Pierre-Laurent Aimard - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 "Hammerklavier" & 15 Variations & Fugue "Eroica" (2021) [Hi-Res]

Irresistible and insurmontable challenge. After his acclaimed interpretation of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard records Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and "Eroica" Variations. The Hammerklavier Sonata is one of the pinnacles of Beethoven’s creative output, and arguably one of the highest mountains to climb for any pianist. To Aimard, it poses one of the most frightening tests of a performer’s life, but one that is as irresistible as it is insurmountable. The dazzling "Eroica" Variations are nicknamed after Beethoven’s iconoclastic Third Symphony, and employ the melody he would later use as the main theme of the symphony’s finale. Beethoven’s fondness for this melody is evident, as he also used it in his ballet music for The Creatures of Prometheus, as well as in the seventh of his 12 Contredanses.