Thursday 24, July - 20h - Opéra Berlioz / Le Corum

Aldo Ciccolini
Piano

Once again this year, Aldo Ciccolini honours the Festival with his presence and, true to himself, proposes a programme off the beaten path, combining Beethoven with Clementi, one of his most illustrious predecessors, and Czerny, his most brilliant and faithful student.
To be rediscovered at once! No, they were not mere exercise-makers! Beethoven would turn to his advantage the ardour, flashes and fits of anger that punctuate Clementi’s sonata, run through, moreover, by a dream (Adagio) in which lyricism and sensitivity work wonders. Meanwhile, he would bequeath to Czerny the recipe for this texture that he fashioned from ingredients taken from Haydn and Mozart.
The second part of the programme will be devoted to two of Beethoven’s most famous sonatas. The Sonata Op.27 no. 2, better known as the ‘Moonlight’, thus nicknamed by the poet Ludwig Rallstab, was called ‘Quasi una fantasia’ by the composer. The very strict form does not, however, exclude an inspiration that is quite free. But Beethoven wrote this sonata at a time when he was madly in love with its dedicatee, Giulietta Guicciardi, love inspiring music that initially flows fluid and continuous (Adagio sostenuto) before suddenly plunging into fantasy and good humour (Allegretto) and finally ending in a mad gallop.
Shortly thereafter, the Sonata Op.53 no. 21 ‘Waldstein’, named for its dedicatee, also dates from this period when Beethoven, having not yet finished testing the pianoforte, transformed the piano’s sound into a leading actor. That would perhaps explain the absence of really appealing themes in this score with the exception of that of the final rondo, based on a folk song. On the other hand, the authentic Beethoven title, ‘Grand Sonata for the Pianoforte’, accurately describes its turbulent power, expressive force and almost diabolical technical difficulties.

Catherine Michaud