Vladimir Ashkenazy: Beethoven - Piano Sonata Opus 106 (Hammerklavier)

Live recording from 1980
Vladimir Ashkenazy - piano
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29 Opus 106 (Hammerklavier)
0:19 Allegro
11:00 Scherzo: Assai vivace
13:52 Adagio sostenuto
34:34 Introduzione: Largo...Allegro - Fuga: Allegro risoluto
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[@joshuafruend3348]

My first time listening to the whole of the Hammerklavier... I’m speechless and mesmerized! And today we celebrate 250 years of Beethoven. What a gift he has been and will continue to be for our world! Indeed, what a powerful and personal interpretation by the great Vladimir Ashkenazy! I’m never disappointed by his playing.

[@AkimboCorndogs]

Congratulations! I’m here for his birthday too! This piece has been my anchor through many tough times, it’s beyond genius and beyond beautiful... I can’t imagine my life without it. May you listen to it many more times and find a special kind of joy in it!

[@joshuafruend3348]

@@AkimboCorndogs I am glad to hear that this piece has helped you! Thanks for the kind remarks and wishes!

[@iguarni]

We're in front of two geniuses. The very best is the Composer the second one is Vladimir Ashkenazy.

[@oi.meunomeejaoram6214]

iguarni isso ai corno

[@djmotise]

That is correct. The composer always come first. Thank you.

[@timothythorne9464]

darren motise and what a composer! This is such a brilliant interpretation of the master's greatest sonata. I believe somewhere out there Herr Beethoven is listening to this magnificent work with sheer delight!

[@dufasaurjoe2899]

There would not be any Beethoven Sonatas and no Vladimir Ashkenazy piano recordings if it were not for Bartolomeo Cristofori who invented the piano as well as the genius' of the inventors of the pre piano instruments as well as all the great masters who helped in improving the piano through the ages.

[@MathieuPrevot]

VA does not provide yet what Beethoven wanted. Stephan Möller does a more faithfull interpretation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGLYeH1_atmchK8

[@willemboone7912]

Amazing concentration! I was fortunate enough to hear him play this live in 1980!

[@JoePalau]

Willem Boone I heard him live at Cornell in the mid 70’s. The power of his concentration and intelligence in his playing were breathtaking. Honestly, I have not been to a recital since of such intensity - it to mention beauty and insight. He brought the entire hall into his musical imagination. Unforgettable performance. Chopin and Scriabin. Powerful, brilliant, ....

[@thenomad4606]

You are incredibly lucky.

[@berace48]

¡Qué envidia... de la buena, claro!

[@amber40494]

I heard him in phoenix in late 70s. Intense and intelligent playing !

[@stevenchen995]

wow you're old lol

[@MsTommy38]

Grandioso, potente, Ashkenazy un suono come scolpito sul marmo a creare una meravigliosa scultura.

[@yeganehdana9049]

One of the most difficult piece of piano concert. Love it

[@karlbaker8]

41:15 Simply incredible, Ashkenazy grows an extra 4 pairs of hands just to be able to hit all the notes

[@MiScusi69]

LOL

[@Ivan_1791]

Lmao.

[@ZKLofiTone]

bruhhhh

[@donaldalbano6484]

This is an outstanding performance of possibly the most amazing piece of music for piano ever, composed by, who else, the maestro, Beethoven.

[@bendominintz401]

A true servant of the composer. Wonderfully insightful playing.

[@smitlag]

That Fugue is such a beast. In a way you almost hear the Grosse Fuge in the dissonances and shrillness of his trills. There are parts of that where you are play ascending and decending scales with one hand at the same time. Such a great master of the instrument!

[@timothythorne9464]

Don Smith that fugue is impossible! I've learned to play the first three movements (not very well) but that last movement is a killer.

[@Aidan_Yoon]

@@timothythorne9464I was listening to it not watching, and couldn't believe it was played by only two hands.

[@johnbennett6327]

Probably the greatest single fugue ever written No disrespect to Bach.

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

Askenazy became an icon. With his white collar and all.. I got to know him because I spent lots of money on Sibelius records he conducted with the philharmonia, which dragged me through my teenage years against all ods. He feels like a distant uncle to me. He's probably a man of exceptional greatnes. At least to me he is.

