Beethoven 250: Piano Sonata Number 23 "Appassionata" (Stephen Kovacevich, 1999)

 

Carl Friedrich Lessing (1803–1880) : Schützen am Engpass / Riflemen Defending a Pass (1851). Öl auf Leinwand. 195 x 164,5. Quelle : Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin. Urheber : Carl Friedrich Lessing. From : Wikimedia Commons. Birgit Verwiebe: "Bereits 1836 bestellte der Sammler Joachim Heinrich Wilhelm Wagener bei Carl Friedrich Lessing die dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg gewidmete Komposition »Schützen im Engpaß«, jedoch erst 15 Jahre später, 1851, sollte das Bild vollendet sein. Wagener bezahlte mit viertausend Talern die höchste Summe, die er je für ein Gemälde ausgegeben hatte. Lessing stellte einen Gebirgspaß dar, der von einer Gruppe Schützen von einem Felsvorsprung aus gegen Soldaten verteidigt wird; in ihrer Mitte ein gefangener Burgherr, der von einer Frau mit Pistole bewacht wird. »Es ist die konkrete Gestalt des Aufruhrs«, äußerte Friedrich Eggers im Deutschen Kunstblatt, »es ist eine Scene, die gewiß niemals gefehlt hat und niemals fehlen wird, wo die Empörung ihr gesetzloses, fluchbeladenes Haupt erhebt«. Die als Ort der Freiheit geltende Bergwelt wird in diesem Werk zum Schauplatz für um Freiheit ringende Rebellen. »Ein Bild von grosser Anziehungskraft, dem eine allgemeine Bewunderung gezollt wird« (F. Eggers, Die diesjährige Berliner Kunstausstellung, in: Deutsches Kunstblatt, 3. Jg., 1852, H. 39, S. 330). Für Wagener wurde Lessings Werk, das Gebirgslandschaft und Historie vereint, »die schönste Perle« seiner Sammlung (Wagener an Lessing, 8.2.1842, SMB-ZA, IV/NL Wagener, Briefkonzepte, S. 13). Als das Gemälde im Herbst 1851 endlich beim Sammler eintraf, schrieb dieser dem Künstler: »Meine Sammlung ist mit einem Juwelen bereichert worden« (Wagener an Lessing, 29.9.1851, in: ebd., S. 216). Zugleich aber ließ er sich dazu hinreißen, eine Änderung zu erbitten. Sein Wunsch an Lessing war, eine der Hauptfiguren – den gefesselten Burgherrn – durch eine Frauenfigur zu ersetzen, dies allerdings nur, »falls der Entführung eines Mannes kein geschichtliches Motiv untergeben werden kann« (ebd., S. 216). Weder ist eine Antwort Lessings überliefert noch wurde die Änderung realisiert. Eine im Privatbesitz befindliche Studie zum Gemälde ist im Ausstellungskatalog »Düsseldorfer Malerschule« (Petersberg 2011, Bd. I, S. 41, Abb.16) abgebildet. – Chromolithographie von O. Troitzsch." Birgit Verwiebe (Alte Nationalgalerie) . It's worth examining the photo on a large screen!

Beethoven: The Complete Works (80 CD). Warner Classics / © 2019 Parlophone Records Limited. Also available on Spotify etc. I bought my box set from Fuga at Helsinki Music Centre.
    Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827.
    Beethoven 250 / corona lockdown listening.

