rarities from Deutsche
14:29
Grammophon's back catalog. I'm going to do a
14:31
podcast episode about these piano libraries.
14:34
boxes pretty soon. Now for the all -out virtuoso
14:40
vehicle approach to the Diabelli Variations,
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I can think of one recording in particular that
14:47
I really like. It's the second of the two Diabelli
14:52
Variations recordings that Julius Ketchin made.
14:55
He was that great American pianist born in 1926,
15:00
and he... tragically died young of cancer in
15:04
1969. He was only 43. Now, his first recording
15:09
of the D -bellies from 1953 is relatively contained.
15:15
when compared to his more hectic and completely
15:19
abandoned brand of virtuosity that is on display
15:23
in this 1960 stereo remake, which I have a sneaking
15:29
affection for. I mean, it's kind of superficial
15:33
in some ways, but it's so much fun to listen
15:36
to, I have to admit. I've always called... this
15:39
1960 recording, the Oscar Peterson Diabelli Variations,
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because Julius Ketchum's playing reminds me of...
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Oscar Peterson's flash and ebullient virtuosity
15:52
and drive as a jazz pianist. So we have to talk
15:56
now about Alfred Brendel, mainly because I didn't
16:00
recommend any of his Beethoven sonata recordings
16:03
on our sonata miniseries, and some of you listeners
16:07
took me to task over that, and I totally understand
16:11
where you're coming from, and I suppose I kind
16:14
of feel guilty. even though I've always felt
16:17
that the most consistent aspect of Alfred Brendel's
16:22
artistry was his inconsistency. But look, you
16:27
can't deny that he had a major international
16:29
career. And I did hear him play many times in
16:33
concert. And in fact, some of these performances
16:35
I'll never forget. I heard him play some exquisite
16:38
Mozart, for example. I heard him give an amazingly
16:42
powerful and intense performance of Liszt's Weinenklagen
16:47
Zorgen Zagen variations. And it literally shook
16:51
me from the seat. I will never forget that performance.
16:55
But I also heard him play the second most boring
16:59
Diabelli Variations live performance that I ever
17:02
experienced in my life. Who was the most boring
17:05
one from? That was from Maurizio Pollini. But
17:09
then at the same concert, Pollini played some
17:11
incredible Stockhausen and Schoenberg afterward.
17:14
It sounded like a whole different pianist. Anyway,
17:18
Alfred Brendel. has four commercial recordings
17:21
of the Diabellis to his credit. The first one
17:25
was for the Vox label, and it's a good performance,
17:29
but it's a little on the earnest side, shall
17:32
we say. But his three versions released by Phillips,
17:36
I think, are light years better. The first one
17:40
of these was a live performance from London's
17:42
Royal Festival Hall in 1976, or was it 75? I
17:48
can't remember. And then there was a studio recording
17:51
from 1988. And then another live performance,
17:55
also from Royal Festival Hall, from 2001. Brendel
18:01
himself favored the 2001 performance over the
18:05
other recordings, and it's definitely the most
18:08
spontaneous and unified of the four recordings,
18:11
even though there are some telltale signs that
18:15
he's not quite mustering up the energy he had
18:18
when he was younger. I'm talking about in the
18:20
1976 live recording. But on the other hand, in
18:25
2001, Brendel judges the silences with more humor,
18:30
and he makes more contrast between the different
18:34
tempos in Variation 21. So I kind of go back
18:39
and forth between both live versions. But I think
18:43
that Alfred Brendel's 1988 studio recording seems
18:46
to split the difference between all of the interpretive
18:50
factors in all of these recordings. And also,
18:53
the sonics are warmer, and Brendel also has the
18:57
advantage of studio editing, although the live
19:01
recordings are impressively accurate in and of
19:04
themselves. But I think the 1988 recording overall
19:07
gives the... best account of Brendel's conception,
19:11
and I'm very happy to have it in my collection.
19:15
I want to mention Stephen Kovacevic when he was
19:19
21. When he was 21. Stop it, Jed. Anyway, when
19:26
Stephen Kovacevic was 21 years old, he made his
19:30
London debut at Wigmore Hall playing the Diabelli
19:34
Variations, and then seven years later, In 1968,
19:39
he recorded it for Phillips. I've always liked
19:42
this recording. It's a very straightforward interpretation.