[@playtimehulot7383]

You can hear it clearly: He loves the second movement so much and he can play it so well. Fabulous!! Incredible!

[@yondertz]

Flawless, as usual. He explained the piece to us. Thank you, Sir Vladimir Ashkenazy! Thank you, Master Ludwig van Beethoven!

[@user-yl1cq5ey1v]

間違いなく天才だ。この方は、歴史上最高か？ピアノ自身が奏でている。音が声になっている。大半の人がピアノを泣かせているのに、ピアノが喜んで奏でている。すごいです。

[@liszt111]

I do enjoy Ashkenazy's Beethoven, very rhythmic and clear.

[@kathleenkrynauw9632]

liszt111 a

[@lucaanzalone4031]

Uno dei pochi a suonare il terzo movimento con la giusta poesia e con un perfetto rubato, senza rovinare stupidamente i passaggi più belli affrettandoli, per amore di “originalità”.

[@camilloflaim8933]

Bravo Vladimir , eseguendo le 70 pagine a memoria hai dato la prova di essere un grande pianista.

[@voraciousreader3341]

The last movement is so fugal in parts it almost could be from the “Art of Fugue.” The color is so dense, and yet I can hear every voice, just amazing, Maestro Ashkenazy!

[@eoinoconnell185]

I lack a true love of classical music, but can recognise genius when I see (or hear) it. Always an absolute pleasure to experience the works of such people.

[@amber40494]

I love classical music so much, probably because I heard my mother playing the piano from my childhood.

[@bycuritiba]

@@amber40494 so do i, probably because my mom always played classical music when i was a kid, i really want to relearn the piano

[@keithjohnson5874]

I've always loved his recording of this.

[@ulfwernernielsen6708]

That was even his debut as a Beethoven interpreter on gramophone. He played it in Copenhagen in 1967 .

[@Szpzer]

Such a relief to hear him play the Hammerklavier Sonata after Yuja Wang! She is a piano wizard but doesn't understand much of Beethoven, in my opinion.

[@meredith218461]

Ashkenazy in his heyday as pianist would make circles around Yuga Wang. Yuga Wang is enormously gifted pianistically speaking, however in my opinion she will never achieve Ashkenazy's artistic perceptiveness. in the Hammerklavier she simply plays the notes, albeit extremely competently.

[@solbriller1]

Try listening to Mélodie Zhao. She is a genuous and recorded all the Beethoven sonatas in the age of 19 as one of the best vesions ever. And recorded the 24 Chopin Etudes in an age of 13!! Also in a VERY good version. She is now 22 years old living in Switzerland, still studying. Pianist of tomorrow

[@mckavitt13]

Johannes Ostenfeld-Rosenthal Thank you for the tip. Will seek her out.

[@EmptyVee00000]

Johannes Ostenfeld-Rosenthal, Zhao plays very similarly to Ashkenazy, almost as if she had used his interpretation as a model. Quite excellent playing from her.

[@MegaPianogenius]

Johannes Ostenfeld-Rosenthal Hi I've listened to her but just a beginner compared to Ashkenazy. Marc andre hamelin is probably best pianist today

[@user-vu5uo9xv5k]

Потрясающе, сильно, ярко, проникновенно, ГЕНИАЛЬНО!!!!!!

[@fredhoupt4078]

Superb. As good as it gets. This piece, so much can and has been said about it. A quantum leap forward in Beethoven's output. It truly stands like Mt. Everest over the whole of the 19'th century. Everything else seems smaller by comparison. He has created a new language and has extended and stretched musical architecture into new patterns that will inform composition for another hundred years. Not a pretty piece, as Schiff says. But on a scale that is symphonic in scope, it has no rivals.

[@amber40494]

A bit of an exaggeration

[@fredhoupt4078]

@@amber40494 perhaps but that music was so unique and on such a huge scale. It was like his Grosse Fuge, a trailblazing expression, a new musical language. For me it cast a shadow over all the keyboard works of Mozart and Haydn.

