Dear friends, finally, after so much waiting, the moment has arrived. Tomorrow morning, at a quarter to five, we leave for Malpensa and then for Bonn-Cologne on a GermanWings flight. This evening Massimo Anfossi "Massimino" from the forum will sleep at my house, then rendezvous with Luigi Bellofatto in Milan. The concert will be held on Friday, in the concert hall right at the entrance of Beethoven's birthplace, Bonngasse 20, on the fortepiano (Hammerflügel) that belonged to Beethoven http://www.lvbeethoven.it/Avvenimenti/Beethoven-Avvenimenti-Concerto-Beethovenhaus.html
We will report to you every day on the site about this beautiful adventure.
Compliments go to Luigi Bellofatto who made it all possible, to Massimo Anfossi, our Massimino, to Michael Ladenburger, director of the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, and why not, also to my website www.lvbeethoven.it. Furthermore, I took advantage of the event to donate a contemporary key (1800-1810) to the BH for Beethoven's pendolina to replace the one lost (or stolen) after the fire about fifty years ago.
Echoing what Luigi said in the final presentation, I continue to wonder why Beethoven did not finish this potential gem?
Perhaps because it was already too innovative for the 1790s? It could be! However, we know well that our composer later revisited other pieces of his and... so why leave this one, which surely was worth much more?
There is probably no answer. There always remains, however, the consolation that we must be grateful to you three for having brought all of this to life!
I wondered the same thing after seeing the handwritten score several times; there are a few corrections and some variants, which, after discussing with Massimo, we decided to include in the score and play, thus making the performance different from previous ones. As I said, it should be understood as an incomplete sonata (I would say not a small Fantasy) that we can never know why Beethoven never resumed or published.
I must apologize for my speech; I must admit I got a little emotional and words sometimes escaped with some (unfortunately) errors, while also trying to express myself in a non-complex way to allow for translation into German.
On my part, I would first like to thank my dear friend Michael Ladenburger, director of the Beethoven-Haus, for accepting my request and allowing this concert, and for hosting me at his home for 3 days; to Armando, a very dear friend, for doing so much and for his website; and obviously to Massimo for playing perfectly before a larger audience than usual. I took the opportunity to do some research on Beethoven in Italy (a future study of mine) and scores of music dedicated to Beethoven, something interesting that we thought about studying and performing while we were in Bonn.
Your thanks are truly among the most appreciated! I know your position regarding reconstructions, but in effect, here we only operated by simply adding the passing chords that Beethoven did not write because he had simply already written them previously. Sonata or Fantasia? Sonata, because it follows sonata form, albeit in an unorthodox way. Fantasia, because the way of proceeding is effectively through linked elements (three "attacca", the theme returning in the third movement (not performed here), but it lacks that rhapsodic spirit that characterizes Op. 77, for example. In any case, our Massimo was truly brilliant playing first on the Broadwood and then on the Graf. Fortepianos are bastards; they have smaller keys and minimal excursion. You miss a distance and play the one next to it, and the result is devastating. Obviously, Massimo objects that his performance is stiff; I say that in the environmental conditions he was in, he achieved a heroic feat!
Your thanks are truly among the most welcome! I know your position regarding reconstructions, but in effect, here nothing was done other than simply adding the passing chords that Beethoven did not write because he had simply already written them previously.
In fact, my dear friends, beyond your commendable commitment, what I appreciated most was the willingness to give us a Beethoven — and what a Beethoven! — that is truly "unreleased" and above all substantially pure in what he composed.
I will say more: I often find myself listening to the entire mp3 of the Sonata from the site, and I find that it would not be scandalous at all but, absolutely pertinent, to also add what Beethoven sketched for the third movement: from my point of view, it is truly fascinating in its mystery, leaving us to imagine what could have come of it.
I hope you enjoy this small home recording of the third movement, exactly as it is written in the manuscript, along with the alternative sketches. http://www.lvbeethoven.it/Avvenimenti/Beethoven-Avvenimenti-Concerto-Beethovenhaus-video.html#Biamonti213 is certainly very fragmentary, even if the material can be manipulated. Willem has drawn from it that reconstruction which, however, presents many resolution issues. In fact, our dear Dutch friend sometimes exceeds in generosity and therefore many notes are added. It simply could not be done in a museum-like situation.
I believe, however, that, in its own small way, even this is..... a tiny WP!!
I listened to everything again! The first Mp3 in its entirety, Massimo Anfossi's interpretation and this latest gift of yours. What can I say? Everything fascinates me. And that last part...!!
