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 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