Beethoven through the eyes of Liszt
Friday 14 February 2020
Enrico Pace & Nikola Meeuwsen piano
Beethoven wrote for eternity, for everyone yet for nobody. The fact that he was able to write such powerful and exceptionally revolutionary music despite the atrocious handicap of his deafness is simply astonishing.
PROGRAMME *
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (arr. for 2 pianos by Franz Liszt)
PROGRAMME NOTES
Liszt’s arrangement is like an X-ray of the score: it exposes the very skeleton of the symphony. Of course, Liszt was unable to include every note: it is a piano reduction, after all. Still, listeners who are familiar – even superficially – with Beethoven’s Ninth will hear many new things. A note played on the bassoon or the French horn can sound slightly muffled; when played on the piano such a tone comes much more to the foreground. You could say that listening to this version for two pianos will make you aware of what you have been ‘missing’. Liszt transformed the monumental score into a fascinating architectural work for four hands.
LISTEN
* Programmawijzigingen voorbehouden.