[@vittoriomarano8230]

@@fredhoupt4078 .. ...really...on Mozart?😅

[@fredhoupt4078]

@@vittoriomarano8230 yes, in my opinion. There is nothing in all of Mozart or Haydn's keyboard works that are on the same level as the Hammer. That's my view.

[@vittoriomarano8230]

@@fredhoupt4078 ..of course. Points of view... about technic ...and only after....about beauty.

[@astridkleinsprokkelhorst2299]

never heard it play like this..... magnificent

[@mdlouie]

Wonderful. Appreciating that camera angle that lets me study his technique a little bit!

[@fe12rrps]

Both Ashkenazy and Kempff's performance of the Hammerklavier are amazing in how they play with cantabile. Too many interpretations of this work are little more than chord bashing. And the third movement here is simply amazing.

[@valerieheinderyckx4506]

Prodigieux...et passionnant. ❤

[@roberto38766]

Ashkenazy é genial e incrível! Obrigado pela postagem!

[@lourak613]

Ashkenazy is one of very few pianist who almost makes me hear some harmonic and structural coherence in the fugue. We owe it to Beethoven to endure his angry rant after having given us so much divinely inspired music.

[@samueldipre1873]

never thought of it that way. whether it's correct or not, that is a beautiful thought.

[@mairaleikarte43]

Try it at 0.75x speed haha

[@tyrrelllox7392]

There is much beauty in the fugue.

[@brianvanderspuy4514]

One has to admit: that fugue isn't exactly New Age music... 🙂

[@marksmith3947]

Murray Perahia has the best rendition of the fugue I have heard

[@Okoteiru23]

Yes, two geniuses !!

[@oi.meunomeejaoram6214]

Way Stein who you talking to?

[@BulentBasaran]

Thank you for posting! Love this music. Especially the third movement. How full of emotion. Doesn't it make you feel and share his pain? Did you know that you had such empathy?

[@timothythorne9464]

Bulent Basaran that third movement is the most sublime utterance in the whole library of music for the piano.

[@jans5331]

Brilliant performance.

[@nicolaeanton5760]

An infinity of happiness!

[@robertobaroffio2391]

La più grande 106 che abbia mai sentita Capolavoro

[@Inspiracion36075]

Es una de las obras mas dificiles y complejas de beethoven...un reto aterrador para cualquier intérprete...y aqui el señor Ashkenazy lo hizo en forma magistral ..muchos👏

[@marisaurruti4053]

Hace 25 años vi un documental de Beethoven por Peter Ustinov, en donde aparecía el maestro Ashkenazy tocando el Scherzo. Ahora finalmente pude ver la Sonata completa.

[@LuisGonzalez-pw6jy]

Yo Tambien!

[@user-vu5uo9xv5k]

Браво, Володя!!!

[@filibertopierami6892]

Esecuzione semplicemente stupenda .....

[@FrostDirt]

One of the foremost criterion when I assess whether I like an interpretation or not is how the performer handle the opening theme. Ashkenazy did it really well here! Though I suggest everyone to also check out Igor Levit's interpretation, the opening is the most thunderous interpretation I've heard.

[@briancho8656]

Outstanding.

[@user-nk2ni8ue5m]

I've just swapped pianists. I was listening to Mr Brendels performance, and now I'm listening to Mr Ashkenazy... just to see how he plays the wickedly difficult 4th movement... and THAT monster fugue.

[@user-nk2ni8ue5m]

Very impressive. Imagine, to have to memorise this... then play it with not one wrong note. Daunting !

[@goktugblack]

22:35 EVERY pianist in the world should watch this section and learn how to use rubato to amazing effect. Many "famous" pianists rush this section (which is L E G A T O) like a maniac... Ashkenazy's touch here second to none. Even surpasses Richter IMHO.

[@voraciousreader3341]

I’m with you! I don’t get the worship Richter receives, at all, but that just demonstrates the subjectivity of likes and dislikes. It drives me crazy when somebody writes that their favorite is _THE BEST WHO EVER PLAYED,_ I’d strangle them if I could, lol! So I appreciate that about your comment, as well. I can hear music in the background anywhere and I immediately know when it’s Ashkenazy, I can just hear it. Wonderful varieties of touch, and I love his musical intelligence, his ideas.

