RE: [F_minor] Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

["Houpt, Fred" <fred.houpt@rbc.com>]

Agreed.  It might beg or conjure a certain speed.  It is open to
interpretation and that is just what happens.  For example, many tried
to play the Goldberg V's before Gould.  Yet no one up until Glenn
captured the sparkling genius of the piece.  It was as if it had never
been touched by earlier pianists.  That's the impression his
breakthrough recording gave us.  

With B's Moonlight, we are all still coming through the transition from
World War Two era Romantic interpretation as it fully evolves into a
21'st century form.  We still have older pianists from that era who
compete with young ones.  

I think we should list a few other good interpretations that stick in
the mind.

Barenboim's Beethoven always satisfies me.  As did Kempf.  I have
Rubinstein at home and it is lovely but very much of a type that was
popular in the early 20'th century.  Brendel always has excellent
Beethoven.  Claudio Arrau I cannot recall but I liked his B.  Richter
was always good as was Gilels.  There are many good performances.

Cheers,

Fred Houpt
 

-----Original Message-----
From: f_minor-bounces@email.rutgers.edu
[mailto:f_minor-bounces@email.rutgers.edu] On Behalf Of Brad Lehman
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 3:31 PM
To: f_minor@email.rutgers.edu
Subject: Re: [F_minor] Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Gould's recording of this is one of the few that seem *almost fast
enough* to me in the first movement.  The thing is, after all, marked in
cut-C meter.  Not the dawdling C (or 4/4) that it gets dragged out to,
by so many others.  Furthermore, the harmonic rhythm of the piece is so
slow that it too (along with the cut-C meter) begs for a faster and more
flowing tempo.

As for "moonlight", it wasn't Beethoven's own title for it anyway.  Why
should the piece have anything to do with moonlight?


Brad Lehman
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