More piano sonatas, this time performed by a different pianist from the previous CD.
Alan Weiss, is the pianist’s name.
Here are the sonatas he plays on today’s CD:
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor Op. 2
Right out of the chute, Piano Sonata No. 2 is a barn burner. It’s bold, confident, showy.
According to its entry on Wikipedia:
The Piano Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp minor, Op. 2 of Johannes Brahms was written in Hamburg, Germany in 1853, and published the year after. Despite being his second published work, it was actually composed before his first piano sonata, but was published later because Brahms recognized the importance of an inaugural publication and felt that the C major sonata was of higher quality. It was sent along with his first sonata to Breitkopf und Härtel with a letter of recommendation from Robert Schumann. Schumann had already praised Brahms enthusiastically, and the sonata shows signs of an effort to impress, with its technical demands and highly dramatic nature. It was dedicated to Clara Schumann.
If this is true, Brahms was 20 years old.
Incidentally, it’s worth nothing who Clara Schumann was. According to Continue reading