[@AdemHasani]

This is incredible!

[@metteholm4833]

This work certainly sets Beethoven far ahead of his own time in many ways - and the fugue indeed sounds modern.

[@chickenflavor9880]

I don't get this piece

[@amber40494]

Beethoven really experimented in late sonatas and he was almost completely deaf.

[@metteholm4833]

@@amber40494 Yes, and some think, that he wrote as he did, because, he was forgetting sound! By no means! His inner ear worked perfect. He forgot nothing - and he was thinking far ahead of his time.

[@amber40494]

@@metteholm4833 using long pedals and more dissonant harmonies possibly helped to feel vibrations of piano and who knows maybe he had some small amount of hearing left?

[@metteholm4833]

@@amber40494 That seems to be a subject of discussion.

[@simonsuenderhauf6138]

It's wonderfoul

[@tontokurt]

This is so good!

[@user-wp9yb6vr1j]

ピアノ曲の範疇を超えた楽想の大きさに感服　!!! かつてメンデルスゾーンはベートーヴェンの交響曲をピアノアレンジ してます。 逆にこの曲をオーケストレーションアレンジしたものがあれば是非 拝聴したい。

[@johnsocrates4496]

Magnificent!

[@rmorfinq]

GREAT!!!

[@debussychopin2766]

I never understood musically the hammerklavier sonata. But I've listened to it many times.

[@alvarito45]

Which other composer could ever create an Adagio Sostenuto more intense than this?? OMG listen with closed eyes the incredible notes sucesion mainly when the crescendo begins. In the highest!!!

[@timothythorne9464]

Alvaro García that slow movement is the crowning glory of this work and surpasses even the finest character pieces of Chopin- the ballads, nocturnes, sonatas, etc in sheer heartfelt eloquence. It is timeless music that is wonderfully romantic, yet thoroughly classical in its structure and control.

[@beatrizlejarza8694]

La música clásica es el lenguaje con que el Infinito se comunica con el mundo . Gracias❤!

[@user-wo4lv8pq9t]

公明新聞にこの曲の記事が載っていたので来てみました。この手の音楽は全く無知ですが、演奏が何か凄く難しそうですね! たまにはクラッシックも良いですね。

[@BarroqueSpirit]

En la Sonata Hammerklavier, Beethoven viaja por el espacio interno, como él sabía hacer con sus y nuestras emociones, y cruza el Océano Atlántico para percibir el sentimiento del folclore Argentino, dando sobradas muestra de un milagro al componer tanto un "Aire de Carnavalito" y también, en otro momento de la obra, dejar nacer y relucir un sentimiento similar al de la Soledad de los "Gauchos de la Pampa Argentina". A su vez en el movimiento lento hay una cita del 2° mov del Concierto para violín en Mi Mayor de Bach, cuando en un momento "se hace la luz" en una sección, y también un adelanto del genial Chopin. A pesar de tanta exploración del alma humana, siempre está la esencia de Beethoven, el Rey de los Sentimientos, el Rey de la Música. En el final del tercer moviento, Beethoven nos saluda desde el cielo, se despide de nosotros para siempre de la manera más tierna y amable! Gracias Genio! ¡Qué versión, por favor! Me llevó hasta las lágrimas más sentidas. El 4° mov es la "resurrección" de Beethoven y su homenaje a la gran Música del Gran Bach, sus últimos esfuerzos en esta vida terrena. Su paseo coronado y laureado por sí mismo hacia sí mismo, premio que ningún otro mortal o Dios podría darle mejor que él mismo al haber elegido ser Músico contra todo destino. Es Beethoven triunfando una vez más sobre toda dificultad. No hubo derrota alguna en la vida de este Gigante! Gracias Beethoven!!! Gracias Vladimir Ashkenazy!!! dos Genios totales!!!! Este video es un momento único en la Historia de la Humanidad!!! Increible, Insuperable, de lo mejor del Universo!!! Gracias!!! Thanks to Christopher Nupen Films!!!

