Jumppanen: 00:00 - Mvt 1 09:45 - Mvt 2 16:13 - Mvt 3 Kovacevich: 23:50 - Mvt 1 33:56 - Mvt 2 39:54 - Mvt 3 Jumpannen's performance is breathtaking: the first movement is taken at a brisk, uncompromising tempo, and he's got a extraordinary gift for creating dramatic moments: the tiny, sudden pause at 4:54 to allow the sound to die away from ff to p made me want to leap up and applaud. The second movement is sweet and intimate, and the third is yet another barnstorming performance. Usually the Appassionata's last movement is played with a little bit of rhythmic distortion and murkiness, so much so that it's become part of performance practice -- very understandable, given the extreme demands this movement places on the pianist -- but there is almost none of that here. The passages are all voiced clearly, and in the last occurrence of the theme in the coda there is no smudging at all. Kovacevich's performance is more measured than Jumppanen's in terms of tempo, but that's the only sense in which it is more reserved. The first movement is vivid, played with almost superhuman intensity and narrative power: the dynamic contrasts are shocking. The second movement is the most beautiful I've heard: the theme is warm, broad, but the later variations are caught in a halo of light, sounding almost like they could have come from the Op.111. The last movement is played with apocalyptic fury: each chord sounds like a small cataclysm, the accents bite, and the chords in the coda almost lose their sense of harmony, becoming inchoate metallic roars.
*leaps up and applauds* The noise dies in the cold, empty room, and he is left with his glowing computer monitor eerily casting a neon luminance on strange shadows lurking about him.
Ashish Xiangyi Kumar starts from 8:54 to end of the movement it actually makes me understand why its the darkest sonata that Beethoven had ever written
I'd like to offer an alternative interpretation to the formal structure of MVT III EXPOSITION 16:13 - The diminished 7th chord is repeated 16:17 - Semiquavers enter, at first almost delicately, but build into a roiling torrent 16:29 - Main Theme 1 (F min) 16:42 - Main Theme 2 (note Perfect authentic cadences in F minor here to confirm we are still in the primary theme group) 17:04 - Transition (based on MT 1) 17:14 - Subordinate Theme (C minor, though beginning on Neapolitan Db(!)) 17:30 - Closing theme (Canonic imitations of MT 1 in dominant minor) DEVELOPMENT 17:48 - Development of Main Theme 1. 18:08 - New Theme in subdominant Bb minor (compare Eroica Symphony Op. 55 (to this Op. 57) where B introduces a new theme in the development section of Mvt. 1) 18:20 - Further Development of MT 1 in canonic style of closing theme group from exposition. 18:27 - Standing on Dominant 18:34 - A cadenza much like the one in the first movement - extended dwelling on diminished 7th harmony, beginning with a Neapolitan flourish (further dominant prolongation). 19:11 - RECAPITULATION 19:56 - Note here how Subordinate Theme has arrived in the home key of F minor (via Neapolitan Gb). CODA 23:04 - A guttural, fiercely muscular theme, repeated first in F min and then in Ab maj 23:24 - Theme 1, played at breakneck speed 23:34 - Closing cadence Note: I don't think either of these interpretations are more or less "correct." But rather, their more or less equal validity is a testament to Beethoven's skill in the way he blurs the boundaries of these forms, pushing them beyond their limits. The unique way he uses repeats here (for development and recap only) while omitting the repeat for the exposition is especially original and blurs these boundaries even further. I feel these use of repeats lend credence to your analysis while the harmonic framework lends credence to mine. I'm reminded of Brahms, Symphony 4 - Mvt. 1 - WHERE does the recapitulation begin!? So many valid arguments for that one too.
Underrated comment. I completely agree with you. In my opinion it is really important to mention the 'subordinant theme' in the exposition/development. The analysis from the video description is not wrong (like you said) but I prefer this version right above.
"But rather, their more or less equal validity is a testament to Beethoven's skill in the way he blurs the boundaries of these forms, pushing them beyond their limits." So freaking true. Beethoven is the master of breaking rules in such a way that you're not even sure whether he's actually breaking them or not.
I especially like your interpretation to the beginning of the 3rd movement, I've never heard a performance of this part that I really feel belongs to the structure. If I ever get around to learning this, I think I would introduce the movement like you suggest.
