Beethoven : Sonata in F major, Op. 54
Beethoven : Sonata in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"
Liszt : Rigoletto, Paraphrase de concert
Liszt : "Miserere" du Trovatore
Liszt/Wagner : "O Star of eve" from Tannhäuser
Liszt/Wagner : Entry of the Guests from Tannhäuser
Liszt/Wagner : Elsa's Dream from Lohengrin
Liszt/Wagner : Isolde's "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde
Llyr Williams, piano
Beethoven's Op. 54 sonata is one of his enigmatic two-movement pieces, often overlooked sandwiched as it is between the "Waldstein" and the "Appassionata". It's a quirky piece, peculiarly backward-looking, its structure vaguely reminiscent of Scarlatti's two-movement sonatas, its sound, and particularly the courtly, even faintly pompous opening tempo di Minuetto, suggestive of Haydn. Then there is that odd second movement, a restless moto perpetuo, running round and round in circles. Llyr Williams approached this strange piece with grave courtesy, and a subtle hint of humour, the deliberately awkward writing, with its stabbing sforzando accents fully accepted and clearly delivered. It's a piece to unsettle, and force the listener's attention, a wake-up call for what is to follow.
What followed was the "Waldstein", and the very least of this performance was a dazzling display of virtuosity in the opening movement, to the extent that it provoked a spontaneous outburst of applause. Con brio it certainly was, the runs and arpeggios crystal clear and finely graded in dynamic terms - and too fast. It's a problem all pianists face with the "Waldstein"; the first movement is marked Allegro con brio, and the last is marked Allegretto - Prestissimo, which means, at least nominally, that the work should finish much faster than it began. Any interpreter has to make his or her own decisions as to how to handle that tempo relationship, and I felt that this could have been relaxed a little, although it was certainly impressive.
The second movement came with that stillness of time stopping, however, so characteristic of Beethoven, and so essential to get right in his music, followed by a final Rondo that was little short of sublime, a gleaming song presented almost dreamily at first, the melody floating effortlessly over the perfectly articulated scales and trills of the accompaniment. A sense of building excitement led seamlessly into the breathless, triumphant coda, where so often there's a jerk of gears changing. This was perfect, and astonishingly beautiful.
The last movement of the "Waldstein" makes liberal use of the "third hand" effect, which was something that emerged again, repeatedly, in Liszt's paraphrases and transcriptions. I make the differences because the Verdi-based pieces are original works, inspired by Verdi's music, whereas the Wagner pieces are much closer to the original, real transcriptions rather than reinterpretations. In either case, though, Williams played with a sweetness and richness of tone in the melodic lines that many a singer would sell his or her soul to achieve.
There was a real sense of the opera in all of these pieces, richly expressive with a wide dynamic range, the technical demands wholly integrated into the texture, and a final "Liebestod" delivered with an intensity that left the audience almost shocked at its conclusion. The Scriabin piece played as an encore - if you get through a recital in France without being asked for an encore, you know it's been a flop! - was a fascinating conclusion, structured almost identically to the "Liebestod", and with Scriabin's exaggerated harmonic language seemingly the logical successor to Wagner's barrier-breaking work, and a breathtaking display of virtuosity effortlessly worked into the musical whole.
[Next: 8th October]
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