[@user-ip4wc5kw6z]

his interpretation is moderate rational clear exact deep

[@PartySpock]

In the slow third movement i hear already Chopin👍

[@orfeo117]

Una obra del GRAN LUDWIG que SOLAMENTE debe apreciarsela en VIVO.Toda grabación(respetables todas)no permite percibir los efectos orquestales que todo interprete debe "extraerle"al piano... De todos modos,aplausos al pianista!!!!!!

[@natkernell1438]

From what I hear, for this and the other late sonatas you need the shoulders of an inside linebacker, including the moves, and the fingers of a safecracker. I keep coming back to this reading.

[@Numberonesorabjifan]

41:14 you gave me a heart attack cuz I was wearing my new headphones and thought that they were broken lol

[@michaelwasserhaas7828]

einfach grossartig

[@haruki31717]

この頃のアシュケナージは音色が多彩で技術も最高だった ＣＤも愛聴しています

[@friedrich1012]

Busoni decia que la vida es demasiado corta para aprender esa sonata endiablada. Askenazy genial.

[@Kartendorf]

24:54 onwards is just beautiful

[@leonardosaezruz326]

Grandioso.

[@arturofabianzeballos844]

Impresionante pianista Beethoveniano... Lo masssss Nikolaievsky dedicada a vos

[@arturofabianzeballos844]

Braviiiissssiiiimoooooo

[@thenomad4606]

Russia and China both produce the greatest piano players living today. I'm amazed at their skill. Truly an inspiration, even if you're not a pianist yourself, given their hard work and dedication.

[@dorothyflanagan9535]

Discipline

[@raffitorossian6994]

A GIANT MAESTRO...!

[@danal81]

Very interesting interpretation! Voice leading and dialogues between left and right hand. I only wish he put more emphasis on the culmination in the development section.

[@voraciousreader3341]

It’s his to play as he likes, and his vision is so clear and whole, just amazing! So don’t be silly! Or upload your version and show everyone how much better you play it.

[@danal81]

@@voraciousreader3341 and it's my full unquestionable right say what I like or dislike in his interpretation. And no, I don't have to “upload my version” to be able to criticize a world-recognized pianist whose profession is to play for broad audience. So next time, try not to post dumb comments because such comments can easily be refuted. Only authoritarian personalities, who feel they have to robotically respect and enforce perceived authorities can come up with such a silly, silly reaction to a perfectly normal and valid criticism of someone’s performance.

[@BRNRDNCK]

@@voraciousreader3341What an asinine thing to say.

[@simonprecheurllarena]

Beethoven's first real romantic work, in my opinion

[@timothythorne9464]

Simón Prêcheur Llarena it's interesting you say that. Charles Rosen, a noted Beethoven scholar, felt otherwise. He described early works, like Sonata Opus 2, no 3 and the opus 7 as "proto-romantic" for their interesting modulations to submediants and subdominants and compared early Beethoven to Weber, Hummel, late Clementi, etc., composers who were more inclined toward the Romantic movement. Conversely he noted opus 106 as a reversion to an expanded, severe Classical style and particularly applied that to the lengthy final fugue.

[@schubertuk]

For me - it is the 2nd movement of Opus 10, no 3 - Sonata in D-Major which is the first time I hear the romantic voice from any composer. I actually find the Hammerklavier more rigorously classical in comparison. But then it depends what you mean by romantic? If it is not the connection with literature and poetry, it - for me - is the way a piece is coloured. Where here, in the Hammerkalvier - not a note is wasted as mere colour, it is pure classicism, the working out of the themes with a god-like logic, distilled to a concentrate not even in imagined in Mozart or Haydn's wildest dreams. And that distillation packs an emotional punch like no other.

[@yusukeundisolde]

この曲って、ベートーベンの赤裸々な日記を読んでいる気持ちになるから、ひとりでじっくり聞きたい。

[@cantkeepitin]

Ashkenazy live is always better than in studio. I know only one exeption which is his Kreutzer sonata with Perlman. THE reference.

[@schubertuk]

I so glad you mentioned that recording - also my favourite. I also rate his recording of Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy higher than any other recording of it - but it is very difficult to find these days.

[@bruceweaver1518]

Even the Master's piano compositions are filled with sonorities and melodies that would have blown the Orchestra Halls away. If only he had orchestrated these gems!

