East Neuk Festival: Leonskaja Plays Beethoven

Crail Church - 02/07/22

This recital appealed to me musically because I have recently been introduced to Beethoven’s last three piano Sonatas (Opus 109, 110 and 111) and had never heard them live. The opportunity to hear them performed by such an accomplished musician was one I relished. As an ordained Minister in the Church of Scotland, the setting of Crail Parish Church certainly made me feel at home, though the pews made for a slightly tougher ‘sit’ than the usual concert-hall experience these days! 

But on with the music! 

My love of classical music began with opera, and so I couldn’t help but conceive of this programme as akin to an opera in three acts, with each sonata an act in its own right. And sticking with the ‘opera’ overtones, Beethoven tells quite the story as the music unfolds. What is more, to my ears at least, Leonskaja is the expert storyteller.  

By this time in his life, as many readers will be aware, Beethoven was living with increasing deafness, and was in many respects a tortured soul. As Op. 109 opens, there is a sense that uncertainty is always around the corner. This is the beginning of a journey, but clearly alludes to where Beethoven had come from. As the second movement unfolded, I found myself wondering: ‘Is Beethoven looking back?’ For me, Leonskaja achieves a reflective mood here which is suggestive of this. For a moment, she is in playful mood. By the close of the sonata, we are not quite back to the uncertainty of the opening. There is a resolution, but both Beethoven and Leonskaja still leave room for a question mark. 

And so Act One comes to a close. 

With the Op. 110, the prevailing mood of uncertainty found in the earlier Sonata is never far away, although, imagining the music in pictorial terms, occasionally the sky cleared to reveal what I found myself calling, as I listened, “vistas of lyricism”. Once again, these are beautifully conveyed by Leonskaja. 

As I listened to the second movement, Leonskaja’s playing inspired me to wonder: “Does Beethoven have a ‘happier’ musical line in mind struggling to find expression?” All of this perhaps echoes the thoughts of Svend-McEwan Brown, who suggested in the program notes that Beethoven profoundly “explored a line of tension between the repose of lyricism and the vigour of contrapuntal forms.” 

Part-way through the fugue, Beethoven seems to “take a breath” before he once again returns to the mood of unease woven through much of this music. However, there are moments of light, and even humour, before it is all brought to a masterful resolution by Leonskaja in the final Allegro. 

Thus ends Act Two. 

As I took some notes during the performance, in response to Leonskaja’s interpretation of the first movement of Op. 111, I simply wrote down the word ‘Colossal’. Leonskaja’s playing here and throughout this Sonata simply defies analysis. The music itself (in the first movement) again never seems to settle, yet could it be the pinnacle of Beethoven’s achievements? 

Of all composers, Beethoven is perhaps the most revolutionary. Although hardly a new statement in relation to this musical genius, this is perhaps especially apparent in the third variation of the final movement of Op. 111. As I listened to this, I imagined that over a century later George Gershwin might well have approved – whilst tapping his feet to the rhythm of course! 

And so the drama draws to a conclusion. Act Three has ended, and Leonskaja takes her bows to the rapturous applause she so richly deserves. Had Beethoven not died at the age of 57, I wonder what might have come next for the sonata form. As it is, perhaps it is only fitting that the stupendous conclusion to Op.111 is what is left ringing in our ears.