Tuesday 13 May 2008
Downloading a 1928 recording of Beethoven's "Ghost" piano trio (Op 70 No.1) recently, I was amazed to find I didn't already have a recording of it (though I do have a handful of "Archdukes"). Listening to the Ghost yesterday evening (Concertgebouw Trio), I concluded that -- as well as writing some of the greatest music ever written -- Beethoven did churn out a number of pot-boilers. His trios -- string or piano -- do not strike me as particularly imbued with genius. It is not surprising that I have not bought a Ghost in 50 years, nor that the trios seem, on the whole, to be somewhat neglected by the record companies. Compared with the piano trios of Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Ravel, et al, Beethoven here comes in very much as second best.
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2 comments:
Not only his piano trios,Harry. I can't stand his winds with piano pieces (boring!),many of his cello
sonatas and about half of his piano
pieces. And I don't like his v.c.
nor his triple concerto. He wrote
many great and many silly pieces.
"He wrote many great and many silly pieces". I can concur with this. There is one particular piano sonata by Beethoven I listened to some while back and said to myself: "I just can't stand this!" I tremble lest I come across it again. But most of the string quartets, many of the piano sonatas, and some of the symphonies ... that is another story.
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