19:46
Perhaps some details seem slightly studied or
19:50
pre -planned, but the music's dramatic trajectory
19:53
slowly reveals itself as the performance progresses,
19:57
almost catching you unaware. And the controlled
20:01
fury that Kovacevic unleashes in the fugue gently
20:06
transitions into... to the concluding minuetto,
20:09
which gives the feeling of decompressing after
20:12
a long journey. But as much as I admire this
20:16
recording, and it is a classic in its way, I
20:19
feel that the recording that Stephen Kovacevic
20:22
made 40 years later for the Onyx label is much
20:26
bigger and emotionally broader in scope. gutsier
20:32
and it's looser in many ways and more expressively
20:36
three -dimensional and robust. So basically these
20:40
two recordings represent two different sides
20:43
of Stephen Kovacevic and the Diabelli variations
20:47
at different times in his career. And I guess
20:51
I could say that in my head, I'd lean toward
20:54
the Phillips version, but in my heart, I'd go
20:57
for the remake. So I'm not going to really choose
21:00
between both of them. Okay, maybe I'll choose
21:04
the later one. I actually picked the later recording
21:07
as my top choice in that Gramophone article,
21:10
but I am very happy to have... both of these
21:14
recordings in my collection. Somewhat in the
21:17
intellectualized style of the first Kovacevic
21:22
recording is a performance by a pianist and scholar
21:26
whose name is Michael Ullbaum, and he recorded
21:29
the Diabeles in 1985. It first came out on a
21:34
small label on... LP. I think it was called O
21:38
.O. Records. I can't remember. I had that LP
21:42
for about five minutes. But many years later,
21:45
the Bridge label issued this on CD. And I remember
21:50
that on the LP, I think also on the CD, there
21:55
was a blurb from Murray Pariah, and he praised
21:59
Michael Ullbaum's diabelli variations for his
22:04
attention to voice leading structure and line
22:07
and it is a very detailed interpretation and
22:11
a very thoughtful performance in that sense you
22:14
notice a little extra kick to the imitative entrances
22:19
in variation number five and the beautiful shaping
22:24
of variation 24 which is a fugato The 16th and
22:29
17th variations don't really take off like a
22:32
rocket here as you would expect them to do, but
22:35
they still generate excitement. And I think the
22:38
tempo relationships unifying the final group
22:42
of minor key variations are judged here to perfection.
22:46
It's a very gratifying recording still, and I
22:50
enjoy it. I met Michael... Ulbaum years ago at
22:55
a party, and we talked a little bit about this
22:57
recording. But the strange thing is that he does
23:01
not seem to have made any other solo piano recordings
23:05
other than this one, at least as far as I know.
23:09
But I guess if you're going to make only one
23:12
commercial solo piano recording, it might as
23:15
well be a really good one of the Diabelli Variations,
23:19
right? The American pianist Daniel Shapiro, who
23:23
is on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute
23:26
of Music, recorded the DiBelli Variations for
23:29
his solo CD debut. It's on the Azica label. I'm
23:35
not sure if you can still source the physical
23:38
disc. Maybe you can find it as a download. But
23:42
this is one of my favorite versions of the Diabeles
23:46
on record. It's technically super, super solid.
23:50
It's really scrupulous over detail, but not to
23:54
the point of being overly obsessive or anal.
23:57
And it's both intellectually and emotionally
24:01
cohesive. Daniel Shapiro affects fluid tempo
24:05
relationships that... effortlessly bind the variations,
24:09
and this is the cumulative approach at its best.
