Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of classical and romantic repertoire, Imogen Cooper is internationally renowned for her virtuosity and lyricism.

Dame Imogen writes: ‘It has taken many years for me to perceive the last three sonatas by Beethoven as the evolving journey I now feel them to be. A combination of wariness of Op.109 and overawe of Op.111 kept me solely concentrated on Op.110, which I can hardly regret. Nor do I regret thereby coming late in life to Opp. 109 and 111. Having come to see the shortcomings of my perception as surmountable, I found that the joys and riches of these wonderful works presented themselves with much more vivid colours than had I tussled with them whilst I was tussling with myself. The case was, incidentally, similar with the “Diabelli” Variations, Op.120, which I finally approached and embraced in my sixties, with crystal clarity of intention, and unadulterated joy. Now it would be hard for me to play any of the last three sonatas alone, so potent is the journey from first to last. And how privileged my hands feel, having wondered and wandered in the heavenly heights of the last pages of Op.111, to travel down the keyboard and bring this astonishing last sonata, and indeed the whole body of thirty-two sonatas, to a close, with a quiet chord of C major – no long note value, no fermata. Just silence.’

‘Over many years, Imogen Cooper has proved herself to be an exemplary interpreter of the music of Beethoven, and this disc consolidates her reputation. As the pianist noted: “Each variation tells a whole story, and for all that some are connected in mood, it is no mean feat as a performer to respect the huge scope of Beethoven’s vision”.’ – Classical CD Choice (Diabelli Variations etc., CHAN20085)

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Sonata, Op. 109. Vivace ma non troppo - Adagio espressivo -
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Sonata, Op. 109. Prestissimo
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Sonata, Op. 109. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung
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Sonata, Op. 110. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
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Sonata, Op. 110. Allegro molto
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Sonata, Op. 110. Adagio ma non troppo - Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo
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Sonata, Op. 111. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato
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Sonata, Op. 111. Arietta. Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
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Bela Bartok: Dirge, Op. 9a No. 1, BB 58

Europadisc Review

My late father loved the music of Beethoven. Or, at least, the music of his middle, ‘Heroic’ period. But the miracles of Beethoven’s late style were lost on him. Even Schnabel’s recordings of the last piano sonatas (given to him as a present because they were made at around the time of Dad’s birth) flew right over his head. Imogen Cooper’s father, however, was none other than musicologist Martin Cooper, author of a famous 1970 tome entitled Beethoven: The Last Decade, 1817–1827. How curious, then, that Dame Imogen should delay tackling the last three sonatas until shortly before her recently announced retirement. Yet the sense of awe (and, perhaps, trepidation) at tackling this summit of the piano repertoire is surely understandable. And, in this case, it has certainly been worth the wait.

The ‘crystal clarity of intention, and unadulterated joy’ of which Cooper writes in her performer’s note to her new Chandos release of these works is apparent at every turn. She views the three works together as ‘telling a tale – except in the Arietta of Op. 111, when the tale is telling me...’, and her command of the musical arc, in each individual sonata as well as across all three, is powerfully evident. Her playing comes from a school of immensely thoughtful pianism, not least from her Viennese studies in her early twenties with Alfred Brendel, Paul Badura-Skoda and Jörg Demus. These are performances that are, in the best sense, unflashy, yet constantly alive both to the developmental trajectory of the music (its motifs, phrasing and prolific decoration), and its inner momentum. A fastidiousness in adhering so attentively to Beethoven’s dynamic indications might in other hands come across as dry. Yet the warm tone Cooper draws from the Steinway model D at Snape Maltings, and her avoidance of any distorting musical point-making, ensures that these are some of the most persuasive accounts to emerge from the ‘thoughtful’ tradition of Beethoven playing.

Cooper’s negotiation of the tempo changes in the first movement of the E major Sonata, op.109, and her deployment of subtle rubato and rhetorical emphases, are a lesson in itself. She never loses sight of the long line, yet each gesture and motif is shaped with the greatest sensitivity. The central Scherzo has drive without being pushed too hard, so that every note seems to register as the music unfolds. But – as the performer’s note makes clear – it is the concluding slow variations, with their gradual accumulation of emotional depth (what Cooper calls the ‘evolution of profundity’) that is the beating heart of this performance, and it unfolds with a lustrous glow at a tempo that feels unhurried yet never cloying.

The opening of the A flat Sonata, op.110, feels in this performance like a natural continuation from the last movement of its predecessor, its journeys into the instrument’s upper registers having a crystalline clarity and luminosity. The decorative flights of fancy are as perfectly integrated into the whole as one could wish. In the central Allegro molto, the temperamental outbursts have weight without over-forcefulness, while the trio section with its filigree right hand and punctuating cross-beats is perfectly contrasted. The mysterious closing bars pave the way for the heartfelt Arioso of the last movement, here given an achingly beautiful performance, its gentle momentum sustained by the pulsating harmonic support, yet with finely judged inflections of tempo. Rarely can the ensuing Fugue have emerged with such a feeling of perfect naturalness. The balance between the two sections, as they recur in intensified form, and especially the major-minor transformation of the Arioso, has a beatific radiance to it that is impossible to convey in mere words.

Much the same could be said of the great C minor Sonata, op.111. The rhetorical flourishes of the opening Maestoso, the withdrawal to a quieter dynamic, and the thrilling build-up to the fierce ensuing Allegro con brio are unfolded with a palpable sense of inevitability. Contrasts and inflections of tempo and dynamics are once again finely observed and shaped without feeling forced. The great closing Arietta, twice the length of the opening movement, really does feel like the summit of not just this work or even the trilogy, but of all thirty-one sonatas that have come before it. In Cooper’s hands it builds inexorably, and very much as if ‘the tale is telling me’. Yet at the same time there is a feeling that the performer is here ‘relay[ing] it further’, to us, and nowhere more than in the fragile tracery that lies at its heart, and that recurs briefly before the disarmingly simple end.

Can one follow that? Imogen Cooper thinks so. As a built-in encore, she plays the first of Béla Bartók’s Four Dirges, op.9a, BB58. It is a work whose spare opening seems to complement the close of op.111. The focused intensity with which it is played here is the most perfect justification, its sparse yet expressive textures serving as a tribute to the Viennese titan as well as a glance into the future.

There are many ways of performing Beethoven’s last three sonatas, and Imogen Cooper’s is but one. There is none of Schnabel’s impulsive risk-taking, nor of Pollini’s laser-like focus, yet the crucial litmus test is passed: throughout this performance there’s an unwavering sense of ‘rightness’. As it is unfolding, one feels not so much that there could be no other way as a sense of recognition: ‘Of course it should go like that!’, I found myself thinking many times while listening to the disc. How I wish my father could have heard this, and Dame Imogen’s too. Perhaps they can? I certainly hope so!

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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Beethoven - The Last Three Piano Sonatas

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