{"product_id":"beethoven-con-alcune-licenze","title":"Beethoven: Con alcune licenze","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew recordings of late Beethoven at his\n\u003cbr\u003emost heroic and visionary.\n\u003cbr\u003eAndrea Molteni plays Scarlatti with ‘ringing\n\u003cbr\u003etone and virtuosic agility’ reported Fanfare\n\u003cbr\u003emagazine of the Italian pianist’s collection of\n\u003cbr\u003esonatas on Piano Classics (PCL10233). The\n\u003cbr\u003eArt Music Lounge praised his bold\n\u003cbr\u003ejuxtaposition of Petrassi and Dallapiccola\n\u003cbr\u003e(PCL10222) as ‘a strange but wonderful\n\u003cbr\u003ealbum’, noting that ‘Molteni sparkles as he\n\u003cbr\u003erips through the music with energy and\n\u003cbr\u003eélan’.\n\u003cbr\u003eThese qualities hold him in good stead for\n\u003cbr\u003ethe rigours of late Beethoven. With his\n\u003cbr\u003e‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata of 1818, the\n\u003cbr\u003ecomposer challenged pianists and listeners\n\u003cbr\u003ealike to assimilate a work unprecedented in\n\u003cbr\u003eits length and complexity. Motivically linked\n\u003cbr\u003eby a descending third through the eventful\n\u003cbr\u003ecourse of its four movements, the Sonata\n\u003cbr\u003eopens with a precipitous Allegro. A mordant\n\u003cbr\u003eScherzo then introduces a long and\n\u003cbr\u003espiritually engaged slow movement, before\n\u003cbr\u003ethe mighty finale hurtles towards its epic\n\u003cbr\u003econclusion through a densely wrought\n\u003cbr\u003efugue. In each aspect, then, the Sonata\n\u003cbr\u003eoutlines blueprints for what would become\n\u003cbr\u003eknown as Beethoven’s late style, whether\n\u003cbr\u003eexpressed in solo, chamber, orchestral or\n\u003cbr\u003evocal music. The most celebrated single\n\u003cbr\u003eresult of that late style is the Grosse Fuge\n\u003cbr\u003ewhich Beethoven wrote as the finale to his\n\u003cbr\u003eString Quartet Op.131. Persuaded by his\n\u003cbr\u003epublisher to substitute it for a less arduous\n\u003cbr\u003econclusion, Beethoven left this mighty fugue\n\u003cbr\u003eto stand on its own, and so it has stood ever\n\u003cbr\u003esince, as a ferocious yet rewarding exercise\n\u003cbr\u003eof concentration and contrapuntal art.\n\u003cbr\u003eMolteni presents it in a 19th-century\n\u003cbr\u003earrangement made by Louis Winkler which\n\u003cbr\u003ehas attracted surprisingly few recordings.\n\u003cbr\u003eAt the centre of Molteni’s recital, the Sonata\n\u003cbr\u003eOp.110 offers salutary contrast. Here too are\n\u003cbr\u003eexamples of heroism, rustic humour and\n\u003cbr\u003emelancholy, but distilled to an essence of\n\u003cbr\u003evitality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Piano Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49607727055128,"sku":"5029365103091","price":10.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4322672-3141891.jpg?v=1777515825","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/beethoven-con-alcune-licenze","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}