Video: Beethoven Hammerklavier Sonata Fugue

[jezza_0410]

Part 1

Part 2

Hi I'm a 16 year-old student, and decided to tackle the Hammerklavier Sonata after hearing Richter's performance of it. The Fugue is my second favourite movement of the piece (after the Adagio). Unfortunately my Macbook's in-built mic is not great so the sound quality is lacking.

Any comments on how to improve? I know I am very inaccurate...

Thanks!

[birba]

Well, that is some feat!  And for a 16 year-old, no less.  You play with remarkable fluidity.
Now.  Only a few words, because this is something you will come back to in later years.
The one thing that is lacking is the "voicing" (not in the piano tuner's sense) of the fugue.  You play every voice the same.  As far as colors go, I hear forte and mp and nothing in between.  The structure is not clear at all.  I imagine you have studied it from a composer's point of view.  well, you have to make this obvious to the listener.  It's a 3 voice fugue, but I don't hear it.  Not even in the lyrical middle part.  Practise it in slow motion.  Find what is more important - exaggerate that and play down the other parts.  There are times when the trills are paramount and you can experiment with the pedal when they come in.  I could go on and on here, but the principal work remaining is a musical analytical reading of this "bestia nera".
Would really like to hear the adagio - probably one of Beethoven's greatest achievements.
Good work, though.  I love to hear young pianists bask in the technical aspects of their playing.  It's truly invigorating!

[furtwaengler]

Is anybody going to recognize this achievement here! 16 years old! Birba has some good observations, but so well learning it as you have now is really going to serve you well in the future when you come back to it. Congratulations.

[jezza_0410]

Thank you very much to your kind and constructive comments!

I do have a problem with voicing- the quality of the mic of my Macbook probably made it more obvious. Whose performance of this movement should I listen to to improve the overall musicality of the piece?

Thanks once again.

[furtwaengler]

Well, I'd not limit yourself. Of the past, Richter, Gilels, Petri, Schnabel, Richter-Haaser, Ogdon, Arrau and others all have towering performances which are among my favorites, and there are some now playing it, such as Andras Schiff and Mitsuko Uchida that are worthy of attention.

[birba]

Listen to Kempff's old Deutsch Grammaphone recording.  Resist judging it immediately and listen to it again and again.  How he brings out the music in this impossible piece is no less then phenomenal.

[emill]

I have listened twice to the complete Hammerklavier sonata played by professionals and I must say it is formidable in its demands and length...hehhehe.  Your effort here is admirable to say the least especially considering your young age.  I just wish that the many young players we see here in PS and in YT will continue their efforts well into adulthood.  It brings so much promise that classical piano will live on and on.

[birba]

I just realized, it isn't emill the boy talking, but his mother.  I thought he sounded very mature for his age..

[furtwaengler]

Father, actually.

And I've met some very mature 14 year olds.

[jezza_0410]

I wrote those posts myself. Neither of my parents speak/write English very well, nor would I allow them to post anything under my name!

@Birba, I shall take that as a compliment!
@furtwaengler, I actually listened to Schiff's lecture about the entire Hammerklavier Sonata. He is incredibly musical, but I disagree with him regarding the speed at which the slow movement should be played...

[furtwaengler]

Apologies, Jezza, we were referring not to you, but to Emill, who is a member on behave of his son, Lorenzo (Enzo). And yes, I agree with you on Schiff's tempo, but to hear him play it live is quite an experience.

I think Birba's suggestion of Kempff coupled with Hans Richter-Haaser (and AMAZING recording) and samplings of the others (Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter especially) would give you a pretty good idea.