From: CD 22/80  Piano Sonatas Nos. 21–25
Stephen Kovacevich, 1992 (Nos. 21, 24) and 1999 (Nos. 22, 23, 25)

Opus 57: Klaviersonate Nr. 23 in f-Moll „Appassionata“ (1805)
Erster Satz: Allegro assai, f-Moll, 12/8 Takt, 262 Takte
Zweiter Satz: Andante con moto, Des-Dur, 2/4 Takt, 97 Takte
Dritter Satz: Allegro ma non troppo, f-Moll, 361 Takte
    Dem Grafen Franz von Brunsvik gewidmet.
    Dédié à Monsieur le Comte François de Brunsvik par Louis van Beethoven.
    The title "Appassionata" was given by the Hamburger publisher Cranz in 1838, after the composer's death, to a four-handed arrangement.
    Stephen Kovacevich (1999) 25 min

András Schiff: The Guardian Lecture on Sonata in F Minor, opus 57 no. 23 ('Appassionata'), Wigmore Hall, London, 2006, 47 min

For Romain Rolland, Appassionata was "a torrent of fire on a bed of granite".

András Schiff uses expressions like "apocalypse", "the last judgment", "the dance of death" and "csárdás macabre" (for the finale). He confesses that during the first movement he may feel like on the verge of a heart attack (hinting that it might be his preferred way to go).

Angela Hewitt writes about the last movement which Beethoven reportedly conceived during a long walk in the woods: "When they returned home Beethoven immediately sat down at the piano and played what later became the last movement of the ‘Appassionata’. The most remarkable thing about this movement is how much of the power is held back until the very end when all is unleashed. Czerny imagines ‘the waves of the sea on a stormy night, whilst cries of distress are heard from afar’. Perhaps it is not necessary to be quite so graphic, but the two-note sighing figures do certainly give that impression. Nobody had written anything nearly as powerful for solo piano before that, and it remains to this day a landmark in musical history." (Angela Hewitt, Hyperion Records, 2006)

Waldstein and Appassionata appear as the twin peaks among the piano sonatas of Beethoven's early heroic period, separated by the deceptively plain sonata number 22. Waldstein is upbeat, Appassionata is downbeat. Waldstein is about the life force, Appassionata is about the call of death.

Appassionata is a tragedy. It has been said that unlike in most of Beethoven's other tragic compositions, there is no redemption. For me, this is where its exceptional greatness resides. Beethoven stares death and defeat in the eye. This is about "victory in defeat", as in the sagas of Achilleus, Hector or Spartacus. In death they become immortal. "I am Spartacus".

The composition is not monotonously dark. The second movement, Andante con moto, is an expression of quintessential Beethovenian humanity, his sunny disposition and heart full of love. Bright rays of sunshine can be glimpsed during the piano sonata. The contrast emphasises the severity of the tragedy.

Appassionata is a touchstone of the sublime in art as understood by Kant. It seems to portray something overwhelming, something that transcends the limits of understanding. But the very act of trying makes us discover in ourselves a growing capability to imagine and conceive something bigger than ourselves. This growth gives us the experience of tragic grandeur.

...

Appassionata is one of the most frequently recorded pieces of music. To my layman's ears the interpretations sound highly variable. I even suspect that familiarity breeds contempt. It is possible to play Appassionata with an assured surface sheen, but underneath lie treasures that open possibilities to highly personal expression. Mostly I listened to the interpretation of Stephen Kovacevich, which is very fine, indeed. Daniel Barenboim and András Schiff offer interpretations that are powerful, nuanced and personal. I was a bit puzzled by the recordings of Edwin Fischer and Rudolf Serkin that I heard. Arthur Rubinstein sounded like rushing to judgment. Robert Casadesus starts very well, but the finale sounds like he tries to break speed records. At the other extreme is Glenn Gould who hated Appassionata and recorded a parodistic, ponderous version in slow motion. His first movement takes 15 minutes (Kovacevich plays it in 10 minutes), etc.

Discussing his piano sonatas No. 17 and No. 23 Beethoven reportedly referred to William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and subsequently No. 17 has often been called Der Sturm / The Tempest / La Tempête. Beethoven's mention may be apocryphal, but it makes sense with the dream / reality dynamics of the sonata No. 17. Shakespeare's The Tempest is not a tragedy, and neither is Beethoven's piano sonata No. 17. But Appassionata is a tragedy, and I would rather propose Macbeth as a point of reference.