Beethoven Piano Sonata Op.2, No.3

[lisztarian]

     Greetings my fellow musicians,


                 I would like to take your opinion of this performance of the 1st movement of this beautiful yet difficult sonata. I know there are tiny technical mistakes, but of course this is not the greater answer I seek. I noticed that this is an audition Room and it would be absolutely  beneficial for everyone to share and get one another's opinion. As far as what I have noticed, the thing which should be taken care of is the use of pauses. Perhaps you might think it is not. Your great opinions make difference. And yes...the first 2 bars are the most difficult to perform in this whole sonata !

   Thank you all in advance for you opinions!!!!!

[kellyc]

Hi . I enjoyed this. The question you asked was i suppose on where you are at with this and where you need to go. Well you are at the stage where your performance is certainly competent. It is good enough that there are no glaring problems to make people take notice. On the other hand the piece has not reached the point where you would make people take notice and stand out in away that would make peoples attention totally turn towards your playing.

Your use of dynamics needs to be more pronounced in some spots and more subtle in others. Your use of touch could be put to better use to highlight the different sections of each of the various motifs. I think those are the two main areas you need attention on. A small point is the balance of sound between the two hands. There are times the left hand needs to be more subdued.

What I liked. Your tempo for one. I heard a musician who was deeply in control of his own internal clock. I liked your relaxed arm and hand control as if you where truly enjoying the music and not just playing it. Your pedaling seemed clear and you had a good sense as to how to let the sound flow from the piano and not get to empty or to blurred.

It would be interesting to know how long you have been studying this sonata, why you chose it, and your own vision on where you think it needs to go.

All in all I enjoyed your playing very much and hope that now that you have posted here , you will continue to do so , and  also comment back on other peoples performance's as you obviously have fine musical taste and I for one would be delighted to hear what you have to say on any of the postings on this Audition board.

kelly

[lisztarian]

   Thank you Kellyc for your wonderful insight. Your opinion is taken seriously with great admiration. What I would like to know more from you is to show in which bars you mention that the use of dynamics should be more pronounced, and where to be more subtle, so that I know which passages you are describing, because unfortunately I cannot read minds!

 Thank you for your opinion of the tempo, arm control -while relaxed of course-, and pedaling.

   

      As to answering your questions. I have started this sonata about 4 months ago, and now it is -thank God- playable from the first bar until the last in the 4th movement. I did not wish to upload the entire work on youtube because I have two solo recitals coming up soon and I do not wish to -as they say- burn the piece before the concert in case some of the audience checked my name on youtube ! It happens a lot, especially in Kuwait -my homeland-.

   I choose this sonata simply because...I enjoy it. I do not study music professionally. I actually study English literature at the American University of Kuwait. Music is something you can call a "Professional Hobby" for me. I haven't played any Beethoven sonata before, so some people consider it wrong to start with this sonata, and not starting with the easier ones.


     My vision of this sonata is hopefully a very positive one. It definitely needs to be more beautiful, free "in a mental sense, NOT A PHYSICAL ONE -otherwise it would be a disaster-" , and more well-constructed as a sonata form. I am speaking about the work as a whole, not just this movement. But above all, it should be more singing. I say so because I study the piano -privately- with a great piano professor ( Stefan Kutrzeba) whose focus is on acquiring a beautiful sound from the piano with the least stress possible. Thanks to him, after three years of travelling to him every holiday I have, it has started finally to be fruitful!!!


   I will definitely write on this forum to all the other wonderful musicians in here. I just started to use this website, and it should be a great move for everyone, and not only me.

PS= I know I write a lot!! That is because of the English studies I do which makes me feel strange if I only write one paragraph, and not a full essay ! LOL!   

[starstruck5]

I think any Music College would accept you as a student tomorrow!  

I agree that Kelly's insights, as always, are perceptive.  Little I can add really. I will try though!

This Sonata was dedicated to Haydn - but I have always thought of it in a very personal way. I think the piece is more inspired by inner virtuoisty than Haydn technically. A glimpse to the future perhaps -I feel that Beethoven in this movement is playing with the idea of making technical exercises become more than the sum of their parts. It is almost like a piano lesson is taking place. I think Beethoven is also thinking in terms of a female student he admires for more than her keyboard prowess!  For example - in bar 47 - Beethoven suddenly marks the score dolce. The texture becomes more intimate -and there is definitely a conversation going on to my mind. The imitation in any case is very important here. I feel you need to bring this out more - what follows is exhilerating and obviously climatic - so it all the more important that the motif in bars 77/78 are genuinely piano - then the cadence must be softer still - pointedly so - I don't feel you care enough about this here - cos from bars 82 the motif extends upwards sequentially and it is always forte - the contrast must be very obvious I think.

You might not agree with my observations - but I hope you find it interesting nevertheless!

You are definitely worth listening to - thank you so much for posting this!

Edit - after I had posted this I remembered that in fact Czerny must have been very young when Beethoven wrote this - so my thoughts were wrong - I often write stupid things - that's me! Anyway I changed it now!

[zeusje]

Enjoyed it, very inspiring. Hope to see more of you.

[felipe717]

I can't say for sure, because I don't play this piece... (but, of course, I love this sonata, it's one of my favorites!) I really enjoyed your performance! The only thing I felt "weird" was the trills... Actually, I've already tried to play this movement, and I found these trills one of the most frustating sections of the movement. But, as I said, I can't play it and I can't say for sure about it, that's just my opinion as a listener. However, I only found "weird" in the exposition, before the repeat, because in the re-exposition, it got very good!
Nevertheless, I really liked your playing! You said that the most difficult to perform in the WHOLE sonata was the first bars... I disagree, but as I can't play this (I'm saying again...) I can't say for sure. But I think that if you use both hands to play those thirds, it will be very easier and can sound better.
I think that the 4th movement is the hardest and it has sections which are harder than these bars, but I say it just as a listener. May I ask how long did you take to be able to play it? It's very impressive! ^^
Congratulations!!!