24:13
Yet he also takes trouble to characterize the
24:16
differences between variations. Variation number
24:19
nine, for example, is hardy and gruff, and it
24:23
embodies an entirely different sound world. compared
24:27
to the feathery lightness of those scampering
24:30
variations like numbers 10 and 19 and 23. Maybe
24:35
you don't get the kind of dark and brooding introspection
24:39
that you hear from Schnabel or Arau, but there
24:42
are no quirks or exaggerations. This is just
24:45
intelligent, stylish, and communicative music
24:50
-making all around. That's Daniel Shapiro. And
24:53
here's a sleeper of a Diabelli Variations from
24:57
a totally unexpected source, perhaps. This is
25:01
with the French pianist Cécile Hussey. During
25:05
the 1970s, she had a brief yet very rewarding
25:10
relationship with the French branch of the Decca
25:13
label. And her main project for Decca was a set
25:18
of five LPs devoted to Beethoven's complete sets
25:22
of variations. And there was a 1984 interview
25:26
with her where the pianist expressed regret that
25:30
these recordings had long been deleted because
25:34
she remembered working so hard on them. But Australian
25:39
eloquence brought out a box set of Cecile Ousset's
25:43
complete Decca recordings a few years ago. And
25:46
you readily hear that all of her hard work really
25:50
paid off, and then some. Her Diabelli variations
25:54
are fantastic. They have everything. They have
25:57
virtuosity and concentration, intensity, diversity
26:01
of character, great humor, and heartfelt lyricism.
26:06
And it's an interpretation that's always alive,
26:09
and I highly recommend that you listen to it.
26:12
And another sleeper. of Diabelli Variations features
26:17
a pianist whom you are not likely to have heard
26:21
of, or maybe you have, but this guy is absolutely
26:25
wonderful. I have fallen in love with his playing
26:28
pretty recently. His name is Daniel Hawkser.
26:32
He was born in 1945. His recording of the Diabeles
26:36
dates from 1988. And I happened to have found
26:42
it in a thrift store many years ago for something
26:45
like 99 cents. And I have to say, I got quite
26:49
the bargain. First of all, this recording is
26:51
fabulously engineered. Beautiful sound quality.
26:55
And secondly, this is scrupulous and refined
26:59
and pinpointed. playing and music making that
27:03
maybe some people would call a little too objective,
27:07
but it's never detached. I would imagine the
27:13
tonal calibrations and super specificity of balance
27:18
that you get from somebody like Arturo Benedetti
27:21
Michelangeli in his prime welded onto Rudolf
27:25
Serkin's fidelity to the score. And if you combine
27:29
those two images, you'll get an idea of what
27:32
this performance is like. And by the way, Daniel
27:35
Hawks are also... recorded a fantastic Bach Goldberg
27:40
Variations. That's a whole other story. But if
27:43
you want the physical CD of Daniel Hoxer's Diabelli
27:47
Variations at a decent price, good luck trying
27:51
to find it. But if you do find it at a good price,
27:54
definitely buy it. I'm happy to have it in my
27:57
collection, but... I will say that you can find
28:00
tons of Daniel Hawkser recordings on YouTube.
28:03
And I've provided a link to this YouTube page
28:07
that has a whole bunch of Daniel Hawkser recordings.
28:11
And if you scroll down the page, you will find
28:14
a link to this recording of the Diabelli Variations.
28:17
So definitely check that out. Now we get to the
28:22
quirky, quote -unquote, personality recordings.
28:27
I have always been fascinated by the Diabelli
28:30
variations that Olli Mustanen made for RCA Victor
28:35
in the 1990s. Now, to say that his approach is
28:39
individual is to say that Niagara Falls has water.
28:44
Basically, Olli Mustanen knocks this work off
28:48
of its cerebral pedestal, and he... kind of goes
28:52
mano a mano with Beethoven's sardonic humor and
28:56
rabble -rousing kind of rhythmic mischief. It
29:00
is true that Olli Mustanen is... very spare with
29:05
pedaling, and as a result, many passages might
29:09
sound a little too dry for your taste. But when
29:12
he does slam the pedal down, my goodness, you
29:15
certainly notice. And he is a real master of
29:18
finger legato. He often exaggerates the articulation,
29:22
and his liberal rubatos often run amok. But he
29:27
justifies this somehow with very carefully worked
29:32
out temper relationships and transitions between
29:36
variations. Certainly there's no more theatrical
29:39
or unabashedly entertaining recording of the
29:44
Diabeles out there. And however you may feel
29:48
in the end, you do have to concede that only
29:51
Muston realizes his conception to the nth degree.
29:56
I'm going to digress now from this list a little
29:59
bit because I'm going to mention two recordings
30:01
that I do not recommend. So we're going to have
30:05
a little detour. One of these Diabelli Variations
30:09
recordings is with the pianist Anatole Ugorski.
