Imogen Cooper plays Beethoven at Tetbury Music Festival - Sublime
Imogen Cooper gave a wonderful recital of Beethoven's last three piano sonatas at Tetbury Music Festival yesterday evening. I doubt if any living pianist could perform these sublime compositions with greater authority or greater warmth and depth.
She has devoted her career to the classical repertoire and after one of her performances an audience always feels closer to understanding the music.
In the Sonata No 30 in E major, Opus 109, the opening movement conjured delicate, translucent, cantabile tones and created a sense of freshness, leading into an Adagio that seemed to be bathed in gentle sunlight. The Prestissimo was vigorous, powerful and full of conviction. The Andante fourth movement, with its stately theme and complex variations was played with deep insight and amazing dynamic range.
The following Sonata, No 31 in A-flat major, Opus 110 seems to start in a familiar mode then takes us into realms of mystery, and inscrutable sound- landscapes that seem to push the very limits of piano sonority. The jagged rhythms of the boisterous scherzo were played without inhibition. Then we had a masterly rendition of the following cerebral, contrapuntal movement. It is fugue with such a profuse and fertile invention we feel transported rather than confined. This is super-fugue.
Cooper's interpretation of the Sonata No 32 in C minor, Opus 111, was superb. After its arresting, disconcerting opening, the Allegro con Brio has one of Beethoven's most unforgettable themes, bounding like a tiger, whose ferocity Cooper did not spare us. The second theme seemed to rise out of depths of contemplation like a vision. The immortal Arietta, with its "Lebewohl" theme, spoke eloquently of wisdom, resignation and serenity. The melody is not merely varied, but transmogrified by alchemy, "into something rich and strange" - to quote one of Beethoven's favourite authors, Shakespeare. Imogen Cooper took us on this journey with technical mastery and unsurpassed insight.
The festival continues for the rest of this week.