Michael writes:
If Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas are classical music's New Testament, Daniel Barenboim is turning us all into his disciples. Special seating has been installed for those queuing for returns, and the standing ovations are extraordinary: these things usually start with a few groupies, then others gradually haul themselves up, but with Barenboim, the whole hall is on its feet in a trice. And I can't recall a musical series with so many big- and small-screen stars attending night after night. This disarmingly modest man has become a cultural messiah.
Apart from the fact that I wouldn't really describe Barenboim as 'disarmingly modest' (having interviewed him a couple of times), what I can't quite get my head around is the idea that this is being regarded as something new. I learned all the Beethoven sonatas - by ear - as an insomniac teenage piano-nut with a turntable, headphones and the LPs of Barenboim's Complete Beethoven Sonatas on EMI, recorded back in the late 1960s. Our Danny was in his twenties. They are stupendous. When I wasn't listening to him, I was listening to Schnabel, who was also revelatory - but it was Barenboim who grabbed the imagination's heart-strings from note no.1; somehow one sensed his identification with every aspect of Beethoven, from the profound mysticism to the humour, from the personal tragedy to the great humanitarian idealism. And now, if Beethoven is the most idealistic composer who ever lived, he could have no better match than Barenboim.
If you can't get into the concerts, just have a listen to those discs.
UPDATE: Wednesday, 9.15am: Intermezzo offers some advice on how to (try to) get in.
4 comments:
My word, Jessica, you write bold words on here today. While hugely admiring of his work with the Divan Orchestra, e.g., I have never been an admirer of Barenboim at the piano though I continue to listen -- last week to a recital of Beethoven sonatas from Buenos Aires -- and remain open to what he has to say. To me, not a lot, but as you wrote in a post yesterday, chacun a son gout. Arrau greatly admired Barenboim, and he didn't admire many, and I greatly admire Arrau in certain phases and modes, which perhaps suggests that something may be escaping me. Charles Rosen, asked in an interview which of the great Beethoven interpreters he most admired, paid tribute to Schnabel, but then opted for Solomon and Serkin, in that order. (That struck me as interesting, for Solomon and Serkin were great friends and mutual admirers. Serkin used to ask his management to do their best to schedule his own concerts so he could attend Solomon's. They must have loved that!) I am with Rosen on this, but must add Kempff, both mono and stereo, and the earlier Arrau. And, of course, in recordings, one may be stronger in certain sonatas, another in others. And then there is Brendel, particularly in his first traversal for Vox/Turnabout. But for me, no, not Barenboim. It has been a while since we had an extended discussion on here, and I wonder if venturing into the very thorny thicket of pianists and Beethoven's sonatas will not start one today. Perhaps not, if MC is right and Barenboim "is turning us all into his disciples", though to me that's as daft as describing DB as "disarmingly modest".
I certainly wouldn't deny Barenboim's great artistry - and his first set of the Beethoven sonatas is an amazing bargain - but one wonders why there has to be so much hype and exaggerated praise from certain music critics nowadays. Do they feel they are fighting a lost cause, relegated as their write-ups are to the bottom of the list of music articles even in the leading papers?
Emlyn, you have a point there. Yes, music critics are definitely fighting a losing battle. What bothers me is not excessive praise but the kind of bilious grime that followed in the wake of Das Wunder der Heliane last year. Yes, it was a problematic performance of an almost-unperformable piece. No, that does not justify the critic of The Spectator using Nazi terminology about 'degenerecy' to damn a composer who was forced into exile by the Third Reich. That wasn't just about fighting a losing battle, that was revolting.
Well, having seen Barenboim several times in concert, though only once as a pianist, he is definitely not a modest man, unless perhaps it's with regard to bringing Beethoven to life. The one time I did see him in recital, he was absolutely marvelous, and ended with something like 5 encores. Little wonder that he'd sell out for this series of recitals. For comparison, Andras Schiff is doing his years-long cycle, in New York at Carnegie next season, among other places.
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