Charles Rosen on Beethoven

[Chaszz]

This Sunday afternoon I'll attend a lecture and concert by the eminent pianist, musicologist and author Charles Rosen at the the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City. Prof. Rosen will lecture at the piano on Beethoven's late sonatas, giving examples, and later will play several of the late sonatas. Needless to say I am greatly looking forward to this event and will post a report on it here next week.

At Peter's suggestion, last year I read Prof. Rosen's 'The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven' to try to gain an understanding of the musical differences between the Classical and Romantic Styles, and later I read his 'The Romantic Generation.' Unfortunately because my reading of music is rudimentary, I was unable to follow his examples, though I did gain an understanding of several specific differences between the two styles. Now hearing him talk at the piano I hope to gain more insight into his examples and thoughts concerning the late sonatas. And of course to hear him play the sonatas also will without doubt make for a splendid afternoon all-in-all.

(The 92nd St. Y is a well-known concert and discussion event venue in New York.)

[Peter]

I envy you Chaszz - I'm sure it will be a fascinating experience. His books are not easy reading but they certainly reveal a man who knows his stuff and has an in depth knowledge of the Classical and Romantic styles.

[Cetto von Cronstorff]

I envy you Chaszz - I'm sure it will be a fascinating experience. His books are not easy reading but they certainly reveal a man who knows his stuff ...

Ah yes, this is the renowned scholar who in 1991 coined the famous identification of 'Franz Joseph' as the emperor during Mozart's time.

[Peter]

Ah yes, this is the renowned scholar who in 1991 coined the famous identification of 'Franz Joseph' as the emperor during Mozart's time.

I didn't know that Cetto, but do you have an opinion on his book 'The Classical style'?

I get the impression that you don't consider his scholarship up to your own high standards?:

He was a piano student of Moriz Rosenthal. As a virtuoso pianist he has appeared in numerous recitals and orchestral engagements around the world, and has recorded a number of 20th century works at the invitation of their composers, including works by Igor Stravinsky, Elliott Carter, and Pierre Boulez.

However, Rosen has carried out a double career. He is also the author of many widely admired books about music. Perhaps his most famous work is The Classical Style, which analyzes the nature and evolution of the high classical style as it was developed by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Sonata Forms is in some ways a follow-up on The Classical Style; it is an intensive analysis of the primary musical form used in the classical era. The Romantic Generation covers the work of the early generation of Romantic composers, including Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn.

The polymathic Rosen has also published in other areas of the humanities: Romanticism and Realism: The Mythology of Nineteenth-Century Art and Romantic Poets, Critics, and Other Madmen.

Rosen has from time to time held positions as a university professor. He holds a Ph.D. in French Literature from Princeton University, and has taught at Harvard, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago.

He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books.

[DavidO]

Lucky you, Chaszz. I'd love to be able to see Rosen lecture & play out here on the West Coast. Is he on some sort of lecture circuit or tour, by chance?

Out here in the smaller theaters, Jeffrey Siegel gives occasional lectures & performances on Beethoven -- I saw him a few years ago discuss & play Beethoven at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert. Nice, all in all, but the talk was directed at the very casual listener, & mostly too simplistic to interest me greatly.

www.keyboardconversations.com/

I'm still enjoying the audio files of András Schiff that someone posted here recently.

[jman]

I am just learning to love Charles Rosen. I started reading through his companion to the Beethoven sonatas and was just amazed by some of the observations he has, very enlightening stuff. It seems a lot of my peers don't enjoy his style, too dry for them I suppose but I am quite convinced of this man's brilliance. He was actually at my school a few years ago, unfortunately a few years before I studied here. I just recently bought the Classical Style and Romantic Generation and am dying to sink my teeth into them but just haven't had the time yet. I've started on his "lighter" book, Piano Notes which is again full of some great observations.

[susanwen]

> This Sunday afternoon I'll attend a lecture and concert by the eminent pianist, musicologist and author Charles Rosen at the the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City. Prof. Rosen will lecture at the piano on Beethoven's late sonatas, giving examples, and later will play several of the late sonatas. > Needless to say I am greatly looking forward to this event and will post a report on it here next week.


Don't be hesitant to take notes. We'd love to read what he says.

[Chaszz]

> This Sunday afternoon I'll attend a lecture and concert by the eminent pianist, musicologist and author Charles Rosen at the the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City. Prof. Rosen will lecture at the piano on Beethoven's late sonatas, giving examples, and later will play several of the late sonatas. > Needless to say I am greatly looking forward to this event and will post a report on it here next week.


Don't be hesitant to take notes. We'd love to read what he says.

Oh, dear, take notes. Getting nervous now...Is there a pencil anywhere? Yiou can never find a pencil in an artist's studio...Will there be a test?...just joking.

I don't know if this is part of a tour or not. I'll try to find out then.

[Preston]

Oh, dear, take notes. Getting nervous now...Is there a pencil anywhere? Yiou can never find a pencil in an artist's studio...Will there be a test?...just joking.

I don't know if this is part of a tour or not. I'll try to find out then.

Maybe you could record it, audio and video, or audio. You should find out if you can. Then post it on one of these mp3 sites or Google video.

Kind Regards,
Preston

[Joy]

Lucky you, Chaszz. I'd love to be able to see Rosen lecture & play out here on the West Coast. Is he on some sort of lecture circuit or tour, by chance?

Out here in the smaller theaters, Jeffrey Siegel gives occasional lectures & performances on Beethoven -- I saw him a few years ago discuss & play Beethoven at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert. Nice, all in all, but the talk was directed at the very casual listener, & mostly too simplistic to interest me greatly.

www.keyboardconversations.com/

I'm still enjoying the audio files of András Schiff that someone posted here recently.

Jeffrey Siegel and his keyboard conversations are a staple here in Phoenix. He performs several times a year at the Scottsdale Centre for the Arts and iI go to see him often, even met him and discussed Mozart and Beethoven. He just did a performance featuring Liszt and I went to his All Beethoven concert last fall. Very entertaining. I like his lectures on the composers and then he plays a part of the music and then plays the entire piece, it's a combination of teaching and performance all in one concert.

[Zevy]

Here'a link to an article in the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/ar...html?ref=music

Zevy

[Chaszz]

I did not post my review of this lecture/concert earlier this week, because the night before the event, I had a mild heart attack, was admitted to the hospital, had an angioplasty with a stent insertion, and returned home only yesterday. So I unfortunately missed the concert.

I was able, by phone, to transfer the ticket to a friend of mine who is a Beethoven fan, and she attended. She said the playing of the sonatas was splendid, and the interview of Prof. Rosen was concerned with Beethoven's life at the time the sonatas were composed. She didn't recount too many details, and I didn't press her, because she is a high-strung person, and I think she was pretty upset about my heart attack. So unfortunately I don't have much to pass along.

(As to my condition, I feel fine now. I've had three angioplasties and a bypass operation since 1993, and I usually recuperate fairly quickly and live a normal life afterwards. I'm not too worried or concerned, and my heart muscle has luckily never been damaged. The technology for dealing with heart disease is pretty amazing and is improving all the time. I wish Wagner, who died of heart disease, had had this technology available to him in the 1880s; we might have two or three more of his operas to enjoy today.)

[susanwen]

My best wishes for your speedy and full recovery.
- Susan

[Joy]

Chaszz, it sounds like you have a great optimistic outlook. One of my friends had to undergo that recently and is doing much better now too. Best wishes to you for a full recovery.

[Michael]

Chaszz, with your positive outlook, you are well on the way to recovery. Best wishes,
Michael