Maurizio Paciariello - Beethoven: Complete Pianoforte Sonatas, Vol. 4 (Opp. 101, 106, 109, 110 & 111) (2022)

The Piano Sonatawas composed between 1800 and 1801 around the same time of the First Symphony and published by Cappi in Vienna in 1802. Beethoven dedicated this work to his patron Karl von Lichnowsky. Named after its third movement “Marcia Funebre sulla morte di un eroe” (Funeral March on the Death of a Hero) it is one of the few cases in which the name was chosen by the author himself. Scholars made various assumptions, but the person Beethoven had in mind remains unknown, probably a mere literary device. The Sonata’s immediate inspiration was probably a visit to Vienna in 1800 by the German-born, London-based piano virtuoso Johann Baptist Cramer, whose playing of his own works and those of his teacher Muzio Clementi caused quite a storm. Beethoven felt the need to compete with this virtuosity and wrote a number of works that began to break away from the more classically oriented sonatas of the 1790s, towards the mature second-period style.

Track List:
CD1
01. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
02. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig
03. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll Rondo – Allegretto moderato
04. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101: IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit
05. Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": I. Allegro
06. Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": II. Scherzo. Assai vivace
07. Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": III. Adagio sostenuto. Appassionato e con molto sentimento
08. Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier": IV. Largo-Allegro risoluto

CD2
01. Piano Sonata No. 30, Op. 109: I. Vivace ma non troppo
02. Piano Sonata No. 30, Op. 109: II. Prestissimo
03. Piano Sonata No. 30, Op. 109: III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
04. Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110: I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
05. Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110: II. Allegro molto
06. Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110: III. Adagio ma non troppo-Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo
07. Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111: I. Maestoso-Allegro con brio ed appassionato
08. Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111: II. Arietta. Adagio molto semplice e cantabile