30:13
It was for Deutsche Grammophon. And he basically
30:17
sprays interpretive graffiti throughout the work,
30:22
like a graffiti artist gone wild in the subways
30:26
in the early 1980s. I wrote in Gramophone magazine
30:31
that when I first heard this recording many years
30:34
ago, it made me feel dirty all over. Well, first
30:39
of all... Ugorski totally overdoes the waltz
30:42
theme's dynamics. And then he plods through Variation
30:47
1's funeral march with both feet in the grave.
30:50
That's the way it sounds. And then he stretches
30:54
out Variations 14 and Variations 29 to narcoleptic
30:59
extremes. I mean, you know, it's almost unlistenable.
31:04
And the way that he monkeys around with Variation
31:08
18, really renders this music totally unrecognizable.
31:13
You know, that crazy long cello rondo he makes
31:16
into this variation's first section has nothing
31:20
to do with Beethoven. It has everything to do
31:22
with Anatole Ugorski's ego. It may be true that
31:26
those pronounced changes in tempo that... Beethoven
31:30
wants in Variation 21 are super clear in this
31:34
performance, but that's only because Ugorski
31:37
clarifies them with the least amount of subtlety
31:42
possible so that no dullard will miss the point.
31:45
And here's another anti -recommendation. You
31:50
know, usually the playing time for the D -Belly
31:53
Variations falls between 55 minutes or 56 minutes.
31:57
Well, when Gramophone sent me a recording by
32:01
the Danish pianist Christina Bjorko, I looked
32:06
at the total timing on the cover that it gave
32:09
for 72 and a half minutes. And I thought, well,
32:13
that's got to be a misprint. That's got to be
32:15
some kind of a joke. There's a problem there.
32:18
Well, evidently not. It was a 72 -minute performance,
32:23
and you just have to hear how slowly and tentatively
32:28
she plays the theme. And the defiant slow march
32:33
that characterizes variation number one has never
32:37
been rendered so soft and spineless as it is
32:42
here. Variation number eight is marked. Poco
32:45
Vivace, right? Well, here, it's like Largo. It's
32:49
a dead crawl. And Variation 11's Allegretto marking
32:53
disintegrates before your very eyes and ears.
32:57
And you know that famous Variation 13 that's
33:00
marked Vivace? You know, that question and answer?
33:04
You know, here, the music goes so slowly that
33:12
the joke... totally disappears you know the slow
33:16
variation number 14 that usually takes four minutes
33:20
to play well guess what her timing is here it
33:23
takes eight minutes and also variations 18 and
33:28
21 go in slow motion. She also screws up the
33:32
rhythm a little bit in that variation number
33:35
22, you know, the one based on Mozart's Note
33:38
Jomo Facica from Don Giovanni. Now, once in a
33:42
while, this pianist gets things right, but this
33:45
is definitely the most bizarre Diabelli variations
33:49
I've heard. Well, maybe Anatole Ugorski is equally
33:53
bizarre. But these two are ones to avoid. And
33:58
then, I guess this is just an aside, because
34:01
you can't find this disc anywhere. There was
34:04
a really strange release that came out on a tiny
34:08
label in the 1990s. It's a recording where the
34:11
late pianist Susan Halligan recorded the Diabelli
34:16
variations on the piano in a so -called historical
34:19
tuning, specifically the tuning of... Kernberger
34:23
III, and for those who know more about tunings
34:27
and temperament than I do, that information will
34:30
be of some use to you. But the weird thing about
34:33
this release was that this violinist named Paul
34:37
List was credited on the release and on the cover
34:42
and on the label and everywhere else for directing
34:46
her interpretation. So the credit reads, played
34:51
by Susan Halligan with Paul List, with Paul List.
34:55
And he's credited for directing her interpretation.
34:59
Now, he wasn't a pianist and he wasn't at the
35:03
piano, but basically he told Susan Halligan how
35:06
to play this piece and how to shape the interpretation
35:10
as if she was almost a kind of surrogate mother
35:14
carrying Paul List's interpretive baby to term.
