Beethoveen Sonatas, noch einmal

[cmg]

I love Beethoven but so much is awkward and so much effort for the payoff.  I'm an amateur and I need a Beethoven sonata fix.  Here's what I've mastered over the years:  Opus 13, 27 (1&2) 78, 79, 81 and 110.  I really think Op. 101 is extraordinary (duh!), but do you perfomers and teachers out there think the final movement is a bit of a stretch for me?  I manage to get in about three hours of practice a day, but that fugue (and Scherzo) look formidable.  Any suggestions?  Current repertoire:  Chopin Etudes, Op. 10, 4 & 12, Op. 25, No. 12, B-flat minor Prelude; Liszt "Benediction de Dieu" and transcription of Bach organ A minor Prelude and Fugue.  Thanks in advance. 

[pianistimo]

i get sidetracked so easily.  i was looking up the opus 101 (as i've not played it) and found an article which mentions some similarities between it and the quartet in which the grosse fuge is found.  the similarity is the overture at the beginning.  i thought i read somewhere that beethoven was half seriously thinking about rossini or something - and the fact that at the time everyone was gaga for these operatic overtures.  so, he puts out several ideas and then finally randomly chooses one theme to go on with.

i hope i'm understanding this correctly.  just play with wild abandon and don't try to make sense of anything.  here's the article:

https://people.colgate.edu/jgodwin/grossefuge.htm.asp  scroll down

one thing i did notice that it said was not to accentuate the subject of the fuge - but make it a sort of matter of fact 'here it is' without a lot of fan-fare.  then, it builds upon itself incrementally so - the ending is a huge surprise and you wonder 'how did it get there?' 

[_____]

I think you could handle it with a lot of hard work. Op. 101 is a beast.

[mephisto]

I am |00% certain that you could do it


Fugues do af course take a lot of work. I love this piece to.

[cmg]

Thanks, everyone, for your input.  I'm gonna give it a shot.