Beethoven | Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata" | Barenboim

Christened the "Appassionata" by a later nineteenth-century publisher, the name has nevertheless stuck, redolent as it is of the intensely emotional quality of the Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57. Indeed, Beethoven would not compose again in this genre for four years. Barenboim pushes the piano to its limits in the first movement, which leads to a disarming middle movement: a series of variations. A virtuosic finale, with several written-out cadenzas, rounds out the work. The Grammy award-winning pianist Daniel Barenboim has been active on the concert stage since the age of seven, when he made his stage debut in his hometown of Buenos Aires. Well known for his work with the East-Western Divan Orchestra, a group of young Arab and Israeli musicians, he is currently the director of the Berlin State Opera, La Scala (Milan) and the Staatskapelle Berlin. Barenboim is described as "one of the few musicians in the world today who could accurately be describe as legendary".






At Palais Rasumofsky, Vienna, 1983-1984 Daniel Barenboim piano Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"

0:19 I. Allegro assai 11:08 II. Andante con moto 18:37 III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto