Beethoven -- Sonata in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2

This is one of my favorite Beethoven sonatas, significantly smaller in scale than the mighty late works but more elegant IMO. The melodies have somewhat of a rustic flavor to them. The Scherzo is my particular favorite movement.

Comments welcome.

Joe

Beethoven - Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2, I: Allegro
Beethoven - Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2, II: Andante
Beethoven - Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2, III: Scherzo-Allegro assai

 

Hi Joe!

I just listened to your recording of op. 14/2, and I must say, I'm a bit disappointed. I know you're usually playing on a very high level, but this time it seems to me you were somehow careless.
As you asked for comments, I honestly want to say what I thought listening to this recording.
There are many staccato-quavers, especially in the second and third movement, which you play too long and not staccato at all (especially the ending of the second movement - a fermata on the last note is simply n o t indicated, and doesn't fit either). In the first movement, there are a some bars where you loose your tempo (e.g. 44 and 46) and some passages would require some additional practice (e.g. 107-114: left and right hand not together). The second movement has some crescendis which are not indicated, these rather disturb the indicated dynamics (e.g. bar 13-14). In the third movement you left out whole passages (bars 51-64 and 147-159) - maybe this was not careless and you have a different edition, but I found some more bars to play in that movement. Then there are many rests which you don't play, instead your quavers have hangovers.
I'm not saying you're playing bad: There are very few wrong notes (3rd movement, b. 73-76 l.h. and 105-107 were the only things I noticed), and your overall playing is very confident. I believe you have many interesting ideas for the interpretation of this sonata, but unfortunately there are too many things which distract me as a listener from noticing these ideas.
I know it's sometimes hard to listen to other peoples interpretations, and maybe I stick to too many of my habbits with this opus. But I hope in reviewing your recording (maybe with a Urtext-Edition) you'll find that there are still some things to work on.
Thanks for sharing! With best wishes

Jan

 

Hello Jan,

Thanks very much for the comments.

Oh well. As they say, you win some, you lose some.

I understand what you're saying here and how Beethoven marks it. However, I chose to do it differently. A staccato gesture for me loses the grandness of this movement. I did experiment with this and didn't like it. (Incidentally, I did also listen to your performance and this is one of the things I didn't like. A short staccato sounds dinky and prissy to me here.) Same thing with the fermata. Though many nowadays will disagree with me, I'm with the old school in that I don't think a performer needs to treat the score as a bible that can't be deviated from.

In 44 and 46, I deliberately do a ritard for dramatic purposes. I agree with you about 107-114 needing more work; with that leap it's difficult to make it all sound even.

Again, in the final performance, I don't think one needs to be constrained by the score. Those crescendi I do deliberately. A performer's individual interpretation is what makes playing the piano interesting. Incidentally, when I listen to others' playing I never listen with score; my attitude is that someone should convince me, whatever way they play it.

Oops, you're right. Thanks for pointing this out. I will correct this.


Thanks again for the comments.