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"Part II: Stephan Möller reveals spirit of Beethoven, and indeed, of life itself in 32 sonata cycle "It was with great pleasure and no little awe that I attended each of the eight recitals in the Freehold, N.J., Downtown Concert Series (DCS) presentation of the 32 Piano Sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. The concerts ran from May 16 through 23, 2015, with one evening free, at least for the audience. (On that evening, the pianist, Stephan Möller, performed Beethoven’s monumental Hammerklavier - Sonata #29 in Carnegie Hall.) WWFM the Classical Network is occasionally broadcasting sonata movements from the DCS cycle on radio and at www.wwfm.org . My first “review” of this series appeared on this blog last week (see below), covering Sonatas #1 through 11. Today’s blog entry reflects on the performance of Sonatas #12 through 32. We hear about expression in music; but what is being expressed? For many, it is a musician’s idea of the music and frequently the musician’s own self image and ego, tightly packed with a lifetime of conditioning and assumptions. There is nothing wrong with musicians proactively expressing themselves through their music. Music is one of the greatest avenues for expression of the ego. But rare is the musician who steps back, completely at the service of the composer, and allows the creative genius to shine through. Such a musician is Stephan Möller. In an off-hand remark during the reception following the concert, the German pianist, now based in Vienna, mentioned that he had not previously played all 32 sonatas within a single week as a continuous cycle. This is truly extraordinary. For there is an irrepressible, interconnected momentum linking his performances, an organic force permeating each individual sonata and its relationship to those that precede and follow it. At the same time, the musician developed an intimate connection with the audience, a phenomenon that emerges in only the finest chamber ensembles and recitals. Truly, something rare and unique was unfolding on a simple church stage on the edge of a New Jersey farm community: Möller was allowing us to glimpse the mind and soul of Beethoven, as few musicians have revealed it. Throughout the series, Möller cut a dignified but accessible figure at the piano. There were none of the excessive theatrics some artists employ to mask their own lack of insight. Yes, here was a man who played music with his entire being, from thoughtful expression to abrupt gesture in concluding an agitated section, a portrait of absorption and service to the music, head to toe. Overall, Möller played with deep feeling and a kind of abandon that just borders on frenzy, then is softened with deliberation and poise. Surely, church acoustics and not exactly the world’s best piano were formidable challenges, but frankly, I never once thought about them until later, as an after-thought. Möller and Mark Hyczko, DCS Artistic Director, provided welcome commentary before and between sets each evening. Sonatas #12 through #32 include some of Beethoven’s most well-known works, those which we think of by name, including the Moonlight, the Hunt, the Waldstein, Appassionata, the Farewell, and the massive Hammerklavier. These 21 sonatas evolve from the emotional conflicts of the composer’s stormy middle period, including his Herculean struggle with the onset of deafness, to a period of dryness, legal disputes, and disinterest, and finally into the sublime revelation of the last sonatas, one might call them Enlightenment sonatas, named not for the political era which had ended, but after the awakening which is the goal of the world’s great spiritual traditions. As Möller pointed out in his short lecture on the last sonatas, they are life itself, emerging from stillness, existing for a brief while, and then returning to silence. There is nothing to add, he said: they are perfect. These are the closest to Beethoven we ever get, he continued, and while they are playing, “they lift us up to the sky.” While Möller performed from memory with fire, spirit, and a commanding tone, he was most communicative in Beethoven’s richly eloquent pauses and ritardandi. Many of the listeners filling the pews will take with them forever the final image of the pianist, a tear glistening on his cheek, his head bowed in silence long after the last note in the sonata series faded like the distant echo of a dream. " (Linda Holt. Classical Rave. Views and reviews of today's exciting classical sound and related arts activity. Mostly in the Philadelphia, Pa., and Princeton, N.J., USA, area, some in Vienna and beyond.) https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beethoven-klaviersonaten-piano/id308691940