The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: A good pandemic project for the Beethoven Year is to follow Boris Giltburg as he learns and posts all 32 piano sonatas in one year
3 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
There are a lot of ways that musicians are celebrating the Beethoven Year of 2020 – the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer (below).
One of the most interesting ways also makes for an engaging and ongoing coronavirus pandemic project.
The prize-winning Russian-Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg (below in a photo by Sasha Gusov) is learning all 32 piano sonatas in one year.
It is a formidable challenge, not only because most of the sonatas are technically and musically difficult, but also because the pianist says he has played only nine of the 32 sonatas before.
Giltburg’s videos feature not only fine playing and interpretations, but also a very readable and informative diary he writes that includes notes – also available in German on the website — about the sonatas and about what the process of learning and playing them has been like.
His approach works and makes you a vicarious participant in the major undertaking.
He posts performances of the sonatas every few weeks. He is learning and posting them in chronological order so you get a sense of the evolution. Giltburg is now up to Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1.
Here is some background about Giltburg from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Giltburg
And here is a link to more background at his personal website where you can also find information about his other recordings for Naxos (he is known for his Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Prokofiev) and concerts: https://borisgiltburg.com
But the heart of the project is at Beethoven32.com where you can find the sonatas starting from the first.
The Ear likes hearing them this way.
Listening to them one at a time and reading about them seems a less overwhelming way to become familiar with what is called “The New Testament” – as compared to the Old Testament of the 48 preludes and fugues in Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier.”
The Ear finds the playing first-rate and the sound quality excellent with great close-up videos of the keyboard and Giltberg’s playing.
Here is a link to the main website, which is easier than hunting for individual sonatas on YouTube: https://beethoven32.com
The Ear suggests starting at the bottom with Giltberg’s introduction and then working your way up one at a time, allowing time to appreciate both the music and his diary notes.
To get you started, here his introduction to the project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeBrn_kwvfg
And below is his performance the Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1.
Let us know what you think of Giltberg as a Beethoven interpreter and what you think of his sonata project.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AlexanderScriabin, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BorisGiltburg, #ChronologicalOrder, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzLiszt, #HomeWebsite, #IsraeliMusician, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #NaxosRecords, #NewTestament, #OldTestament, #PianoSonata, #Prize-Winning, #ProgramNotes, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #TheEar, #Well-TemperedClavier, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #YouTubevideo, 2020, Alexander Scriabin, anniversary, approach, Arts, audience, available, Bach, background, Beethoven, birth, blog, Boris Giltburg, challenge, challenging, chronological, Classical music, close-up, composer, Concert, coronavirus, covid, diary, difficult, excellent, Facebook, familiar, few, fine, first-rate, formidable, forward, Franz Liszt, fugue, German, Germany, Giltburg, hear, heart, home website, hunt, individual, informative, interesting, interpretation, interpreter, introduction, Israel, Israeli, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, learn, learning, like, link, listen, Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven, make, Music, musical, Musician, Naxos, Naxos Records, New Testament, notes, Old Testament, order, overwhelming, pandemic, participant, performance, performer, personal, Pianist, Piano, playing, post, posting, Prelude, process, project, Prokofiev, quality, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, readable, recording, Russia, Russian, Scrabin, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, Sonata, Sound, start, tag, technical, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Clavier, time, undertaking, vicarious, video, way, Website, week, Well-Tempered Clavier, Wikipedia, year, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | welltemperedear on What do you think of the… |
 | Scott on What do you think of the… |
| welltemperedear on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
 | bratschespeilerin on What do you think of the… |
 | MARVIN P WICKENS on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 