For his first releases on Marquis Classics, Stewart Goodyear recorded the complete piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, so moving on to the Diabelli Variations is a logical next step. Following his focused performances of the late sonatas, Goodyear's version of the Diabelli Variations shares much in common with them, especially in his strict attention to sharp rhythms and brisk tempos that bring this performance to a compact 47 minutes, fitting neatly on one CD. Yet the music never feels rushed, mainly because Goodyear's ...
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For his first releases on Marquis Classics, Stewart Goodyear recorded the complete piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, so moving on to the Diabelli Variations is a logical next step. Following his focused performances of the late sonatas, Goodyear's version of the Diabelli Variations shares much in common with them, especially in his strict attention to sharp rhythms and brisk tempos that bring this performance to a compact 47 minutes, fitting neatly on one CD. Yet the music never feels rushed, mainly because Goodyear's expressive playing allows for a variety of nuanced passages and inflections, but he never dwells on any idea too long and his rubato is carefully controlled. The overall impression is that Goodyear is in constant motion, exploring the variations with building excitement, and he seems to know that listeners' attention can wander unless the performance has high levels of energy and brilliance, which he provides in abundance. While this is not Beethoven for brooding Romantics who like...
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