35:18
Obviously, Susan Halligan was willing to be a
35:21
pianistic conduit to Paul List's musical vision.
35:25
But with all this in mind, the performance really
35:28
didn't strike me as anything unusual or special
35:32
beyond a decent workaday Diabelli variations
35:37
played with an unusual tuning. Anyway, the recording
35:41
is long out of print, so there's really no point
35:45
in talking about it. But if you want historic
35:48
tuning on a real period instrument, I think the
35:52
best of the period instrument... belly variations
35:55
recordings out there comes from Andreas Steyer
35:59
on the Harmonia Mundi label. One thing I love
36:02
about this release has to do with the programming.
36:05
First, Andreas Steyer plays the original Diabelli
36:09
waltz, and he follows it with eight contrasting
36:13
variations on the waltz by eight of the composers
36:16
whom Diabelli invited to contribute to that anthology
36:20
we talked about earlier. And then after that,
36:23
Andreas Steyer improvises a Beethoven -like interlude
36:28
that leads right into the Beethoven work. And
36:32
his interpretation, I think, is stunning. It
36:36
has impeccably judged tempo relationships. Really.
36:40
angular phrasing with a lot of bite and character
36:43
that Artur Schnabel would have really loved.
36:46
There's a strong sense of drama, you know, the
36:49
accents really sting and they're in your face.
36:52
Every note has life and purpose. and that includes
36:57
Steyer's spontaneous flourishes and embellishments
37:01
and his whimsical changes of voicings on the
37:05
repeats. His gruff forte piano, by the way, features
37:09
built -in percussion stops, and I love how he
37:13
takes creative yet... tasteful advantage of them
37:16
for the most part. You hear this in that Don
37:19
Giovanni variation number 22, but the most fun
37:23
is in the variation 23, where you have cymbal
37:27
crashes on those big banging chords. You know,
37:30
bang, bang, you know, there's a cymbal crash
37:34
on those bangs. My friend David Hurwitz likes
37:38
to call this variation the bang, scamper, scamper,
37:41
scamper, scamper variation. Maybe some listeners
37:45
will take offense at the symbol crashes. because,
37:48
you know, Beethoven didn't write a simple crash,
37:50
so why play a simple crash? But come on, let
37:54
Andreas Steyer have his fun. And he does get
37:58
really serious in the minor key variations, and
38:00
he just lets the music sing out as eloquently
38:03
as it can. This is a fabulous Diabelli Variations,
38:07
and certainly it is my favorite among all of
38:11
the period instrument versions out there in catalog
38:14
land. There have been quite a few excellent recent
38:19
versions of the Diabeles on modern instruments,
38:23
and I'm not going to go into great detail about
38:26
them because I've reviewed most of them, either
38:28
for Gramophone or for Classicstoday .com, and
38:32
you can look up the reviews as you see fit. The
38:36
pianist Mei Fang has a very subjective yet very
38:40
purposeful and I think quite convincing recording
38:44
on the Centaur label, and it really held my attention
38:47
when I first heard it. She's a pianist who really
38:50
makes you listen, and so does Martin Helmschen,
38:54
who brings great musical and pianistic distinction
38:58
to his recording on the Alpha label. I think
39:01
it's every bit as good and, well, almost every
39:04
bit as good as... the recording by Igor Levitt,
39:07
which got a lot of attention and critical praise,
39:11
and justifiably so. He takes the theme at a true
39:15
Vivace, he slightly underplays the accents, and
39:19
he projects... The first variation's maestoso
39:22
chords with springing intensity, and he brings
39:26
wonderful airborne lightness to that presto variation
39:29
number 10. And in the fugue variation 32, Igor
39:34
Levits' dry point and slightly detached yet buoyant
39:39
and energetic articulation will probably surprise
39:43
listeners who are accustomed to heavier, more
39:46
declamatory readings. In this sense and in other
39:51
respects, Levitt is kind of a mirror to the spirit
39:56
and sometimes the letter of Peter Serkin's two
40:00
Diabelli recordings, the one for RCA and the
40:03
one for the Pro Arte label, which perhaps I should
40:07
have mentioned more in detail in this podcast
40:10
because these two are also major Diabelli contenders.
