{"id":9307,"date":"2018-09-12T12:05:35","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T12:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/?p=9307"},"modified":"2018-09-22T17:12:45","modified_gmt":"2018-09-22T17:12:45","slug":"beethoven-hammerklavier-moonlight-sonatas-murray-perahia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/articles\/beethoven-hammerklavier-moonlight-sonatas-murray-perahia-9307\/","title":{"rendered":"Beethoven Hammerklavier & Moonlight Sonatas – Murray Perahia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murray Perahia has spent a lot of time with Beethoven<\/a> throughout his long and successful career. Still, it was only when he passed the 70-year mark that he felt ready to perform and record the “Hammerklavier” \u2014 a sonata which is something of the ultimate test of a pianist’s technique, stamina, and musical understanding. <\/strong><\/p>\n

An Unsentimental but Still Expressive Experience<\/h2>\n

In his recently released album, Perahia couples the Hammerklavier Sonata, op 106<\/a> with the Moonlight Sonata, op 27 no 2<\/a>; the juxtaposition of these two very contrasting works seems to highlight just how limitless and groundbreaking Beethoven was as a composer for the piano. Add Perahia\u2019s unsentimental yet expressive playing, and suddenly even the old Moonlight turns into something of a new experience.<\/p>\n

“… his insights into the motivations behind the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata are absolutely remarkable. Here we find an Aeolian harp – or what Beethoven’s idea of one may have been – and some imaginative associations with nothing less than Romeo and Juliet.” <\/em>— Jessica Duchen<\/p>\n