Ludwig van Beethoven, András Schiff

Ludwig van Beethoven's Diabelli Variations Op. 120, 33 variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, are one of the summits of the piano literature. After his cycle of the 32 sonatas, András Schiff recorded them twice for this double album, on two historical instruments. The first disc pairs them with the Sonata Op. 111, played on a Bechstein grand of 1921. The second plays them again on a Franz Brodmann fortepiano from around 1820, followed by the six Bagatelles Op. 126. The listener can compare two very different sound worlds, both far from the modern concert grand.

The Bechstein disc was recorded at the Auditorio of Radiotelevisione svizzera in Lugano, in collaboration with RSI Rete Due. The fortepiano disc comes from the chamber music hall of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. The sessions took place in July and December 2012, with Manfred Eicher producing and Stephan Schellmann as engineer. In his booklet note Schiff explains what he learned from Beethoven's original manuscript of the variations, long unknown and in the Beethoven-Haus collection since 2009. Further essays are by Michael Ladenburger and Paul Griffiths.

The programme is carefully built. The Sonata Op. 111 dates from 1821-22, and the variations, dedicated to Antonie Brentano, from 1819-23. Op. 111 ends on C, and Diabelli's waltz starts there, so the sonata leads straight into the theme. On the Brodmann the variations take on another character. In The Guardian, Andrew Clements described how Schiff uses its four pedals. The una corda thins the sound to a thread, the moderator veils the middle register and the bassoon stop adds a buzz in the bass. The Bagatelles of 1823-24, written just after the variations were finished, close the set.

Clements found the fortepiano version “the more remarkable” of the two. In the Sunday Times, Stephen Pettitt wrote that “each instrument shines its distinctive light on this music”. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times named it the standout Beethoven recording of the year. For Geoff Brown in The Times, the variations had never seemed so playful or so full of irony.

Double CD on ECM New Series, ECM New Series 2294/95, first released in September 2013.