Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Thirty-three variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120 (1823)
Paul Lewis (piano)
rec. December 2009, Teldex Studio, Berlin
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 902071 [52:46]
The British pianist, Paul Lewis, has already established a significant reputation
as one of the foremost Beethoven interpreters currently before the public.
His cycle of the complete piano sonatas, recorded between 2005 and 2007, is
widely regarded as one of the best in the catalogue and last year his recordings
of the five piano concertos were warmly received, here
and elsewhere. Now he has followed all these distinguished recordings by committing
Beethoven’s late and large-scale set of variations to disc.
In 1819 Anton Diabelli invited a number of composers, of whom Beethoven was
one, to compose one variation each on a waltz tune he had written. Beethoven,
who was working on the Missa Solemnis at the time, made some sketches
but, understandably, was preoccupied with bigger things and took the matter
no further. However, he didn’t forget about Diabelli’s challenge completely
and three years later, in 1822, he began to work on the idea in earnest. Diabelli’s
theme is an unassuming one and most composers might have got a few variations
out of it. However, once Beethoven’s imagination was fired he went to work
with a vengeance and eventually produced a set of no less than thirty-three
variations and a work that takes some fifty minutes to perform.
The result is a huge challenge to any pianist but Paul Lewis takes all the
difficulties in his stride, as you’d expect. At this level one pretty much
takes a flawless technique for granted and Lewis certainly has that but in
addition the player must imbue the music with light and shade and be fully
attentive to Beethoven’s dynamic markings and accents. Lewis does all of that
and, in addition, phrases the music imaginatively. He omits a handful of repeats
but these omissions are not especially consequential.
I don’t know on what piano Lewis plays – a Steinway, I suspect – but the instrument
has an excellent tone. In particular the bass end has a full, rich sound,
though the sound is never woolly. That bass firmness is noticeable, for example,
in the increasingly tempestuous Variation VII, which Lewis projects strongly
and positively. Very few of the variations are in a slow tempo and the energy
and rhythmic vitality that Lewis imparts to the quick music is admirable –
Variation XVII is a good example of this, as is Variation IX, which is played
in a resolute fashion, in accordance with the composer’s marking. But much
though I admire the way Lewis delivers the quicker music – his lightness of
touch in Variation II or his dexterity in Variation XXVII, for example – it’s
his way with the more thoughtful variations that impressed me most of all.
In Variation XIV, the first slow variation, he brings gravitas and poise.
Later, when Beethoven provides a brief moment of repose in Variation XX, the
slow-moving chords are expertly weighted. The gentle Fughetta, which is Variation
XXIV, finds Lewis voicing all the lines with great and very natural clarity.
His playing in this variation has a lovely limpid quality and his use of rubato
is particularly skilful and imaginative. Again, his delicacy in Variation
XXIX is admirable. Variation XXXI, the Largo, is outstanding. Here Lewis plays
Beethoven’s decorative writing in the right hand in a most expressive way,
placing the decorations beautifully. This variation has, perhaps, the deepest
music in the whole work and Lewis gets to the heart of the matter.
Beethoven uses Diabelli’s little waltz as the basis for a compositional tour
de force. The theme is the point of departure for much imaginative writing
yet, as with all good sets of variations, the listener can feel that the theme
remains ‘visible’ no matter where Beethoven’s imagination takes us. It seems
to me that Paul Lewis has the full measure of the work; Beethoven takes his
listener on something of a voyage of discovery and Lewis is a fine guide.
This very fine reading enhances still further Paul Lewis’s reputation as a
leading and thoughtful Beethoven interpreter. It’s a disc that fully lives
up to expectations.
John Quinn
see also review by Brian
Wilson
A very fine reading of the ‘Diabelli’ Variations, which enhances still further
Paul Lewis’s reputation as a leading Beethoven interpreter.