Auteur : Guilhem Chameyrat
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Alfred Cortot masterclass on Beethoven’s Appassionata ( transcribed and translated by Bruno Pancek & Roy Howat )
At the École Normale de Musique de Paris, on 21 and 24 march 1958 and 8 June 1959, Alfred Cortot recorded this commentary with musical examples explaining Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ Sonata. Here is the English transcription by Bruno Pancek and Roy Howat. Special thanks to Inbar Rothschild. 10’-16’Beethoven himself has given the interpreter (on this fabulous…
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Wilhelm Backhaus, a portrait
Wilhelm Backhaus is often described as the embodiment of the traditional pianist, sometimes a little austere, a little cold, and in any case it is neither joy nor virtuosity that comes first to those who speak of him. Yet Backhaus’ playing appears to be much more complex than it is often reduced to. Wilhelm Backhaus…
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Beethoven’s Seventh : a discography
The historical versions Felix Weingartner delivers a sharp, and in a sense rather acidic, vision of the Seventh in a complete work that was a landmark because it was the first. The chords are marked, there is a remarkable clarity of line and the ensemble sings rather well. For all that, and perhaps this is…
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Comparison : Schubert’s « Great » Symphony
This is a symphony that has unleashed passions. Although it was Mendelssohn, to whom Schumann entrusted the score he had come across on a trip to Vienna, who premiered the work in Leipzig, the symphony, which lasts almost an hour, was no less revolutionary. The Austrian composer’s masterpiece marks a boundary between two worlds in…
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