40:15
At the opposite pole, resides martino ti remo
40:20
his performance is deliberate and monumental
40:24
with no detail left unscrutinized but in his
40:29
hands the music always moves if you know what
40:33
i mean if igor levitz diabeles resembles somebody
40:39
like Charles Macaris conducting Beethoven, then
40:42
Martino Tirimo resembles Otto Klemperer in his
40:46
prime, and you don't so much feel like you're
40:49
hearing a performance than you are experiencing
40:52
a catharsis. Also should mention the most recent
40:57
recording of the Diabellis by Mitsuko Ushida.
41:01
This got rave reviews in Gramophone and it won
41:04
Gramophone's 2022 Piano Recording of the Year
41:08
award. I think I voted for something else in
41:11
that year. But this is a remarkable recording
41:13
in many respects. You only have to hear variation
41:17
number one where... Ushida generates tension
41:21
within those obsessive funeral march dotted phrases
41:25
by giving the dissonances their full weight and
41:29
also varying her articulation of accents and
41:33
points of emphasis. She doesn't just play the
41:36
notes, in other words. Her expressive distensions
41:40
of phrase in the third variation always occur
41:43
when you least expect them. While Variation No.
41:47
5's repeated notes are sprung with lilting restraint,
41:52
and I like how Variation 7's strategically delayed
41:57
sforzandos achieve a kind of power and gravitas
42:03
that you don't always get. But these delays never
42:06
sound pre -planned or mannered. They feel very
42:09
organic. Now, these may sound like kind of arcane
42:13
details, but... What I'm trying to say is that
42:17
Mitsuko Ushida probes every nook and cranny in
42:21
this piece. Maybe her pre -planning gets the
42:24
better of her, where she might telegraph her
42:27
intentions more than surprise you with them.
42:30
But on the whole, this is a very special release,
42:34
and if you like the do -belly variations, you
42:37
really should hear it. However... However, if
42:41
I had to pick just one Diabelli Variations recording
42:46
to take with me to the proverbial desert island,
42:50
and this may be a choice that will surprise you,
42:53
or maybe not, this is not a Diabelli Variations
42:57
recording that gets talked about a lot. but I
43:00
think it may well be my personal favorite. It's
43:04
a 1977 recording with the pianist Charles Rosen.
43:08
It came out in the United States on LP on the
43:12
Peters International label, but it didn't last
43:16
long in the catalog. And then I think around
43:18
1996... It came out on CD on the Carlton Classics
43:25
label, and that was in print for about five seconds.
43:28
It's not easy to find secondhand copies of the
43:32
physical CD. It took me a long, long time before
43:35
I could find one at a good price. But you can
43:39
get this recording as a download or via streaming
43:42
services. So why do I think that Charles Rosen's
43:47
Diabelli Variations is so special? For starters...
43:50
It was produced by Isabella Wallich, and the
43:54
sound quality reproduces Charles Rosen's piano
43:57
in a realistic concert hall perspective. It's
44:02
not the warmest or most robust sonic representation,
44:07
perhaps, but Rosen's sense of projection in his
44:11
wide dynamic range and his infinite variety of
44:15
articulations. really come across and draw you
44:19
in. He sets the tone for the piece with a very
44:22
strongly profiled and decisive statement of the
44:27
Diabelli theme. And then he takes a long and
44:30
dramatic pause before he launches into the first
44:33
variation funeral march. And Charles Rosen uses
44:37
Ataka linkages not only to effect smooth transitions
44:43
and to create cumulative momentum, but also to
44:47
subtly highlight shifts in mood and character
44:50
from variation to variation. I could spend hours
44:54
and hours describing all of the felicities of
44:57
timing and touch and nuance that you get from
45:00
Charles Rosen. For example, listen to his slight
45:03
rhythmic elongation. and dynamic shadings that
45:07
bring out Variation 5's underlying tension, or
45:12
how in Variation 8, the arching melodic line
45:16
just sings out so naturally without any affectation,
45:20
totally from the heart. And then... I keep talking
45:24
about Variation 10 and those rapid broken chords
45:27
between the hands. They are so agile in Charles
45:31
Rosen's hands, but they don't sound mechanical
45:33
because you have shape and you have direction,
45:36
and it's not an etude. Also, the way that Charles
45:41
Rosen delays certain downbeats in that number
45:44
13, I was talking about the bum -ba -dum, bum
45:47
-bum, bum -ba -dum, bum -bum, bum -bum. so on
45:53
and so forth. You know what I'm talking about.
