Lugansky - Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor (“Tempest“)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (“Tempest”) (1802) Nikolai Lugansky, 2021 From Mariinsky Theatre [0:00] I. Largo-Allegro - Dev. 4:31 - Recap. 6:15 [9:28] II. Adagio. - Recap. 12:52 [18:00] III. Allegretto - Dev. 20:53 - Recap. 22:44 - Coda 24:19 “ […] The final movement, allowing for no such let-up of forward thrust, moves inexorably in perpetual-motion fashion, gathering intensity from its oft-repeated opening motif (an austere three-shorts-and-a-long), and finally dissolving in tranquil, clear-eyed resignation. This is Beethoven’s only piano sonata in the key of D minor (the key of his Ninth Symphony), and the troubling ending in minor might be a confirmation of the composer’s frame of mind. In 1802, when he wrote the D-minor Sonata, awareness of his progressive and incurable deafness had sent him to the depths of despair, an abyss from which only his vast moral courage rescued him. Clearly, however, he was functioning on t