Rodney Corkin:

>I'd like some opinions regarding period instrument performace of Classical
>period music, especially Beethoven.... I suggest a piano by Graf circa
>1820's if far more suitable for exploring the possiblities of Beethoven's
>piano music than a modern Steinway).

During Beethoven's career, piano design changed rapidly, so if what you
want is to hear his music the way he would have if his ears hadn't betrayed
him, you want to seek out performances on several different instruments.
In fact, one pianist--whose identity I forget--reported that some of the
early or middle sonatas made musical sense to him for the first time when
played on a succession of period instruments.  Beethoven's music kept
outgrowing his pianos (I seem to recall that he kept breaking them, in
fact; can someone confirm that?) and I believe that he was looking for a
lot of power in much of his music, so you want to hear a piano at least as
recent as his music.  The Hammerklavier probably calls for a piano beyond
any made in his lifetime.  Ditto for the Emperor Concerto.

The Fourth Piano Concerto and the Choral Fantasia I once heard on
a fortepiano played by Robert Levin with Christopher Hogwood, at an
historically informed recreation (by Early music Now in Milwaukee) of the
huge concert program at which Beethoven introduced these works as well as
the 5th & 6th Symphonies, as I recall around 1806 at the Theater an der
Wien.  (I reported on that concert in one of the first posts ever made to
this list.) The instrument sounded right to me in the Hall (Pabst Theater),
which seats about 1200-1500.  The size of the room of course makes a
difference in how a piano or instrumental ensemble will sound.  Beethoven
would typically have played in much smaller rooms.  Modern pianos and
modern orchestras were developed in part so that their sound would fill
concert halls of considerable size, so if you really want to get historical
performances you have to simulate an old space too.  Recordings are a whole
new dimension.

Personally, I prefer Beethoven's symphonies played by modern orchestras,
because even his early music is often forceful, as in those whiplash
chords in the 4th Symphony first movement, not to mention the 5th and
9th symphonies.  It was strange hearing the 5th at the special concert I
mentioned, though I'm glad I did.  The 6th, since it lyrical and quieter
except for the storm, had a clarity and lightness which I could appreciate
more easily, though I personally prefer a sound that is more full and lush,
probably because that is what I grew up with.

Jim Tobin