Your guide to classical music online

More Late Beethoven From A Young, Ripening Pianist

Jed Distler

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

In 2015 the 20-year-old Filippo Gorini gained international attention by winning the Telekom Beethoven Competition. He subsequently worked with Alfred Brendel and, in 2017, released his solo debut CD featuring Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Ambitious aspirations also characterize his follow-up Beethoven release.

In the Hammerklavier’s Allegro, Gorini opts for a basic tempo that comes close to Beethoven’s optimistic metronome marking, and he sticks with it, keeping the music’s headlong energy afloat while still paying heed to the gnarly voice-leading in the second subject and throughout the Fughetta (like his mentor Brendel, Gorini plays A-natural in measures 224-226 leading into the recapitulation, whereas Schnabel, Arrau, and Levit play the “inspired misprint” A-sharp).

Gorini launches into the Scherzo’s dotted motive with just enough angular bite, yet he slightly moons over the Trio’s cross-rhythmic phrases. His steady, patient pacing and excellent legato technique help sustain interest over the Adagio’s 20 minutes, although he doesn’t fully address the music’s dynamic contrasts and dramatic arc. Conversely, Gorini makes the most of the fourth-movement Largo introduction’s thematic allusions and silences. He effects a tremendous build-up into the fugue, which begins at a lithe and jazzy clip. However, Gorini falls into the trap that ensnares many young pianists in Op. 106: his tempos slow down and his textures grow thicker and more generalized as the counterpoint unfolds.

Gorini sets an appropriately stark and mysterious tone for Op. 111’s first-movement introduction, but is a bit square and unyielding in the Allegro. Similarly, he creates a hauntingly sustained mood in the Arietta theme and throughout the first two variations. However, his overly fast tempo for Variation 3 evens out the syncopated rhythms and lessens their relentless impact. For all of Gorini’s unquestionable potential in this repertoire, he’s still in the ripening stage.


Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Op. 106: Arrau (Philips); Perahia (DG), Op. 111: Fischer (Warner Classics); Pollini (DG)

  • BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN:
    Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier"); Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111

    Soloists: Filippo Gorini (piano)

  • Record Label: Alpha - 591
  • Medium: CD

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the