Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor op. 27 No. 2

This recording features one of Beethoven's most popular piano pieces, the first movement of the “Moonlight Sonata.” It is performed here by the Austrian pianist and composer Winfried Wolf (1900–1982), who has fallen into obscurity in recent times. Having started his career as an international concert pianist in 1924, he began to devote more of his time to teaching from 1934 onwards. He was a professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, at the National Conservatory in Lisbon and, from 1961, at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, teaching students including Kurt Leimer and Filipe Pires. His maxim as a teacher was a quote attributed to Beethoven: “It is necessary to distinguish between psychological and physical impact.”

This audio sample comes from the opening section of Sonata op. 27 No. 2. Rather than starting with a quick first movement in sonata form, the work defies convention by starting with a slow opening movement in a unique form, written in the unusual key of C sharp major. Beethoven hints that he may have played fast and loose with convention by giving the piece the sub-title “quasi una fantasia” – “almost a fantasy.” The sonata is dedicated to Julie Guicciardi, who studied piano under Beethoven’s tutelage and with whom he was in love for a time. Her last residence was at Am Hof 5.
(Constanze Köhn)