What are you listening to now?

[Peter]

Brendel playing Opus 31, numbers one and two. I will allow myself an icon or two:

No.1 is particularly difficult to bring off successfully with its off beat rhythms poking fun at pianists who can't keep their hands together. Who said Beethoven had no sense of humour?!

Also listening to Brendel playing Schumann's Fantasiestuck - In der nacht is a superb piece, the highlight of a fine set.

[Chris]

Listening to Haydn's six "great" Masses recorded by John Eliot Gardiner. I'm on the "Harmoniemesse" at the moment.

[Zevy]

Still can't get away from those (Beethoven) String Trios...

I know the antidote, but I'm not telling anyone yet.

[Michael]

I know the antidote, but I'm not telling anyone yet.

Not the Van Gogh solution, I hope?

[Peter]

Beethoven's Op.126 bagatelles - they are real gems.

[Chris]

More Liszt...
Am listening to Cyprien Katsaris playing the piano version of the 7th Symphony, Op.92 in A.
A labour of love for Liszt to reduce, and a labour of love for me to hear.

Does Katsaris observe all the repeats in his recordings of these transcriptions?

[Michael]

Beethoven's Op.126 bagatelles - they are real gems.

Absolutely. My favourite of all the bagatelles is the fourth one in this set, the Presto. I was delighted to hear the writer, Mary Wilson, pick this as her number one Desert Island disc. She heard it for the first time on radio and was so struck by it that she rang up the station to find out what it was.
The last of the set is also amazing: B leads us into almost mystic realms and then in the last few seconds reverts to his old trick of slamming down the piano lid and bursting into laughter.

[Quijote]

Absolutely. My favourite of all the bagatelles is the fourth one in this set, the Presto. I was delighted to hear the writer, Mary Wilson, pick this as her number one Desert Island disc. She heard it for the first time on radio and was so struck by it that she rang up the station to find out what it was.
The last of the set is also amazing: B leads us into almost mystic realms and then in the last few seconds reverts to his old trick of slamming down the piano lid and bursting into laughter.

Talking of other late piano works by Cage, oops, sorry, Beethoven*, I wonder if anybody would like to say a few things about the Diabelli Variations? Many writers have commented on the 'mystical' in this work.

(*Well, it all does the sound the same after a while, doesn't it?)

[Michael]

Talking of other late piano works by Cage, oops, sorry, Beethoven*, I wonder if anybody would like to say a few things about the Diabelli Variations? Many writers have commented on the 'mystical' in this work.

(*Well, it all does the sound the same after a while, doesn't it?)

(Well inside the 5% bracket!)
I find the "Diabellis" fascinating and frustrating, and I think I have mentioned elsewhere that I find them the single most difficult work in the Beethoven canon. I was a little relieved to find that even the great Alfred Brendel had to resort to little memory tricks when playing this set, which he once called the greatest piano work ever written.
He has given each variation a little programmatic title. For example, the first variation - after the main theme has been stated - he calls: "Gladiator flexing his muscles". The second variation is called: "Snowflakes", the third: "Confidence and Nagging Doubt" - and so on all through the 33.
This is for his own private facility but he did publish the whole list in one of his books.
Another piece of advice I picked up about the "Diabellis" is this: try not to worry too much about the variation aspect of the work and treat each of the 33 as a self-contained work - almost like another set of bagatelles. I'm sure a lot of people would argue against this.
Oh, I forgot about the mystical: well, it's hard to find anything in late Beethoven that does not contain intimations of immortality. Unless you include the four-part canon of 1823, the text of which is "Best Count, you are a sheep!"

[Quijote]

(Well inside the 5% bracket!)
I find the "Diabellis" fascinating and frustrating, and I think I have mentioned elsewhere that I find them the single most difficult work in the Beethoven canon. I was a little relieved to find that even the great Alfred Brendel had to resort to little memory tricks when playing this set, which he once called the greatest piano work ever written.
He has given each variation a little programmatic title. For example, the first variation - after the main theme has been stated - he calls: "Gladiator flexing his muscles". The second variation is called: "Snowflakes", the third: "Confidence and Nagging Doubt" - and so on all through the 33.
This is for his own private facility but he did publish the whole list in one of his books.
Another piece of advice I picked up about the "Diabellis" is this: try not to worry too much about the variation aspect of the work and treat each of the 33 as a self-contained work - almost like another set of bagatelles. I'm sure a lot of people would argue against this.
Oh, I forgot about the mystical: well, it's hard to find anything in late Beethoven that does not contain intimations of immortality. Unless you include the four-part canon of 1823, the text of which is "Best Count, you are a sheep!"

No, that's another 5%, so now we're down to 90% non-comprehension.

You see, you 'do erudition' too, though decidedly not irrelevant. It is curious, though, the 'difficult' aspect you allude to, compared to say, the late quartets. The Brendel aides-memoirs is news to me, and offers an interesting insight to a top performer's way of dealing with the DBs. It is also an interesting angle to treat each variation as a separate miniature (each as a bagatelle, in a sense), though I think this works against the overall structural arch of the work. Personally, I feel there is one. You should read Solomon's essay on this : Late Beethoven : Music, Thought, Imagination, University of California Press, 2003, chapters 1, The End of a Beginning : The Diabelli Variations (pp 11 - 26) and 9, The Shape of a Journey : The Diabelli Variations (pp 179 - 197). Don't be put off by the musical examples, if you know the work well you'll see what he is driving at.

[Zevy]

Not the Van Gogh solution, I hope?

Don't worry, Michael, it is a musical solution. I hope it will work; I will keep you posted....

[Michael]

Don't worry, Michael, it is a musical solution. I hope it will work; I will keep you posted....

I don't think it will work. You'll never grow tired of the String Trios.

[Chris]

Well, this long weekend (in the U.S.A.), I am going to finish up my initial exploration of Haydn's work with his piano sonatas, played by John McCabe. I've heard a lot of great music in this endevour, and learned a lot about how Beethoven came to be what he was.

So far I am in the early sonatas, so nothing too amazing yet, but it's all been enjoyable music. I've found Haydn to be one of the most consistent composers in terms of quality. Mozart and Bach, greats that they were, have all written some things I have not particularly liked, and while every Haydn work is not a masterpiece, I haven't heard anything from him that I've disliked at all.

[Peter]

Well, this long weekend (in the U.S.A.), I am going to finish up my initial exploration of Haydn's work with his piano sonatas, played by John McCabe. I've heard a lot of great music in this endevour, and learned a lot about how Beethoven came to be what he was.

So far I am in the early sonatas, so nothing too amazing yet, but it's all been enjoyable music. I've found Haydn to be one of the most consistent composers in terms of quality. Mozart and Bach, greats that they were, have all written some things I have not particularly liked, and while every Haydn work is not a masterpiece, I haven't heard anything from him that I've disliked at all.

The C minor sonata from around 1770 is outstanding, look out for that one, a real masterpiece.

[JA Gardiner]

Hi all - after a long and serious illness my computer appears to working again so I'm back with you. Currently listening to " Introducing Montserrat Caballe" - the first album in the Original Jackets Montserrat Caballe collection - which has arias from Bellini and Donizetti. What a voice!