Artur Schnabel
Ludwig van Beethoven. Tutte le Sonate per pianoforte

LA RECENSIONE

Released in the record series Documents from the former German record label Intense Media, this package, consisting of ten CDs, is absolutely essential for all pianists (both amateurs and professionals) and also for anyone who wishes to delve deeper into the history of the Sonata form. Starting with the first two Sonatas of op. 2, and reaching the last two great Beethovenian Sonatas (op. 110 and op. 111), the great Austrian pianist Artur Schnabel takes us on an extraordinary journey to discover the masterpieces of a composer who sublimated the Sonata form, establishing its linguistic and structural canons during the golden era of this musical structure, which is articulated in exposition (which involves introducing the two themes in well-distinguished tonal regions [the first in the tonic and the second in the dominant]), development (which involves the elaboration and transformation of the two themes, sometimes quite radically, from rhythmic, tonal, and coloristic perspectives), and finally, recapitulation, the moment when the two themes are reintroduced, reconciling them on the same tonal plane.

As for the records, there is little to say, except that one needs to take some time to listen, since, as I mentioned, these are absolute masterpieces, tracing the musical, thematic path and the broad melodic arcs that Beethoven designs in his thirty-two Sonatas. Among these, the Sonata known as Hammerklavier (that is, the Sonata in B-flat major op. 106) and Sonata no. 8 (that is, the Sonata in C minor op. 13) stand out. But not only that, the Sonata op. 111, Beethoven's last great masterpiece, also stands out, which no modern composer can ever equal.