Beethoven: Sonate Pathétique - Shuann Chai - Fortepiano - Live Concert - HD

Ludwig van Beethoven: Pianosonate no. 8 in c kl.t., op. 13 'Sonate Pathetique'
Shuann Chai: fortepiano (Rosenberger 1820)
Opgenomen in Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh in Utrecht op 3 oktober 2012

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Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano sonata no. 8 in c minor, op. 13
Shuann Chai: fortepiano (Rosenberger 1820)
Recorded at Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh Utrecht, on the 3rd of October 2012

[andymilsten]

Wonderful performance on this period piano! This piano was built in 1810 as someone said here in the comment section. So she is getting this big privilege to perform on this non-remake of a piano but rather one that was actually around during Beethoven’s day!

[kirbygmd]

The first movement is at 0:00, the second at 9:00 and the 3rd at 13:50

[Recordare]

She's her own musician, and she can play the piece however she wants. What's the point in negatively comparing her to other players?

"This player sucks. Listen to xxx play it, and try again." Really? Great advice to have such a narrow minded view of musical interpretation.

She played wonderfully, and I enjoyed the video :)

[TomBarrister]

Shuann is in an elite class in at least one way. She plays (or at least attempts to play) the mordents in the first movement as shakes (two sixteenth-notes followed by an eighth-note), rather than triplets. It's specified by several publishers, and Schirmer goes to some length about it in a footnote. Playing them as she does puts her in the rarified company of Arthur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz --- almost everybody else plays them as triplets.

[KarlUppianoKarlU]

Wow, this is my favorite rendition of my favorite sonata.

[melisapowell]

This music and this pianist's performance is the essence of Beethoven. Closing your eyes while playing a huge, black monstrosity will never be able to compete with the raw emotion and style of the fortepiano.

[nickigeni]

That was so freaking amazing...wow. How anyone can memorize this entire sonata, and not hit 1 wrong note is just phenomenal. Brava!

[louislebron]

@kyle hutching: that's not a giant mistake, it's improvisation. The performance practice of the day called for the pianist to improvise. Sadly, Nowaday clasical musicians are stuck on the music sheet while the art of improvisation has departed to jazz players only. I applaud Miss Schuan for being brave and take some risks in improvising.Lastly, these pianos don't have double escapement technologies, therefore fast repetitive notes can misfire.

[jochanaan]

Either she got better as she played, or I got more used to her playing. I felt she was a little lackluster in the first movement, less so in the second, but the finale was magnificent. And yes, I appreciate the little cadenza she added, just as most players in the early 19th century would have.

[luiskarl]

Forte piano Rosenberger of 200 years old ..fantastic!!

[Aiden]

Lovely playing and recording. Thank you for sharing this.

[dimattosdarabeca]

Good for playing and sharing. The piano has a excelent entonation. Congratulations.

[sebastianfernandezsoto]

Honestamente una de las mejores interpretaciones que he visto jamás! El sonido armonico que aporta el piano es de gran utilidad al momento de ejecutar los fortes y los pianos... simplemente me encanta

[Ciaran]

Let's see the critics play this on a period instrument and post a video.
oh wait, they can't.


sounds good to me! the fortepiano and modern piano are surprisingly different.

[vincenzopezzella]

BRAVA! Non ho mai sentito nulla di simile e credibile. Interpretazione che ci riporta gli echi del maestro e credo anche il suo suono. Beethoven le avrebbe baciato le mani.

[massipicun]

Rosenberger ..sublime.
Immenso BEETHOVEN

[euquiassilva]

Ei! folks. Ms Schuan gently told me this Rosenberger piano was built in 1810. In the last 200 years many things hapened in the technique of builting pianos. She is not playing on a Stainway nor a Bosendorfer, or a Fazzioli. She is making what she can with a very old instrument and she is doing it very well. Bravo miss Shuan, and thank you very much. Greetings from Brasil !!!

[theoa]

A bit different but well played, very stormy and moody as it should be.
I like it very much.

[natashaegelhoff]

I like this interpretation -- thank you, ARVO!

[GuglielmoEsposito]

The problem with today interpretation is that we have lost the way people used to perform pieces prior to the standardization of today.
Not all what is written on the score must be played the exact way. At the time people were supposed to improvise during performances and do much more wild things than we do today with our static way of performing only what is written on the score.
If all of us would start reading treatises of the time, everything would sound way better.