[@richardhauser7567]

Ashkenazys Interpretation des Schlußsatzes wird auch in 50 Jahren weiter bestehen, zeitlos klar nicht von dieser Welt Dr.Hauser

[@dustinlaferney3160]

Playing the fuge with this level of artistry in front of a live audience is a tremendous achievement for mankind. His hands are so steady. Andras Schiff's (whom I admire greatly) fingers tremble and he is sweating profusely when playing Goldberg variations live

[@amber40494]

I think we idolize these magnificent works, audiences and performers alike, which puts alot of pressure on performers!

[@voraciousreader3341]

Schiff’s fingers don’t shake from nerves....it’s from extreme mental and physical effort! Ashkenazy is just a freak of nature, and his complete understanding and grasp of anything he plays is just tremendous! And Glenn Gould doesn’t shake a bit when he plays the Goldberg variations live, or the Art of Fugue, either....he’s the only pianist who plays Bach with complete control of the resonating strings, so the counterpoint never gets muddy for an instant. I know he studied Bach on the organ as a young man, and he said that was when he fell in love with his music; I’ve always wonder if it was that training which informed the way he played Bach on piano. Martha Argerich is another...such incredible poise, grasp, technique!

[@99Grigor]

Not the best fugue I've ever heard however what is amazing is to watch someone perform this unbelievable sonata live and virtually note-perfect. I mean really??

[@EmptyVee00000]

Best fugue I have ever heard; such incredible energy and direction.

[@hansmoerkerk3803]

Hans Moerkerk What a blessing to see and listen to this fantastic pianist and harmonic person. Hopefully we can enjoy him for another 80 years. Compared to the 'china virus' pianoplayers like Lang Lang and other hysterics, this music as it should be played

[@steveegallo3384]

Speaking of Lang-Lang, his Haydn is superb and his Rakhmaninov Concerto #2 RIGHT FROM THE OPENING CHORDS surpasses even the giant Richter

[@Szpzer]

I don't like the racist tone in your voice. Music is about love and passion, not about hate.

[@hymnodyhands]

The bigotry and anti-human rhetoric, sir... counting on others to play fair and not inquire into the last 80 years of your family name and assume some very nasty things about you... you wouldn't enjoy getting that hate back, so consider your ways...

[@richardhauser7567]

Ashkenazys Interpretation des Schlußsatzes wird auch in 50 Jahren weiter bestehen, klar struktuiert, zeitlos, nicht von dieser Welt Dr.Hauser

[@amg2u]

What a remarkably modern feel. I understand the piece is lauded as among the greatest of sonata. However, despite Ashkenazy's vigorous and technically brilliant execution, I found myself too much in my head. Given the time of night, a not too orderly place to be. I'll revisit in time, or perhaps listen to another interpretation, see if my taste matures.

[@didier3858]

Feel the same.

[@voraciousreader3341]

I studied Bach on the organ, flute, and voice in college, just for the fun of it, for 5 years, and having an understanding of fugue really helps with this piece, as the last movement is really like pieces in the “Art of Fugue.” It’s a lot, very dense, I know, but Ashkenazy and Glenn Gould and Martha Argerich are so clear in the way you can hear every voice, they make everything they play so clear. But I’ve literally never been able to have music as a background thing, my brain won’t allow it. I was just trying to play solitaire as I listened to this, and Ashkenazy and Beethoven wouldn’t even let me do that! Since I’m 58, I don’t imagine it’s ever going to change!

[@EmptyVee00000]

I do not think it is among the greatest of the Beethoven Sonatas. Op.109 is, for me, the greatest.

[@iksralquyuud]

You've got to listen to Gilels" rendering of this titanic of all sonatas. Also there is Richter's and more recently Levit's.

[@vghjndghj]

My favourite version is Arrau's..... what do you think of it ?? Greetings from France

[@cantkeepitin]

Pollini.

[@swilkobarfingtoniii1642]

Alfred Brendel and Annie Fischer stand out for me. I do love Arrau's playing though, especially his interpretation of the "Appasionata" and "The Hunter." I count Arrau in my Top 5 for my favorite all time players along with Michelangelli, Glen Gould, Horowitz and Kissin.

