Quinto
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Apr 7, 2009
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Paul Lewis is nice, but his piano play does nothing for me..
What exactly is a "cadenza" for? My understanding is that a cadenza was a stretch of piano playing that was purely improvisatory -- so that the pianist could show his/her audience what s/he was "made of". Mozart and Beethoven used cadenzas to show off their keyboard prowess to the Viennese. Is that accurate?
How many of Mozart/Beethoven's cadenzas have actually survived on paper? Or were they done mostly "at the moment", on whim?
Very interesting question, but I know you know you are barking up the wrong tree for me to know!
What exactly is a "cadenza" for? My understanding is that a cadenza was a stretch of piano playing that was purely improvisatory -- so that the pianist could show his/her audience what s/he was "made of". Mozart and Beethoven used cadenzas to show off their keyboard prowess to the Viennese. Is that accurate?
How many of Mozart/Beethoven's cadenzas have actually survived on paper? Or were they done mostly "at the moment", on whim?
Ah, found some useful info here. Beeth did indeed write out cadenzas for his piano ctos.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/02/classical-cadenzas/35353/
To me the cadenza is great when the performer uses it to both show off some skills (that don't detract too much from seriousness) and to add his own take, maybe even a quirky one, on the content of the concerto. Violinists just defaulting to whatever Joachim cadenza doesn't really do much for me.
Apparently, Gould's Beethoven sonatas, and perhaps his Mozart sonatas too, were marked by his own "cadenzas", tempi, etc. I could be wrong, though. I just can't listen to his Mozart. And his Beeth tests my stamina. I guess I'm too conditioned to the likes of Brendel, Kempff, Arrau for the Beeth.
Apparently, Gould's Beethoven sonatas, and perhaps his Mozart sonatas too, were marked by his own "cadenzas", tempi, etc. I could be wrong, though. I just can't listen to his Mozart. And his Beeth tests my stamina. I guess I'm too conditioned to the likes of Brendel, Kempff, Arrau for the Beeth.
Gould did what Mozart and Beethoven did..play with creative freedom..petty you don't like it.. I think it can be refreshing