The Whole Music Experience

Javier Perianes (Piano) Beethoven Moto perpetuo (perpetual motion) Harmonia Mundi When I desire to hear the softer side of Beethoven, I listen to his piano sonatas.   Think Moonlight Sonata which these days, ends up on new age and relaxation CDs.   Spanish pianist Javier Perianes performs four of Beethoven’s sonatas and the musician focuses on the perpetual motion implied in these compositions.   Yet, the opener Sonata no. 12 (Marcia Funebre), first movement, pauses and reflects or at least it sounds that way coming through my laptop speakers.   The liner notes cite that the compositions all end with moto perpetuo (a rapid succession of notes).   If you want to hear an example, listen to the fourth movement, Allegro of Sonata no. 12 . However, my concern revolves around the relaxing qualities of the sonatas, and even with the rapid succession of notes that end each composition, calmness envelopes, even with the most rapid passages. ...

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Staier and Sepec Robert Schumann Sonatas for Piano and Violin Harmonia Mundi From around the time of German composer Robert Schumann’s death in 1856 (and in his last years), to the 1960s, Schumann’s later works were considered inferior to his other works. After listening to Andreas Staier’s (forte piano) and Daniel Sepec’s (1780 violin) recording of Schumann’s later sonatas, I wonder about the brilliance of Schumann’s work prior to the 1850s. The music that flows off of Robert Schumann Sonatas for Piano and Violin sounds brilliant with marvelous sonorities coming from both instruments. Passages explode off of the disc—impassioned, blazing, while alternating with lyrical poetry. Schumann’s homage to JS Bach feels both endearing and clearheaded. So any nonsense about Schumann’s plight with depression and madness curbing his virtuosity rightfully should be discounted and ignored. On this recording, Staier dusts off an Erard forte piano (1837, Pari...

Javier Perianes Blasco de Nebra Piano Sonatas (1750-1784) Harmonia Mundi Baroque/classical composer and keyboardist Blasco de Nebra is only the second obscure Spanish wunderkind that has come to my attention in the last 2 years. The first one was a promising 19th century Basque composer Juan Crisòstomo Arriaga who died at a young age. De Nebra produced 172 compositions, but only 30 survived. The Andalusian composer died at the age of 34, not unlike his contemporary Mozart. But while Mozart has been celebrated to the hilt and loved worldwide, de Nebra has barely emerged from the shadows of obscurity. Certainly not for lack of talent or vision. Pianist Javier Perianes, also an Andalusian, performs Keyboard Sonatas op. 1 (from Madrid) and sonatas and pastorelas from the Manuscript 2998 found in the archives of Montserrat. While the work would have originally been played on harpsichord and fortepiano, Perianes plays the sonatas on a contemporary piano giving these baroque pie...

Andras Schiff Ludwig Van Beethoven The Piano Sonatas Volume VII (Sonatas opp. 90,101 and 106) ECM Records Andras Schiff Ludwig Van Beethoven The Piano Sonatas Volume VIII (Sonatas 109, 110 & 111) ECM Records Hungarian concert pianist Andras Schiff took on the great task of recording all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in chronological order. The pianist completed the cycle with The Piano Sonatas Volume VII and Volume VIII . Now, while I did not travel the entire journey of the 32 sonata cycle (I only heard 5 of the 8 CDs), I still experienced quite an adventure. As you might imagine, Schiff embodied the Romantic Era composer since he was spending so much time with the sonatas and the composer. One read through the liner notes that accompany these recordings, reveals the deep and thoughtful, even heartfelt relationship that Schiff developed with Beethoven. He performs these sonatas from the inside out, which was something the late Canadian pianist Glenn Gould did...