Finnish pianist Antti Siirala has performed Beethoven's sonatas both in groups and in the whole cycle, gaining a reputation for restrained, subtle performances. Here, in Beethoven's three concluding works in the piano sonata genre, he offers quiet, graceful readings that take small liberties with tempo at unexpected times. His playing has the virtue of being thought through afresh, and individual listeners' mileage may vary. To these ears, Siirala's approach works best in the Piano Sonata No. 31 in A major, Op. 110, where ...
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Finnish pianist Antti Siirala has performed Beethoven's sonatas both in groups and in the whole cycle, gaining a reputation for restrained, subtle performances. Here, in Beethoven's three concluding works in the piano sonata genre, he offers quiet, graceful readings that take small liberties with tempo at unexpected times. His playing has the virtue of being thought through afresh, and individual listeners' mileage may vary. To these ears, Siirala's approach works best in the Piano Sonata No. 31 in A major, Op. 110, where his constantly shifting first movement creates a good and unusual balance with the final fugue. It works least well in the Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, where the detailed early variations in the finale do not build up to the needed payoff. Just as with the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven attempted in these sonatas to push his instrument to and even a little beyond its limits, and this aspect is lost in Siirala's underpowered reading. He is in no way lacking in technical...
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