BEETHOVEN TRILOGY 1: FANTASIA / See Siang Wong / Review

BEETHOVEN TRILOGY 1: FANTASIA

SEE SIANG WONG, Piano

with Wiener Singverein

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony / Leo Hussain

RCA Red Seal 19439800512 / TT: 61’02”

 

To commemorate the 250^th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Swiss-Chinese pianist See Siang Wong has released the first of three tributes focusing on the German composer’s lesser known piano music. Beethoven’s piano music can hardly be considered obscure these days, but Wong’s juxtaposition of the four works on this disc makes total sense. It is a celebration of the “fantasy form” or simply a free form unfettered by compositional constraints of the sonata form.  

 

This hour-long album opens ironically with the two Op.27 sonatas. Both carry the description Sonata quasi una fantasia, or “in the manner of a fantasy”. The better known is the so-called Moonlight Sonata (Op.27 No.2, in C sharp minor). Following the direction of senza sordino (without dampers), Wong steps on the sustaining pedal throughout the opening movement, creating the hazy, spectral and dream-like effect which publisher and poet Rellstab likened to “moonlight over Lake Lucerne”. The ferocity of its finale, performed with extreme vehemence by Wong, might have persuaded others to call it Sonata Romantique or Sonata Appassionata (thus predating Op.57).

 

The E flat major sonata (Op.27 No.1) has less fantastical elements but is unusual with its linked movements and marked mood transitions. A singular distinctive feature is the brief recollection of the slow movement’s theme near the end of the finale, a kind of reminiscence which Beethoven did not attempt in his earlier sonatas. He would do this again in the Op.110 sonata, and most famously included quotations of earlier movements in the Ode To Joy of the Ninth Symphony. Wong’s performance rightly brings out an aching sense of nostalgia.

 

Beethoven’s Fantasy Op.77 is without doubt his strangest piano piece, bringing the meaning of fantasy to nether reaches. Its apparent formlessness, elusive tonality and almost schizophrenic shifts (flights of fantasy being a most apt description) are never more apparent. The glissando-like descending scale at its outset, which punctuates the work, is unusual and unprecedented, later spoofed by Shostakovich in his First Piano Concerto. The banal melody which receives an equally banal short set of variations is also Rossinian in its sheer kookiness. Was this supposed to be a serious work or ein musikalische spass (a musical joke)? Wong milks it for what it is worth, with tongue lodged firmly in cheek.   

 

That ushers in the Choral Fantasy Op.80, another curious experiment but one that has become hugely popular. The piano plays unaccompanied for a long stretch, like an improvisation or a cadenza to some piano concerto, before orchestral strings surreptitiously joining in more than three minutes later. The chorus sings only in the work’s final four minutes. The main theme is a close first cousin to the Ode To Joy, often regarded as preparatory work for the Ninth Symphony’s finale. Now that would become Beethoven’s ultimate fantasy. Wong and the Austrian orchestral and choral forces give a masterly performance that lacks nothing in passion and fervour, comparable to some of the best on record (one thinks of Barenboim, Brendel, Kissin and Pollini).

 

Aided by an excellent interview article, Wong’s advocacy works wonders and this programme is a whole-heartedly recommended enterprise.