Winner of the prestigious Premio Venezia prize, Vincenzo Maltempo 'rides high among many young and gifted Italian pianists.' (Gramophone, January 2015). His recordings on Piano Classics have won critical acclaim for their technical finesse and musical sensitivity. His latest release is a timely one, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in Bonn with the two major variation sets and the ever-elusive, whimsical Bagatelles which have taxed the hands and imaginations of all the greatest pianists. All the works here derive ultimately from the composer's instincts as an improviser and thinker at the keyboard: playing continually with ideas both physical and intellectual, working them over and around the body of the instrument that was his own principal medium of expression. The Op. 34 variations marked a seachange in the composer's treatment of his form, sharing the expressive reach of his sonatas and concluding with an ambitious fugue. Even the Eroica Variations, however, give little notice of the visionary transformation wrought upon an upbeat but modest waltz, sent to him by his publisher Diabelli, in his final work in variation form. They occupied Beethoven on and off for five years, during which time he explored every possibility of the theme and of variation-form itself. The result is, in the words of Alfred Brendel, 'the greatest of all piano works.' Here and in the final Bagatelles we find Beethoven challenging even the outer limits of his own prodigious imagination as well as the fingers of his performers and the minds of his listeners. Amid the cavalcade of Beethoven releases in 2020, Maltempo's new album is a big event.

Tracklist:

Bagatelle, Op. 33: I. Andante Grazioso Quasi Allegretto
Bagatelle, Op. 33: II. Scherzo - Allegro
Bagatelle, Op. 33: III. Allegretto
Bagatelle, Op. 33: IV. Andante
Bagatelle, Op. 33: V. Allegro Ma Non Troppo
Bagatelle, Op. 33: VI. Allegretto Quasi Andante
Bagatelle, Op. 33: VII. Presto
Bagatelle, Op. 119: I. Allegretto
Bagatelle, Op. 119: II. Andante Con Moto
Bagatelle, Op. 119: III. À L'allamende
Bagatelle, Op. 119: IV. Andante Cantabile
Bagatelle, Op. 119: V. Risoluto
Bagatelle, Op. 119: VI. Andante - Allegretto
Bagatelle, Op. 119: VII. C Major
Bagatelle, Op. 119: VIII. Moderato Cantabile
Bagatelle, Op. 119: IX. Vivace Moderato
Bagatelle, Op. 119: X. Allegramente
Bagatelle, Op. 119: XI. Andante Ma Non Troppo
Bagatelle, Op. 126: I. Andante Con Moto, Cantabile E Con Piacevole
Bagatelle, Op. 126: II. Allegro
Bagatelle, Op. 126: III. Andante, Cantabile Ed Espressivo
Bagatelle, Op. 126: IV. Presto
Bagatelle, Op. 126: V. Quasi Allegretto
Bagatelle, Op. 126: VI. Presto - Andante Amabile E Con Moto
Six Variations, Op. 34: Variazioni
Rondò, Op. 129
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Theme. Vivace
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 1
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 2
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 3
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 4
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 5
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 6
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 7
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 8
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 9
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 10
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 11
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 12
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 13
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 14
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 15
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 16
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 17
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 18
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 19
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 20
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 21
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 22
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 23
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 24
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 25
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 26
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 27
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 28
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 29
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 30
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 31
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 32
Thirty-Three Variations On A Waltz By Diabelli, Op. 120: Variation 33
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Introduction, Allegro Vivace
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 1
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 2
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 3
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 4
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 5
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 6
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 7
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 8
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 9
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 10
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 11
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 12
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 13
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 14
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Variation 15
Eroica Variations, Op. 35: Finale (Alla Fuga), Allegro Con Brio

UPC: 5029365101813
Label: Piano Classics
Release Date: 5.1.20
Format: CD

Beethoven / Maltempo - Complete Bagatelles (CD)