45:55
The way he delays certain downbeats in number
45:59
13 exemplifies an understanding of comic timing
46:03
that few other pianists have mustered. For instance,
46:07
like Rosen would do, where he delays that, the
46:17
answer just a little bit. And I remember when
46:21
he, played this variation in concert. He elicited
46:25
laughter from the audience, and that's exactly
46:28
what is supposed to happen. And also Rosen's
46:32
contrapuntal awareness is second to none, yet
46:36
it's never obvious or overstated, whether it's
46:40
in the majestic repose he brings to No. 24's
46:44
Fugetta. or the vehemence yet the mindful voicing
46:50
of the fugue of Variation 32. And from the fugue...
46:57
Charles Rosen makes the most beautiful and touching
47:00
transition into the concluding minuendo. I heard
47:04
Charles Rosen play the Diabeles in concert back
47:07
in 2002 at the 92nd Street Y. And at that time,
47:13
I had not heard this recording, but I was totally
47:16
enraptured and spellbound by his performance,
47:20
which actually followed a first... concert half
47:23
where he played several beethoven sonatas not
47:27
very well at all and i seriously considered walking
47:30
out of the concert but my friend the late record
47:34
producer max wilcox who was sitting in front
47:38
of me You know, I told him that I didn't think
47:41
I was going to stick around for the second half.
47:43
And he said, no, no, no, Jed. You have to stay
47:46
to hear Charles Rosen play the Diabelli Variations.
47:49
Trust me, you're never going to hear them play
47:51
better. And I'm not going to say no to Max. And
47:55
my God, Max Wilcox was totally right. And actually,
48:01
it was a few years later when I had to review
48:03
the Paul Lewis recording for Gramophone. I happened
48:08
to be visiting my closest friend among pianists,
48:12
Jerry Kuderna, who lives out in Berkeley, California.
48:15
And we were listening together and making comments
48:19
and thinking, well, this is good, this is not
48:22
so good, and so on and so forth. And then Jerry
48:26
brought out his LP copy of the Charles Rosen
48:29
Diabeles, and he put it on. And goodness, you
48:34
know, there was just no comparison. We sat there
48:36
and thought, Come on, this is the big league
48:39
here. And I had not heard that recording before,
48:42
but it triggered my memory of hearing Charles
48:45
Rosen play The Diabellis in Concert a few years
48:48
back. And then, sure enough, a few months later,
48:52
when I was back in New York, I did find a secondhand
48:56
copy of The Diabelli Variations on CD. I think
49:00
I paid $2 for it or something. It doesn't really
49:03
matter. I would have been happy to have paid
49:06
a lot more money. So, there we have it. A deep
49:11
dive into the Diabelli variation. Scott, I'm
49:15
exhausted after talking about this. I hope you
49:19
haven't been exhausted listening to my ranting
49:21
about all of this. And I recommended 15 recordings
49:26
and a few extras not to be recommended. I'm sure
49:31
you have some special favorite Diabelli Variations
49:34
recordings that I didn't mention. And I'd love
49:38
to know what they are. And I'm sure I do know
49:40
what they are. Of course, Rudolf Serkin and Claudio
49:44
Arau. Maybe some of you will talk about Daniel
49:48
Barenboim. I'm sure there's so many others. get
49:52
in touch with me and let me know which Diabelli
49:55
Variations recordings you like. I really value
49:58
your feedback and your comments. This is Jed
50:02
Dissler, and you've been listening to The Piano
50:05
Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
50:09
And thank you for accompanying me. on this Beethoven
50:14
journey all of this month. And we will be back
50:18
to a lot of non -Beethoven topics in our upcoming
50:23
episodes. Of course, we will get back to Beethoven.
50:26
How can we not? But thank you so much for considering
50:30
a subscription to the Piano Maven podcast. And
50:35
I look forward to being with you next time. Until
50:39
then, take care, be well, and most importantly,
50:43
be kind to one another.