Beethoven, Vol. 15: Diabelli Variations (2017)

One of the world's most prominent fortepianists, Ronald Brautigam has recorded much of the Classical and early Romantic repertoire for BIS, specializing in keyboard works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. As ambitious as his career has proved to be over three decades as a performer and recording artist, perhaps no single composition has been as challenging and rewarding for Brautigam as Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, a work that is most often performed on a concert grand piano, but which Brautigam has recorded ... Read More

One of the world's most prominent fortepianists, Ronald Brautigam has recorded much of the Classical and early Romantic repertoire for BIS, specializing in keyboard works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. As ambitious as his career has proved to be over three decades as a performer and recording artist, perhaps no single composition has been as challenging and rewarding for Brautigam as Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, a work that is most often performed on a concert grand piano, but which Brautigam has recorded on the smaller fortepiano. One might expect the music to be constrained by this choice of instrument, but Brautigam's playing pulls no punches, and the fortepiano -- a modern copy by Paul McNulty of a Conrad Graf instrument, ca. 1822, matching the period -- withstands the most forceful attacks and sounds clearly at the softest dynamics. The Diabelli Variations are more than a demonstration of the range and power of Beethoven's dynamics, however, and the true challenge lies in... Read Less