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BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26

“Funeral March”; Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No.
1; Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2; Piano
Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 “Pastoral” - Murray
Perahia, piano - Sony Classical
Perahia brings his especial sonority to bear on these keyboard
experiments, each of which contributes to the dynamically searching
temperament we call Beethoven.

Published on February 11, 2009

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26

“Funeral March”; Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1;
Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2; Piano Sonata No.
15 in D Major, Op. 28 “Pastoral” - Murray Perahia, piano - Sony
Classical 88697326462, 70:41 ****:

Murray Perahia continues his survey of the Beethoven sonatas with a

volume of four, composed 1798-1831, recorded 16-18 June 2008 from
the Rundfunkzentrum, Berlin, Germany. Ever studious, thoughtful, and
intelligently passionate, Perahia brings his especial sonority to bear on
these keyboard experiments, each of which contributes to the dynamically searching
temperament we call Beethoven.

The Op. 26 has had several fine exponents of its unique structure and ethos, notably
Sviatoslav Richter and Wilhelm Kempff. Its opening theme and variations offer Perahia
applications of touch, texture, and dynamics that challenge his sense of continuity. Its
quiet contrasts already anticipate the sudden shifts, rolls, and interjections of the later
Marcia funebre third movement. The whimsical scherzo jabs dramatically and dances
skittishly, the bass runs looking ahead to Mendelssohn and Liszt. Poised restraint marks
Perahia’s funeral march, the non-legato spiked chromatics more than once suggestive of
the composer’s Op. 13 “Pathetique.” Pearls in constant motion define the final Allegro, the
evaporating tissue easily referenced to Schubert and Schumann, with Perahia’s hard-edged
landings of particular merit.

The E Major Sonata has been an idiosyncratic favorite of mine since I heard it with Gina
Bachauer. Despite a blithe surface, a snaky chromaticism moves beneath the opening
Allegro’s balanced figures shared among mercurially shifting registers that invoke a false
recap in deftly shaded colors. The cascades that define the true recapitulation enjoy a
mock-heroic playfulness, a moment of counterpoint, then the scherzando affect sings its
way to smirking, irreverent, conclusion. Perahia takes the slightly haunted Allegretto--Trio
a mite faster than some; but the E Minor never quite fits into a character we can call a
menuet or a siciliano. The last movement purports to be a Rondo, but it too undergoes
some metric shocks and a semi-symphonic series of rolling arpeggios that keep Perahia’s
hands busy without lapsing into rococo clichés.

The G Major has Beethoven bantering with Rossini for bel canto invention that covers
impish intent, like the suspension of the downbeat. The middle voicing suggests a
serenade, which Beethoven had already composed as his Op. 8. The gentle, upward
progressions often point to Galuppi or highly melismatic Haydn, while the dramatic
development section might be an homage to Clementi. Perahia plays the Andante the way
Carlos Kleiber toys with the menuet from Schubert’s Third Symphony, as a series of
variants in sparkling, galant wit. The Scherzo that concludes this little volcano in a teacup
hints at what Perahia might make of Scarlatti, except that Beethoven’s extensions and
Homeric humor already point a cosmic dance well beyond Scarlatti’s range.

From its opening, drone bass to it lofty vistas of emotion--akin to Friedrich’s view of that
lonely summit to which The Wanderer has ascended--Perahia applies a largesse upon the
D Major, Op. 28 that communicates the grand style - where the silences, more than the
sounds, bespeak a world of vision. Perahia seems to me to have reached the kind of lofty
repose we attribute to the likes of Backhaus and Solomon, masters of the Beethoven
idiom. The Andante enjoys that urge of briskness that neither plods nor trods with a heavy
foot, almost a study in degrees of leggiero touches. When the da capo extends the martial
tune even more into a cantilena, the effect quite beguiles. The Scherzo asks Perahia for a
broader sprezzatura, his hands moving aptly between registers and illumined staccati. The
Allegro vivace of the Trio section blurs by. Another drone bass begins the Rondo, an
evocation of Breughel that only the Sixth Symphony can complete, although the
symphonic tissue already resonates in the keyboard. That Perhahia often makes Beethoven
sound like Chopin can only be denied by the idosyncrasy of the German master’s
excursions into harmony. For sheer polish and digital elan, you cannot improve upon
Perahia’s inscription here.

--Gary Lemco