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
Paul Lewis (piano) 
