大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores Beethoven鈥檚 re-emergence from the depths of personal torment, and his obsession with two contrasting figures: Josephine von Brunswick and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed piano music in the form of themes and variations across his entire career - from his earliest published work to his late, titanic 鈥淒iabelli Variations鈥�, lasting nearly an hour. And Beethoven鈥檚 life can itself be seen as a set of variations on a theme: recurring episodes of unrequited love, artistic anguish, angry fallings-out and constant striving for the highest pinnacle of musical achievement. Yet Beethoven鈥檚 piano variations often lie in the shadow of his 32 great sonatas for the instrument. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right - shining a light on this remarkable corpus of work, as well another often-overlooked genre: his piano bagatelles.

Beethoven鈥檚 adoration of Napoleon Bonaparte - and his subsequent angry disavowal of him - has gone down in music history: the composer famously ripping out the dedication of his 鈥淓roica鈥� Symphony in fury at the news his freedom-fighting hero had declared himself Emperor. But the name 鈥淓roica鈥� is also applied to one of Beethoven鈥檚 greatest sets of variations, composed around the same time. Donald Macleod tells the story of their composition, as well as that of Beethoven鈥檚 unrequited love for his former pupil, Josephine von Brunswick.

Bagatelle in C Major, Woo 54 鈥淟ustig-Traurig鈥�
Ronald Brautigam piano

Clarinet Trio, Op 38 (after Septet, Op 20) (5th mvt)
Paul Meyer, clarinet
Claudio Boh贸rquez, cello
Eric Le Sage, piano

An die Hoffnung, Op 32
Hermann Prey, baritone
Leonard Hokanson, piano

Eroica Variations, Op 35
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

Triple Concerto in C Major, Op 56 (2nd and 3rd mvts)
Isabelle Faust, violin
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
Alexander Melnikov, piano
Freiburger Barockorchester
Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor

Producer: Steven Rajam