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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opp. 90, 101, 109 & 110
CAvi-music

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opp. 90, 101, 109 & 110

$19.99

Details

Composer
BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN
Artist
Dina Urgoskaja
Format
CD
Label
CAvi-music
Released
Mar 13, 2014
Catalog #
AVI 8553299
UPC
4260085532995

About



BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Nos. 27, 28, 30, 31 • Dina Ugorskaja (pn) • CAVI 8553299 (77:35)


Dina Ugorskaja, the daughter of the pianist Anatol Ugorski, is a Russian pianist and composer trained in Germany. Early in her career, she has already recorded Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” and op. 111 sonatas, the Chopin preludes, and a disc of Handel suites. The Sonata No. 27, the first of the 32 in which Beethoven uses German to indicate the movements’ tempo and character, is the piano work in which Beethoven’s late period begins, and Ugorskaja’s playing is fully alive to the quick changes of mood in its stark, febrile first movement, with extremely sensitive pacing of the rise and fall of each phrase, and careful weighing of tone. Her tempo for the second movement is on the slow side, but the melody is patiently shaped, as if sung, never in a hurry. This is a terrific performance of an elusive work.


Ugorskaja’s well-projected, unforced sound, and instinctively rhapsodic, though tasteful, responses to the music’s changes of character, are a good fit with the predominantly lyrical sonatas Nos. 30 and 31, though there’s real grandeur in her playing in the sections that need it. How beautifully she plays the right hand melody in No. 30’s third movement’s first variation, in which Beethoven uncannily anticipates the ornamented singing line of Chopin’s nocturnes, pieces that I’d love to hear her play. No. 31 receives a properly serious, thoughtfully savored reading, with highly expressive playing in the mystical latter sections of the piece. There are one or two moments in the first movement where Ugorskaja’s impulse to move the music forward detracts from the movement’s benign, stable character, but that’s a small quibble.


In op. 101 (Sonata No. 28), I was a little disappointed in her reading of the second movement, a tricky, fast march. In it, her espressivo approach, so winning in the sonata’s first movement, isn’t always rhythmically consistent enough in the repeated dotted rhythms. (Igor Levit’s splendid performance on a recent Sony disc has more speed and better control.) Nonetheless, Ugorskaja’s late Beethoven is cognizant of the sonatas’ details and structure, and manages to sound personally expressive without being self-indulgent. Cavi’s engineering captures the depth and variety of her splendid, “open” sound. Highly recommended.


FANFARE: Paul Orgel

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 I. Mit lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck 06:13
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Mit lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck
    Duration
    06:13
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  2. 2 II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen 08:01
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen
    Duration
    08:01
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  3. 3 I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung 04:40
    Track
    3
    Title
    I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
    Duration
    04:40
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  4. 4 II. Lebhaft. Marschmassig 06:43
    Track
    4
    Title
    II. Lebhaft. Marschmassig
    Duration
    06:43
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  5. 5 III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll 03:30
    Track
    5
    Title
    III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  6. 6 IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit 07:54
    Track
    6
    Title
    IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit
    Duration
    07:54
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  7. 7 I. Vivace ma non troppo 03:44
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. Vivace ma non troppo
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  8. 8 II. Prestissimo 02:19
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. Prestissimo
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  9. 9 III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung: Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo 13:23
    Track
    9
    Title
    III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung: Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
    Duration
    13:23
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  10. 10 I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo 07:20
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
    Duration
    07:20
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  11. 11 II. Allegro molto 02:19
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Allegro molto
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja
  12. 12 III. Adagio ma non troppo - Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo 11:25
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Adagio ma non troppo - Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo
    Duration
    11:25
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Dina Ugorskaja