With all due respect to both of your analysis, I think it's a mistake to consider the central part as a development because I don't think it's a sonata form at all but rather a ABA' using some sonata form techniques to joint in a dramatical way (as in storytelling) all three main sections and the second theme makes much more sense to be after the repeat bar when an ABA' is considered instead because the B part always was a second theme (but Beethoven, considering the amount of attacas, really saw a one-thing piece in that sonata, probably decided to ditch some usual stuff like the subdominant tonality and the trio indication etc. It's very creative, but it's not as structurally revolutionary as I think you want to make it tbh.
Jumppanen's has a "Take-No-Prisoner" attitude in this sonata and it is A-ma-zing! Even with iron fingers, he still has a transparency quality. The 04:45 moment is so daring and yet it works so well. Whoever thought of adding that sudden pause is a crazy genius. I admit this is the first time I heard about the pianist. His playing reminds me of Myra Hess legendary performance in the London National Gallery (unfortunately only 1st mov.) But she was explosive. The 08:12 part of hers is still the best one yet.
I think it's the best piece to play when you feel frustrated only if you can play it well. Otherwise you'll be more frustrated with those cascades of the small notes.
@@davidwright8432 Not for a long time, but for eternity - it is immortal. and Kovacevic interpretation is best in music history. I love it even more than Gilesl and Richter.
The third movement is just fantastic. The power and (as the title suggests) passion of the notes always leaves me in awe. Two great performances as well, from pianists I hadn't heard of beforehand, always good to find. Thanks for the video!
This is one of the last classical pieces of piano music I learned before I had to quit. I couldn't afford lessons. I don't remember being THIS good at piano though... I'm kind of furious about that suddenly. I was GOOD at my instrument.
It's suspected by some that the reason this is so dark is because when Beethoven composed this (from 1803 to 1804 or 1805), it was during this time that he finally came to grips with the irreversibility of his gradually deteriorating hearing.
How does everything about this sonata sound so modern? EACH movement, the first one, the metal like third one, and the "inspiration-like" beautiful melody of the second one
@@longlifetometal1995 Yea Burtok is quite minor composer compared to Bach - but he is from entirely different time. Bach is baroque, Bartok is modernist. So Bartok should be compared to modernist composers - Holst, Varese, Debussy, Stravinsky and others. He is by far second greatest Hungarian composer after Liszt.
It's cool how the 1st and 3rd movements are extremely difficult to play, and both movements express an emotion of anger/rage, but the 2nd movement is so calming and peaceful.
The second movement, after the drama after of the first movement always catches me offguard. It is incredibly moving. For this reason I cannot hear this sonata too often. It feels kind of sacrilegious to hear this sonata in mundane regularity.
I find this is true for Beethoven. For light listening I do the impressionist composers, mozart, haydn, even chopin, but Beethoven is my favorite composer. I just can't listen to his music for background noise while doing chores or studying, I get too wrapped up in listening!
You're amazing! I love your videos and the insanely detailed description and analysis of every piece. Keep up the fantastic work! Greetings from Lithuania.
As Beethoven's deafness progressed, he began writing lower notes because he could hear them more clearly. The second movement of the sonata is a good example of that.
I’ve often wondered why he wrote simultaneous thirds and even seconds in absurdly low registers - no other CP composer AFAIK does this. In the first movement he even marks such a passage “dolce”!
This sonata many high notes as well the very low notes. In his early sonatas he also doesn't use high notes much, and in the late period he uses a lot of high notes (Hammerklavier is an example).
@@meiguofeng I'd agree. I also think you don't need to turn the 3rd mvt into a speed run--until you get to the coda. It's "Allegro ma non troppo" for a reason. You really do need to let her rip on the coda, though: when Beethoven gives you a tempo of Presto he wants you to hit the afterburners.
@Timotao I agree. To be fair, I find the third movement more exhausting (particularly "theme 2" at 18:07 in the LH) -- by the end my fingers are practically limp. I probably just need to work on my form though.
Masterpiece and your playing was clear and wonderful. You dissected it so thoroughly now I can see the same theme repeated with variations, which ironically unveiled the cloak of magic from the original composition. Amongst Beethoven's many great attributes, is his ability to create magic with variations.
