Beethoven sonatas to build up to les adieux

[ravelpin]

I am an intermediate pianist and have played Chopin etude op 10 no 3, Chopin berceuse, Debussy cathedral engloutie and Beethoven sonata op 2 no 1 1st mvt.
I am currently learning Beethoven sonata op 13 and I would love to eventually play les adieux sonata. what are some Beethoven sonatas (or other pieces) that I could pay to help me build up to les adieux?

[lelle]

I think you should just work on building a solid technical foundation regarding dealing with fast passagework and chords in general and you will get there. Do you have a teacher?

A lot of Les adieux is pretty straightforward, but then Beethoven just had to put in some pretty gnarly spots with fast chords/double notes which pretty much every student I've ever heard struggles with at some point.

[ravelpin]

Yes I've got a teacher. Thanks for the advice  . Are there any exercises / pieces I could learn to help with this fast passagework? I've worked through a bit of Hanon and Czerny but they haven't been too beneficial for this but maybe I just haven't played enough of it.

[pianistavt]

Yes I've got a teacher. Thanks for the advice  . Are there any exercises / pieces I could learn to help with this fast passagework? I've worked through a bit of Hanon and Czerny but they haven't been too beneficial for this but maybe I just haven't played enough of it.

What Czerny book are you working from?  The Art of Finger Dexterity op 740 is a good companion to Beethoven. There are a few studies on thirds in there, but all the pieces are helpful and applicable on some level.

Les Adieux is considered level 4 difficulty in Piano Library, you could hunt around for level 3 and 3.5 in here for preparatory sonatas:
https://www.pianolibrary.org/composers/beethoven/
https://www.pianolibrary.org/difficulty/beethoven/

I think you can attempt op 81a after you complete op 13.  What does your teacher say?

[ravelpin]

Yeah I've looked at the op 740 a bit but I haven't properly worked through any so I'll give it a try. I asked my teacher and he says that he did op2 no1 then op 13 then op 10 no 1 and then les adieux but that I probably don't have to do all those in preparation as he started earlier with Beethoven sonatas than I did. I was considering maybe doing op31 no2 or op2 no3 just to get more technically comfortable with Beethoven but if you think that I can jump the gap to les adieux then that's great. 

[dizzyfingers]

...  if you think that I can jump the gap to les adieux then that's great. 

It's hard to tell without hearing and seeing your playing. But your teacher sees/hears you play, so I would go on his recommendation.

The challenges of les adieux are primarily musical, not technical, imo.

in any event, it's not a question of success or failure, you'll surely get something out of it, these are your first passes at these piano sonatas, you will likely visit them again in later life.