Beethoven Sonata Op2 No1 4th mvt

[jamie_liszt]

I didn't have trouble with the first 3 mvts but this last mvt is killing me. I am having a hard time getting it up to speed (prestissimo - 200bpm on the metronome is my goal) my teacher said to me it shouldn't be very difficult to play it at prestissimo. I heard Richter playing it on some video on eMule and the speed he plays it at isnt even on my metronome, lol.

Has anyone got any tips on how to speed this beats up?

If anyone has played this piece before, did you have trouble playing it this fast?

[faulty_damper]

Don't use your fingers, you'll never be able to play it with just your fingers.

[pianowolfi]

I don't think having the goal to reach a certain metronome speed would help you very much. It can cause tension and frustration. Of course we all tend to try that. But it's better to have the goal of bringing out the character of a piece. I have a recording of the Rach Prelude B^b major by Earl Wild which is very slow compared to others, way below Rach's metronome mark. But it sounds really impressive and authentic, because of the rhythmical precision and the maestoso character. And i find it fully comparable with other recordings like Richter or Ashkenazy which are much faster.
And maybe you should try position playing more than "thumb under" for the left hand arpeggios. You have no time for "thumb under".

[ksnmohan]

Hallo jamie_liszt,

I endorse pianowolfi's comments. Is it virtuosity or the soul of the music (as well as its interpreter) we have to aim at?

Prestissimo means ofcourse very fast, but there is a concurrent defintion "or as fast as POSSIBLE"

Now how fast exactly is Prestissimo? 200 to 208 bpm according to most definitions and so you are aiming at "atleast 200 bpm". Then I have also come across a range of 190 to 220 as well . Please visit

search.cpan.org/src/BDAGLISH/Music-Tempo-0.02/lib/Music/Tempo.pm

So why don't you slow down to 190?

Prof K S (Mohan) Narayanan
Musicologist, Composer, Teacher
Chennai, India

[steve jones]

I like Arrau's recording of this sonata. Infact, its one of my fave of big B's!

Richter plays it too quickly imo. I dont like this at all.

SJ

[kempff1234]

I like Arrau's recording of this sonata. Infact, its one of my fave of big B's!

Richter plays it too quickly imo. I dont like this at all.

SJ

Although I enjoy the Richter's recording, I do agree that it is too fast. I partial for Schnabel, but kempff has the right tempi imo.