Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 “Pathetique”

[lucascpiano]

Hi everyone,

here is my recording of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata.

[frodo1]

I remember you.  Well done young man!  This is a surprisingly mature performance from such a young performer.  You did a great job in not rushing in the Grave sections and keeping consistent tempos going from Grave to Allegro throughout this first movement.  I thought you did a nice job (for the most part) in trying to recreate the FP (Forte-Piano) chords in the Grave sections on a modern instrument (e.g. first chord in meas. 2 and 3).  It seems to me you were doing something with sustain pedal?  Not sure.  You may get some complaints on the quality of the recording.

Edit: Dynamics were generally very good. Possible small improvement: meas. 88 to meas. 98 (start at min marker 2:50) - the crescendo from P to F might be a little more effective if you start the P section a little softer than you did? 

[nightwindsonata]

Nice job! This is such a fantastic piece, and you play it very calmly and rationally, just as, I am sure, many pianists in Beethoven's time would have. The tempos are all nice and steady, the notes are articulated (for the most part), and I really don't think you need to play any faster than you do. Good job!

My main suggestion for improvement lies with the orchestration and color. There are glimpses in the opening Grave of the right orchestration, but I think that overall your left-hand chords can be softer and right hand melody more dolce (sweeter) in the piano sections. This will make the sudden forte that much more dramatic. This is like the opening of a grand opera--listen to the overture of Mozart's Don Giovanni to see what I mean; I am sure that it would have influenced Beethoven's writing of this piece!

I also suggest that you apply a careful sense of orchestration to the allegro section. The chords and tremolos are very nice and even (the best feature of the performance, in my opinion), but when you get to the E-flat minor section, much of the phrases all sound the same, and the music, while rhythmically driven, misses out on a lot of the harmonic tension that can be gained from a little analysis and phrasing.

Beethoven often repeats certain motives several times in descending sequences, as he does in my own current project, the final movement of the Sonata Op. 31 No. 3. In both cases, your ear should be attuned to them above the accompaniment, and they should not all sound the same--perhaps they make an arc-shape, or a crescendo-shape, or a diminishing-shape; it's up to you, but for sure, as you continue to play this and refine it, consider the great variety of options you have to turn this from a piano sonata to a piano symphony--which is how Beethoven intended it to be! Best of luck.