What makes a grand finale grand?
A grand finale can be combative and defiant, like the fugue from Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, especially when Claudio Arrau delves into the music, leaving no stone unturned. A grand finale can be a vast, rugged landscape, as in Charles Ives’ First Sonata, navigated by its premier explorer, William Masselos. In the capable hands of Leonard Pennario, the finale of Robert Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 1 runs wild yet never loses control.
Yet a finale also can be inwardly grand; listen to the desolate second movement of Janacek’s Sonata in the hands of this composer’s peerless exponent Rudolf Firkusny. By contrast, Schubert’s G Major Sonata D. 894 has a finale that is grand in scale, yet disarmingly lighthearted by way of Maria João Pires’ wonderfully characterized interpretation.
Join The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler for an evening of Grand Finales, on Episode No. 210 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award Winning program Between the Keys, this Tuesday July 2nd at 10:00 PM.
Between the Keys is proudly sponsored by Jacobs Music Company, and is an exclusive production of The Classical Network and WWFM.org