University of Virginia Library

RECORDS

Reviving Beethoven

By TERI TOWE

Ludwig van Beethoven's Plano
Sonata No: 29 in B Flat Major,
Opus 106 is an end and a beginning.
It sums up all that had come before
and is the inspiration for all of the
great virtuoso piano sonatas that
have been written since. The
influence of this supremely difficult
composition can be found in the
sonatas of such composers as Liszt,
Alkan, Chopin, Brahms, Scriabin
and Prokofiev.

Many Recordings

The Hammerklavier Sonatas,
presents technical and
interpretative problems that are
conquerable only by the great
masters of the keyboard; yet, oddly
enough, it seems that there are
more great recordings of this sonata
than there are of any of the other
32 that Beethoven wrote. Egon
Petri, for example, recorded the
Hammerklavier Sonatas
twice-superbly both times; Felix
von Weingartner committed his
magnificent orchestration of the
work to disc, and the
interpretations of Artur Schnabel,
Yves Nat, and Wilhelm Backhaus
are all preserved. For me, at least,
there are few recordings, though,
that are the equal of the absolutely
incomparable reading of
Mieczyslaw Horszowski who
recorded the Hammerklavier Sonata
some twenty years ago.

Similar Interpretation

Rudolf Serkin's new recording
(Columbia M 30081) is one of the
few that will stand comparison with
Horszowski's. In fact, their
interpretations have much in
common. Serkin's version, like
Horszowski's, is one of those rare
recordings that can be called
perfect. The interpretation
represents the fruits of nearly half a
century of thought and study, and
Serkin has had more success than
any pianist since Petri and
Horszowski in resolving the
difficulties of this extremely
complex score.

Handelian Grandeur

Like Horszowski, Serkin has
chosen to ignore the rather extreme
metronome marking which
Beethoven indicated for the first
movement, emphasizing its
Handelian grandeur rather than its
headlong virtuoso aspects. To the
Scherzo the pianist brings a sense
of cohesion that is usually lacking;
he succeeds in sustaining both long
melodic lines and the listener's
interest in the extended slow
movement; and he conquers the
extreme technical difficulties of the
fugal last movement with ease.

Serkin's is an interpretation of
the Hammerklavier Sonata to be
reckoned with, for not only does he
overcome the difficulties presented
by the individual movements, but
he also brings to the sonata a
unified conception that is not to be
found in any other stereo recording
of the work, save that of Charles
Rosen.

One Regret

Yes, Serkin's is a perfect
recording of the Hammerklavier
Sonata, and this record should not
be missed by any aficionado of
piano music. Yet I do have one
regret, I must admit. Rudolf Serkin
has done very little recording in
recent years, and I, for one, wish
that he would make many more,
for his are not interpretations of
the moment; his are interpretations
for the ages.