Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120

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Lewis has the full measure of the work's epic scale, creating a real sense of cumulative growth as he navigates us through its extraordinary narrative...Unashamedly exploiting the warmth and... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2011, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 30th May 2011
Catalogue No: HMC902071
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Series: Paul Lewis Beethoven
Length: 52 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

30th May 2011
BBC Music Magazine

July 2011

Disc of the month

Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120

Work length52:31

$33.00

$42.90

$52.80

Paul Lewis

Thème. Vivace - Var. I. Alla Marcia maestoso

Track length2:27

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Var. II. Poco allegro

Track length0:58

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Var. III. L'istesso tempo

Track length1:24

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Var. IV. Un poco più vivace

Track length1:07

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Var. V. Allegro vivace

Track length0:56

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Var. VI. Allegro ma non troppo e serioso

Track length1:44

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Var. VII. Un poco più allegro

Track length1:18

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Var. VIII. Poco vivace

Track length1:36

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Var. IX. Allegro pesante e risoluto

Track length1:35

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Var. X. Presto

Track length0:39

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Var. XI. Allegretto

Track length1:10

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Var. XII. Un poco più moto

Track length0:51

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Var. XIII. Vivace

Track length1:02

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Var. XIV. Grave e maestoso

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Var. XV. Presto scherzando

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Var. XVI. Allegro

Track length0:58

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Var. XVII.

Track length1:05

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Var. XVIII. Poco moderato

Track length1:52

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Var. XIX. Presto

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Var. XX. Andante

Track length2:06

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Var. XXI. Allegro con brio - Meno allegro

Track length1:09

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Var. XXII. Allegro molto

Track length0:52

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Var. XXIII. Allegro assai

Track length0:47

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Var. XXIV - Fughetta. Andante

Track length2:59

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Var. XXV. Allegro

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Var. XXVI.

Track length1:09

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Var. XXVII. Vivace

Track length1:02

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Var. XXVIII. Allegro

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Var. XXIX. Adagio ma non troppo

Track length1:16

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Var. XXX. Andante, sempre cantabile

Track length1:51

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Var. XXXI. Largo, molto espressivo

Track length4:34

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Var. XXXII - Fuga. Allegro - Poco adagio

Track length2:53

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Var. XXXIII. Tempo di Menuetto moderato

Track length4:08

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Recording of the Week, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations from Paul Lewis

30th May 2011

Following his masterly traversals of the complete piano concertos and sonatas, the British pianist imbues the Diabelli Variations with humour, exuberance and poetic beauty in a recording which stands comparison with his mentor Alfred Brendel.

Published in June 1823 and dedicated to Antonie Brentano, the 33 Variations Op.120 were described by Diabelli himself as "a great and important masterpiece, worthy to be ranked with the imperishable creations of the old Classics [and to occupy] a place beside Sebastian Bach’s famous masterpieces of the same type". And indeed, Beethoven revolutionised the genre – but, paradoxically, by taking it into the unexpected regions of the bagatelle.

Between 2005 and 2007 Paul Lewis performed all the Beethoven piano sonatas on tour in the USA and Europe, in tandem with his complete recording of the cycle for harmonia mundi. This project earned him two Gramophone Awards in 2008: Recording of the Year and Best Instrumental Recording. In the summer of 2010 he became the first soloist to perform the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos at the BBC Proms in a single season. His studio recordings of the cycle with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jirí Belohlávek have since been acclaimed by the international press. From Autumn 2008 until the end of last year he immersed himself in performances of the Beethoven Sonatas, Diabellis and Concertos and there are few UK venues he did not appear in.

Reviews

July 2011

Lewis has the full measure of the work's epic scale, creating a real sense of cumulative growth as he navigates us through its extraordinary narrative...Unashamedly exploiting the warmth and power of the modern piano, Lewis marshals a wide dynamic range and employs a considerable variety of touch and timbre...[and] draws particular attention to the radical, almost modernistic nature of Beethoven's writing.

July 2011

Lewis tells us that the Diabellis are a set of variations like no other. He romps through the opening theme, Beethoven's 'sfz' left-hand asides articulated like raucous, tailgating trombones. Individual variations are masterfully controlled...but Lewis's concept of the whole - how Beethoven seeds ideas that blossom later - makes this performance especially cogent and satisfying.

12th June 2011

Nothing in music is more exhilarating than a good performance of the Diabelli Variations, and this one is exceptionally good — torrential but controlled, and intensely lyrical. Never has Beethoven’s monument to creative invention seemed less forbidding. In Lewis’s hands, it gives the sense — despite all its intellectual mastery — of being like a gigantic piece of improvisation...The disc is a delight.

2nd June 2011

The playing possesses all the dynamism and discretion, the insight and immediacy, that Lewis poured into that grand project of encompassing all 32 of the sonatas, and is essential listening...[Lewis] is a master of characterisation, pointing up Beethoven’s inventiveness as well as his architectural acumen, and playing with palpable concentration and, in the slower variations, with sublime intensity.

27th May 2011

Lewis’s interpretation mixes high drama and poetic aplomb — characteristics of a serious musician, flexing his muscles...Faced with Diabelli’s theme, many pianists stay content with a relatively uninflected reading but Lewis colours the notes with romantic panache, the left-hand bass strongly emphasised, the right-hand fingering almost hurtling, as if he’s panting to get to the real meat, the 33 variations.

Classical Review 27th June 2011

he is at his considerable best in those variants that promote grandeur, volatile outbursts, and depth of feeling...Lewis’s performance is superbly recorded (in Berlin’s Teldec Studio), the instrument captured with immediacy, the pianist’s dynamic panache and variety of touch faithfully preserved.

24th June 2011

Paul Lewis has the fingers and mind to cope with Beethoven’s undertaking, though he does so in a straight-spined way that emphasises earnestness at the expense of good humour and wit.

london24.com 17th June 2011

Of the many recordings that Beethoven’s exquisite variations have enjoyed over the years, few are as rich in nuance, nimbleness and sheer musical acumen as Paul Lewis’ already-celebrated reading, which must now count as definitive.

Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120

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Recording of the Week, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations from Paul Lewis

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