St Petersburg, Concert Hall

Leif Ove Andsnes recital (piano)


Fifth concert of the sixteenth subscription

The programme includes:
Ludwig van Beethoven. Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, op. 53, Waldstein
Johannes Brahms. Four Ballades, op. 10
Arnold Schoenberg. Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, op. 19
Ludwig van Beethoven. Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, op. 111

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No 21 (L’Aurora) was written in 1803–1804, immediately after the Third Symphony (Die Heroische). Beethoven had only just overcome a deep spiritual crisis due to his increasing deafness. Now he faced new horizons connected with his essays into the oratorio and operatic genres.
The first reviewer of the sonata noted that “the first and last sections were among the most developed and the most dazzling and original works the maestro has written” but that “they are, however, filled with strange caprices and are incredibly difficult to perform.” It is hard to refute this. The vivid and spontaneous imagery of the first section forced music-lovers to seek a programme in it, and the sonata was given the unofficial name of L’Aurora. The brief second section is in the spirit of a recitative and it is based on a continually resounding intonation and question. The answer to this question, it would seem, comes in the finale. In terms of genre it is a simple contredanse, in places becoming an energetic tarantella. The finale is notable for its colouristic effects – such as the features of various pedal harmonies like different colours being mixed together on a palette. The ringing trills create a light aura of sound around the simple theme.
The sonata is dedicated to Count Ferdinand von Waldstein – Beethoven’s friend and patron from his years in Bonn.

The two-part Sonata No 32, the last in a series of piano sonatas by Beethoven, embodies his idea of “from darkness to light, through struggle to victory” in the purest sense. The first part is written in a gloomy C Minor key. It begins with a pathétique introduction reminiscent of a French overture. This is followed by a fugato – it is possibly this sonata by Beethoven that gave the Romantics – including Liszt and Berlioz – the idea of infernal fugues. Beethoven suddenly abandoned strict polyphonic structure with its idea of the peripeteia of life’s struggles and interspersed it with lyrical and fantastical music. It was not by chance that the critic of the  Universal Music Gazette called the composer in his enthusiastic review “the Jean Paul of music” (a Romantic author who wrote incredibly capricious works).
The second part is an Arietta and Variations in C Major. Towards the end, the lofty and simple theme of the arietta resounds like a church hymn. Through the variations, the theme is gradually surrounded by a cloud of ornamentation. The musical fabric literally dematerialises in the smallest and briefest of notes that have terrified entire generations of pianists, but which when performed well provide such immense satisfaction to the audience.
The sonata was completed in 1822 and was dedicated to Beethoven’s patron the Archduke Rudolf. It may be true that the London version came with a dedication to Antonia Brentano, but such things often occurred with Beethoven’s music.

Brahms’ Four Ballades, Op. 10, appeared in 1854 and together with his three piano sonatas heralded the emergence of a new genius to the public. Chopin’s ballades could hardly have served as an example for Brahms, but anthologies of old folk ballads touched him very deeply indeed. The impetus for the creation of the first piece came from the incredibly gloomy Scottish ballad Edward (known in Russia thanks to the translation by A.K. Tolstoy). The alternation of two themes at the start of the piece probably conveys Edward’s discussion with his mother.
In relation to the ballades, Brahms spoke of the demoniacal side of his character, though this, in all probability, was an exaggeration. In the third ballade, titled Intermezzo, can one hear anything demonic? More than anything it brings to mind a scherzo, of which the composer wrote a great many in subsequent years. The fourth ballade concludes with a slow postlude in the spirit of Schumann, who loved to end his works with a speech “from the composer”. The ballades are dedicated to Brahms’ friend Julius Otto Grimm.

Arnold Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19, appeared in February and June 1911. Schoenberg was experimenting left, right and centre with atonality and at this time was composing completely abstract works – with no genre, with no programme and, of course, with no designation of tonality that could throw any light on their content. It is as if these pieces are suspended in air. They are so laconic that there is no room within them for any development, as if only a fleeting idea has been noted down.
What cannot be denied is their plasticity and elegance, as well as their expression. The sheet music is literally marked all over with instructions for the performer. Essentially they relate to how the melody should be performed: the movement of the dynamic “breastbone” coincides with the movement of the melody upwards and downwards. Because the most important thing with these pieces is the melody (which can alternate between one voice and another, as in piece No 6). They could even be called Schoenberg’s “songs without words.”
Schoenberg later thankfully avoided any stage of extreme laconic brevity and returned to major works, while Webern, his pupil, took the miniscule pieces of Op. 19 as an example and throughout his life remained a staunch miniaturist.
Anna Bulycheva

Age category 6+

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