Beethoven: Sonata No.23 in F minor, "Appassionata" (Pletnev, Gilels, Horowitz)

The Appassionata needs no introduction, and besides it’s impossible to explain everything significant about it here, so I’ll just point out a few relevant features (see below).

- The extraordinary expressiveness of the work. It was never played in Beethoven’s lifetime: critics found it “incomprehensibly abrupt and dark.”
- The stark minimalism of the 1st movement’s opening theme, which consists of an arpeggiated F minor chord followed immediately by the Neapolitan, Gb major.
- The importance of Neapolitan harmony to the entire work. (Note its repeated and dramatic use in the 3rd movement, and the transpositional opportunities it offers.)
- The high degree of similarity between the 1st and 2nd themes in the 1st movements (a big step away from the classical form)
- The way the 2nd theme of the 1st movement “absorbs” the tone of the 1st theme over the course of the 1st movement.
- The unorthodox modulation (in major thirds) in the development [3:30, and the preceding section] of the 1st movement (G# minor – E major -- E minor – implied C (minor) – implied Ab (major)).
- At the reintroduction the opening theme [5:36], the dramatic use of repeated Cs/Dbs to forestall a sense of resolution – the LH refuses to straightforwardly cohere with the established harmony.
- The fact that the expositions in the 1st and 3rd movements (both of which are in sonata form) are not repeated, and that, amazingly, in the 3rd Beethoven directs the performer to repeat instead the entire development and recapitulation (!)
- The integration of the “fate” theme/rhythm (Db-Db-Db-C) into the whole 1st movement, and the way it introduces the coda.
- The beautiful 2nd movement not really featuring a melody in the true sense (Ab-Bb-Ab-Bb-Ab-Ab-Ab, Db-Db-Db-Db-Db-C-Db), instead being driven almost purely by harmony. (This is especially clear in the 2nd variation.)
- The use of canonic imitation between the two hands in the 3rd movement (especially in the development. E.g.: [20:11]).
- The fact that the 2nd theme of the 3rd movement [19:58] is only introduced in the movement’s development section (which has to be repeated).
- The violent, magnificent coda. [24:44, 50:24, 1:14:00]

The three performances here are very different. Pletnev's has a sleek, precise brutality that is extremely effective. The contrasts in the first movement are lovingly delineated. The lightness he brings to the middle movement (listen out for the slight staccatos) is a lovely counterpoint to the tumult he creates in the third movement, which he takes relatively quickly while maintaining incredibly clarity.

Gilels takes a more leisurely tempo that allows all the detail to unfold without losing any momentum. His recording is extraordinarily rich and tender, with finely shaded dynamics and outbursts that are seamlessly integrated into the whole. There is a mysterious gracefulness to his performance of the last movement.

Horowitz's inclusion here might be a bit controversial, but it's a recording worth listening to. As he stated in the notes to his RCA LP, he sought to strip the first movement of all lyricism because "for me it is appassionata from first to last". The result is raw, explosive, jagged. Horowitz also points out that his choice of a relatively slow tempo in the last movement is deliberate, to bring out the roiling, ma non troppo quality of the music: you can hear the attacks as they happen, and some oft-overlooked detail emerges, especially in the LH. This is the archetypal anti-sentimental recording.

Pletnev
Movement I: 00:00
Movement II: 11:05
Movement III: 18:03

Gilels
Movement I: 25:40
Movement II: 36:48
Movement III: 43:19

Horowitz
Movement I: 51:20
Movement II: 1:00:55
Movement III: 1:06:50

Видео Beethoven: Sonata No.23 in F minor, "Appassionata" (Pletnev, Gilels, Horowitz) канала Ashish Xiangyi Kumar