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Reviews: Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31, Diabelli Variations - Sviatoslav Richter

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Review by JJ October 10, 2012 (3 of 6 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
The remarkable release of Richter on SACD from the Praga Digitals label continues with this third volume which includes two Beethoven scores that the Russian pianist was always able to transcend with the most inspired authority. Recorded in June 1965, the Sonata N°31 in A sharp major Op.110 was composed in 1821 and displays the composer’s last manner of writing. As Pierre-Emile Barbier writes, “Lyric serenity, willful robustness, and painful meditation resolve themselves in the most sparse and perfect sonorous organization, that of the fugue.” The thirty-three variations on a waltz theme by Diabelli Op.120 were written during the same period as the Ninth Symphony, from 1819 to 1823. “Insofar as melody and rhythm, the Diabelli theme is neither insignificant nor lacking in charm,” underlines the musicologist Marc Vignal, “and Beethoven himself could have written it with pride. But, it was as if, from this double point of view, the waltz in question didn’t exist…. .” Recorded in 1986 in Prague for the second time in his career, these latter find, via Richter’s fingers, singular and overwhelming inspiration. This limited-edition stereo SACD, remastered in DSD from the original tapes, is an instant treasure.

Jean-Jacques Millo
Translation Lawrence Schulman

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