Juilliard Piano Recital: Beethoven/Liszt

There was only one work on the program at Thursday evening's recital at Paul Hall - Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in D minor, Op. 125 as transcribed for two pianos by Franz Liszt in 1851.

The Ninth Symphony, known as the "Choral," is unquestionably one of the greatest works by Beethoven or any other composer.  It stands as a final affirmation of all that is beautiful and joyous by an artist who spent much of his life battling deafness and other afflictions.  I've always found the work inspirational and have gone to hear it performed whenever possible. This was the first time, though, I had had an opportunity to hear the transcription for two pianos.  I had not been sure beforehand that such an arrangement would be able to realize the full complexity of the piece, especially that of the final movement.  I need not have worried.  The two pianos were not only able to capture all the nuances of the music but were also fully capable of expressing the work's grandeur.

 Liszt took up the transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies for solo piano in 1838 when only 27 years old.  At that time he completed work on the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh symphonies. It wasn't until 1863, some 23 years after the publication of these arrangements, that Liszt began work of the remaining symphonies at the request of the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel. In the meantime, he had completed the transcription of the Ninth for two pianos.  The arrangement for solo piano gave him a great deal of difficulty.  According to the Wikipedia article, Liszt at one point claimed he had become "...convinced of the impossibility of making any pianoforte arrangement of [it]... that could in any way be... satisfactory."

This piece would present a challenge to any pair of pianists, no matter how experienced they might be.  Not only did it require constant coordination between the two players, but its extreme length (well over an hour) made it something of an endurance test as well.  DaHyun Chung and Hongsup Lee not only succeeded in their attempt but displayed such mastery that it's hard to believe they're still students.  Credit must also be given to the two great pianists who coached them, Jerome Lowenthal and Seymour Lipkin, who himself performed a late Beethoven piano work, the Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 at his recital in October.