For the first time today I listened to pianist Joanna Sochacka and I liked her playing a lot. Particularly her adherence to dynamics adds a lot to her performance of Beethoven’s “Tempest”sonata.
The “Tempest Sonata” was conceived when Beethoven was agonizing over his increasing deafness. It was obvious to him that his illness was getting worse and total silence was his fate.
It was in this period that Beethoven composed the “Tempest Sonata.” It is beautifully abstract and emotionally powerful. The first movement giving us the tragedy of Beethoven’s plight.
The second movement is slow and moving, but with a shortened sonata form, a cavatina. Here you can imagine the composer’s own take on his funeral with ruffles and flourishes.
The mood of tragedy is finally broken in the third movement, and here Beethoven breaks free with dance-like rondo marked molto perpetual, which has an energy and defiance that we recognize in the mature and confident master.
Here is a recording of Joanna Sochacka performing the “Tempest” sonata by Beethoven:
