Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 22 in F Major Op. 54

Description

Bookended by two famous sonatas, the Waldstein, Op. 53 and the Appassionata, Op. 57, the F-Major Sonata, Op. 54 has always lived in the shadows, regrettably. in this first large-scale two-movement sonata, Beethoven experiments with striking character contrasts in the first movement and a virtuosic perpetuum mobile duet in the second. in both interpretation and mastery of technical difficulties, this sonata therefore poses a considerable challenge for pianists and might have been avoided for this reason as well.

The sonata shares the fate of many early works by Beethoven in one respect: no autograph exists. Murray Perahia and Norbert Gertsch have thus only been able to examine an original edition as a source for this edition. As always with the new editions of Beethoven sonatas from Henle, Maestro Perahia also provides the fingerings – and his own commentary on the meaning of this sonata.