Review of Hammerklavier Live/Aldila Records/ by the pianist and musicologist, Phillip Nones and reviewer for Bachtrack.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2021The title of this CD is "Hammerklavier Live," accompanied by cover art showing threatening clouds. It's certainly truth in advertising, as Beethoven's 29th Piano Sonata nearly always portends stormy pianism. As well, it's the supreme act of bravery for any pianist who ventures to play this sonata in recital, as more than a few pianists have come to grief in the course of presenting it live in front of an audience. Even such vaunted pianists as Richter and Schnabel have left a plethora of wrong notes in their wake of their live performances of this piece, based on the audio documentation we have of them.
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The "Hammerklavier" is vastly -- even bizarrely -- different from nearly every other sonata created in the 1800s or early 1900s. It's brusque, untidy, and full of jarring contrasts, meaning that pianists often have difficulty in making a cogent case for the piece as a whole. Some revel in the central slow movement while giving short shrift to the fast movements, while with others it's the exact opposite. To top it off, the sonata isn't very easy for audiences to appreciate since, in the words of Glenn Gould, "people don't feel it."
... All of which makes it the more remarkable that Beth Levin's live concert recording of the "Hammerklavier," done at the University of Maryland in 2019, is one of the most successfully realized performances of this sonata that I have heard -- live or otherwise. Hers is an interpretation that respects the music without unduly smoothing over its rough edges. Levin also avoids the overly expressive mannerisms of some pianists like Mitsuko Uchida, which can detract from the musical narrative.
Beethoven's metronome markings in this sonata -- one of the very few (or perhaps the only one?) in which he included them -- are nearly impossible to carry out due to their speed, although the Canadian Stewart Goodyear is one who has successfully done so. Levin takes the sonata's opening movement at a brisk tempo, which works well because each phrase leads inevitably to the next one while also allowing room for the occasional rubato or inflection point, thereby adding extra little splashes of interest.
The short scherzo movement is its own special gem, while in the Adagio movement that follows, Levin's tempo choices allow the movement to unfold naturally while avoiding sounding episodic. The final Fugue might not be taken at quite the breakneck speed of Murray Perahia in his Berlin recording, but it's a thrilling ride nonetheless -- and technically flawless to boot.
This CD also includes fine performances of music by Handel (the Third Piano Suite) as well as the contemporary composer Anders Eliasson ("Disegno No. 3," composed in 2005) that were recorded at the same piano recital. But the real reason to acquire this recording is for Levin's "Hammerklavier." To my ears, it's one of the very best options we now have -- right up there with Wilhelm Backhaus' 1956 live concert recording (available on Profil), and Stewart Goodyear's 2012 recording on Marquis (part of his traversal of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas).Hammerklavier Live review