I find this less dark than a work of "agitato" much in the same way that the Kreutzer Sonata's first movement is. It's someone stuck and frustrated and ANGRY. But he's also laughing at himself.
Il primo mov è veramente Pezzo senza una logica. Sono idee che fluiscono, con l'unico obiettivo di occupare tutta la tastiera. Ma è un capolavoro. Secondo me è uno dei migliori pezzi per pianoforte mai scritti.
In my opinion the very fast coda is less difficult to perform than the passages where right and left hand struggle on the variation of the same principal theme
A couple things I've noticed while trying to learn this piece: 2:02 A hidden fate motive shows up in bar 53 3:05 The meter here is the same as Theme 2, as it modulates e-bdim-G-c-Eb-Ab-cdim 6:11 The chords here are slightly different from in the exposition: instead of V7 - vii dim - I, we go i - v7 - I, visiting the home key of F minor in the process. 14:40 I believe the Gb in the left hand in measure 64 is part of the RH melody. It can be rather tricky to make it sound as such. 17:54 Pianists seem to differ on whether the LH or the RH has the leading melody here. Notice the clear F-F-F-F-F-F-F-Db in Jumppanen's interpretation, as opposed to the more blurred, harmonizing left hand in Kovacevich's at 41:42. Personally, I prefer the latter, but opinions will surely vary here. 18:00 The fingering here is quite tricky. I find it easier to play the middle Bb in measures 134 and 136 with the left hand. 18:59 There is a hidden fate motive here (Db at 201, C at 205) 23:05 The upper notes here form a melody that can be challenging to make clear at such a breakneck tempo.
@@PartySpock Most pianists play the thing way too fast so they can show off their skills. It's actually a lot more menacing and fateful-sounding played slower, like there's some long road of suffering ahead of you. Both the interpretations here are fast though not as fast as many.
You want metal? Then you must listen to Richter! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7nwWLpV0vtM.html. And here is Appassionata, 3rd mvt, for real metal! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oFRGg2kiu2k.html
I very much like the Jumppanen rendition but the Kovacevich one has the hairs on my neck standing on end especially the first movement. Very simple, no unnecessary embellishment or pausing. I want this version!
I play the first mov when feel really upset or a little bit angry, the second mov when have a lonely feeling, the third mov when feel really angry or feel being betrayed.
Beethoven’s greatest sonata ? The first performer does a good job here,again modern style with a lot of pedal sounds games but in this case due to the vibrating nature of the piece it works
Funny, but it's suspected by some that the reason this is so dark is because when Beethoven composed this (1803 to 1804 or 1805), it was during this time that he finally came to grips with the irreversibility of his gradually deteriorating hearing.
А почему не сказано об исполнении " Аппассионаты" выдающимся пианистом Алексеем Султановым? Вот где фантастика!!! Лучшее исполнение !!! И это не только моё мнение.
Wow! Even listening to that, following the score (most of the time!) is hard, exhilarating work. Wonderful performance! Thanks for posting, and the notes.
There are vivid tales of how Beethoven would bang the keys with all his might, desperate to hear something, anything. I wonder, did he write this to hear, or perhaps to be heard? Did he not only feel that he could not hear the world, but also that the world could not hear him?
I realllllly want to play this piece, but I’m not advanced enough yet, I don’t want to try and learn it as I feel I will learn it wrong and struggle to correct it when I have developed more. Oh Beethoven, why did you have to write good music which is so hard :(
Liszt described the second movement of op.27/2 as "a flower between two abysses". That describes the second movement of this sonata even more accurately.
Kovacevich's crescendos are so intense! There's only one minor problem though: What happened to the grace notes at 30:52? K. seems to play this section almost identical to the exposition, however there is a subtle variation in the ornamentation.
Along with the op. 109, this is my favorite Beethoven sonata. The two are poles apart: this one, as AXK correctly said, explodes with fury and violence, while the op. 109 is all serene calm--two sides of my most beloved composer.
@@korkorkorkorkor right, and the second movement of the Appassionata is serene and calm. But the ending of the op. 109, with the reprise of the hymn-like theme, is what sticks with you when you hear the whole sonata.
fkn hell, Jumppanen played this like Liszt's demonic etude no.10, I loved this turbulent and fierce playing and his coda literally sounded as "presto possibile", as fast as you can play it, as I've always imagined that excellent performance
What I find great about the first variation in the second movement that, at least according to my observation, it's very hard not to perceive the bass note as the downbeat so after a little while we hear the familiar bass-chord figure but almost always with a wrong note in the bass. It's kind of amusing and fascinating.