[@amber40494]

I like Rudolph Serkins Hammerklavier, even in the plodding parts, just because every note is a shrine to Beethoven!

[@gerardvreeswijk840]

Gilels?

[@shah144]

barrenboim?

[@philosophyprof4999]

This is as good as ANY studio recording, maybe better.

[@bruceb2088]

Spock is one hell of a pianist

[@maratom34]

So is Captain Kirk.

[@dmsnch]

Bruce B If you’re going to be silly then it’s definitely the second Doctor.

[@happypiano4810]

@@dmsnch When I was watching this, I was like “Wow, never knew Patrick Troughton could play the piano” 🤣

[@dmsnch]

@@happypiano4810 "Yes, it is a big one, Jamie..."

[@maldicientin]

It's already too late for Dustin Hoffman to play Ashkenazy in a biopic....

[@phillipbailey70]

I wonder if anyone other than myself will ever visit this due to reading "The Black Cloud" by Fred Hoyle... time will tell... :)

[@TheKFFowler]

An unfortunate glitch around the 41:15 mark. Not a serious impairment, but nothing should be allowed to mar this performance.

[@giancarlofilacchione7371]

Finale che fa il paio con l'op.134. Io non suonare, ma ognuno di questi suoni mi risulta comprensibile.

[@hghan]

와

[@prof.jasonsaid2718]

This piano sonata opus 106 is the summit of all piano composition since and till now where the other piano works that follows by the master has left this earthy summit to a new world that only the great Beethoven has uncover and invite us those who have none materialistic and universal love to enter Beethoven's world .... since then music became greater than philosophy and deeper than religion... without sectarian dogma.... Ahh Beethoven 🎗

[@mikec2250]

Hyperbole much.

[@dominiquegautier1932]

une sonate qui laisse pantois et pantelant... une musique visionnaire : William Blake en musique...

[@nilsholgersson6893]

Das ist zu grob !!!

[@dexterroble6930]

When doctor who plays hammerklavier

[@davidmoreau5247]

Ashkenazi's attack on the keys is too incisive for my taste....but maybe LvB would have approved...I prefer a much broader evenly mellow tone, especially in the bass....don't forget it was LvBs trying out the newly expanded reaches of the keyboard

[@ipuntoepasta]

13:54 - 14:15

[@tashwhimpey8114]

0:18

[@pianini704]

5:40

[@adrianasabato9329]

13:54 14:15

[@henryzhang2053]

37:02 fugue start…

[@user-nk2ni8ue5m]

Every pianist aspires to be able to play this. To play it to perfection you need to be extraordinarily gifted. Imagine, not one wrong note must be hit. How challenging is this fugue !

[@classicalmusic4027]

26:56

[@LaurentPingaultLyon]

Artistic appreciation being subjective, I must confess I prefer Yuja Wang's interpretation. I'm not able to explain why, because I don't have any musical background. but even eyes wide shut, I can feel that she plays with ease and happiness, and this is contagious. She never transmits any negative emotion like stress, anger, sadness, boredom, etc. Only joy, fun, passion, peace and light. With Yuja, time is suspended, you never look at your watch.

[@EmptyVee00000]

Laurent Pingault Beethoven’s music is not about ease and happiness. Ashkenazy never transmits any negative emotion unless, of course, that it be in the music itself, in which case it becomes necessary. Music can contain anger, stress, and sadness, but not boredom.

[@Szpzer]

Beethovens music is very complex and a struggle of thoughts and emotions. What I like is that you hear Beethovens struggle in Ashkenazy's performance. When it is played too 'easily' because of your fabulous skills, you neglect that aspect of Beethoven in my opinion.

[@bigbosssauce7]

Those aren't the only emotions in the music though.

[@bthvnyt]

That's right Mr Spock hammer the hell outta those keys. Beethoven wrote this to challenge the piano makers. What a great piano work and performance. M Spock showed he was more than a calculating machine :)

[@Davidfooterman]

Just came from listening to Valentina Lisitsa...this is so much better!

[@neilford99]

She's all fingers and no brain.

[@iksralquyuud]

I would suggest contrasting his interpretation with Richter's, Gilels' and more recently, Levit's.