Solo piano recital and piano concerto recital

Includes recorded audio files in WAV and MP3 formats, 98:77 in lengthLudwig van Beethoven wrote his Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor (Op. 57) during the years 1803-1805. He dedicated this work to Count Franz von Brunzwick, the brother of Thereza Brunswick, a countess who was possibly the recipient of the famous "Immortal Beloved" letters. Beethoven wrote this sonata as he became resigned to his growing deafness, which also contributed to the tragic and deeply emotional nature of the work. The composer himself gave his opus 57 no title, but a publisher later named it Appassionata. It is interesting to note that in 1803, piano-forte technology was still developing rapidly. As instrument makers were eager to provide Beethoven with their newest creations, he acquired a more robust instrument than he had previously owned. In the Appassionata he puts this added dynamic range to good use, contrasting a somber touch with thundering chords. \ud The Appassionata has three movements: Allego Assai, Andante con moto and Allegro ma non troppo. The choice of F minor as the key is profound, as F was the lowest key on the Erard piano, which he had acquired in 1803. This dark, low tone figures prominently in the first movement, both in the mysterious opening theme and in the following contrasting figures. A triplet feel runs throughout, as the time signature is 12/8. The form of the movement features an extended development section that proceeds directly to the coda. \ud The second movement consists of a low, stately theme and four variations in Db major. Each variation is voiced progressively higher, until a grand, descending arpeggio leads back to the fourth variation. This movement is characterized by restrained nobility. In structure, the third movement follows without pause. In fact, Beethoven inserts a musical question mark here, choosing to attack the third movement without completing the final cadence of the second. The Emperor Concerto (Op. 73) also possesses this unusual feature, and was written approximately four years later. \ud It is in the third movement that the passion which has been building throughout the sonata is finally fully unleashed, growing in intensity like a storm. Beethoven returns to F minor once again, beginning at Allegro ma non troppo, and building in energy and emotion until the coda, where he jumps to Presto and the sonata ends with a scream of passion and pain, ending with a tonic minor chord. In the future, he would write only two more piano sonatas in a minor key, each of which consists of only two movements. In both cases, the first movement is in a minor key and the second shifts to major, perhaps showing the growing spiritual acceptance of his destiny. The Appassionata is truly a great work of genius. (See more in text.