Scarcely any music can parallel the pathos at 25:54, except perhaps the first movement of the Waldstein. I like the slower tempo of the second version here, because it really drives the point home.
1 часть ГП 0.48 - СП 1.23 - ПП 1.58 - ЗП В разработке последовательно звучат темы ГП, СП, ПП и ЗП 2 часть 9.46 - тема. Далее 4 вариации на тему. 3 часть 16.30 - ГП 17.13 - ПП 23.04 - кода
Ashish Xiangyi Kumar I'm curious (in case you're still reading comments here), what makes you see 18:08 as the second theme, rather than 17:14 (or even 17:29)? Personally, I think the existence of a proper second theme is debatable.
Jumppanen's performance is dazzling. I've heard a lot of Appassionatas, and this might be the best. The first movement just explodes with fury, like the eruption after the descending scale at measure 50, and his last movement has a real breathless intensity to it; my only quibble is that it's a shade too fast: Beethoven writes "Allegro ma non troppo" for the last movement, and a lot of performers ignore the "ma non troppo", leaving a lack of contrast with the whirlwind Presto finale. Kovacevich uses a bit too much pedal for my tastes.
I don't think you can call it far and away the darkest of his sonatas. I say this because of the luminosity of the second movement. I guess you are talking about the 1st and 3rd movements. I think you should also point out, perhaps, in the description the similarities between this sonata and the Moonlight. It is almost as if Beethoven is writing a better version of his 1801 sonata because it had become unbearably popular for him. The final codas are the same almost note for note. The middle movements are both a sort of contrasting oasis between two 'abysses' (and both contain numerous repeats). There is almost an identical ghostly arpeggio (in the 3rd movement - which is just like the 3 (6) massive, slow, arcing, arpeggios at the end of the final movement of the Moonlight). My teacher was a 5th generation Beethoven pupil / teacher (though I'm a terrible piano player myself). Also both sonatas have d flat major a the key for their middle movements.
Pretty sure the key is just a coincidence. Also the 2nd mvt in Moonlight is a Minuet and Trio, whereas here the 2nd mvt is a Theme and Variation, two completely different musical forms. The prior form is more common in Earlier works (In later works it is changed to the Scherzo and Trio form, still similar anyways). The later form is much more common in later sonatas, Check out the final movements of the Op.109 and Op.111, made of 2 beautiful theme and variations. About the darkness part, it is the darkest sonata in this middle period of Beethoven. Compare this to the sonatas in this period, like the Waldstein, or Les Adieux. The 2 are in Major keys, and contains themes more on the happier side. This piece (Especially the first movement) uses a lot of diminished 7ths to travel between themes, likely to express his rage due to the worsening deafness. The second movement is basically just a contrast to the furious and dark 1st and 3rd movements, as thats the way the Beet style works.
Please don't hate me for this, but am I the only one who thinks that the 2nd movement has a lack of ideas? A minimalistic theme (only dominant/subdominant), syncopated 1st variation, 2nd variation with 16th notes, 3rd variation with 32th notes and the theme repeated again. In my opinion this sonata deserved something better, feel free to criticize me.
I wouldn't say so. It sounds like theme and variations, with the elegant melody just discernable throughout. It has a gentle, wise, introverted beauty. I think it was Liszt who described a different second movement by Beethoven as "a flower between two abysses". This is also the case here. It soothes the listener after the first movement and prepares him for the third.
Sur piano forte , ça sonne comme une harpe chantée par le vent. Je ne dis pas qu il n y a pas de problème d expressivité mièvre , mais poétiquement , ce drame en 3 actes de tient.
There might be a practical reason for it? Like 2nd mv of Waldstein was supposed to be the now Andante favori, and then Beethoven accepted that it makes the sonata too long (and too difficult!), hence replaced it with a much shorter Adagio. When Beethoven wrote No 23 he must still have that issue in mind.
I don't agree that it's the greatest sonata Beethoven had written to that day. Waldstein offers so much more in many ways, it is revolutionary! Also, what about the grand op.7? However, i agree that Appassionata is the darkest :)
