This is the
second volume
in pianist
Cedric Tiberghien
's survey of
Beethoven
's variations for piano. The pieces here are mostly youthful ones, written while
was still a touring pianist.
composed a lot of variation sets, although he didn't always speak well of them later; when he heard someone playing the
32 Variations in C minor, WoO 80
, he asked who had written it, and then, learning that it was himself, exclaimed, "Oh,
, what an ass you were back then!" Yet, it is an entertainingly varied piece that is not unconnected to
's transcendent late variation style.
Tiberghien
also includes some rarely heard pieces, such as the
24 Variations on "Venni amore," WoO 65
, variations on
Rule, Britannia! (WoO 79)
, and
God Save the King (WoO 78)
, as well as assorted other early works. These often contain examples of
's rough humor, nicely caught by
, and, while not profound, are probably worth hearing more often. As on his
first volume
,
includes variations by other composers as intermezzi. This is the sense of the curious "Variation(s)" title; here, the works are more contemporary, and the ones by
John Cage
and
Morton Feldman
seem to come out of left field. The
performances, however, are solid, and one hopes that perhaps a third volume, containing the
Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
, is still on the way. The album made classical best-seller lists in early 2024. ~ James Manheim