Alexandre Tharaud: Beethoven Piano Sonatas

For his first album devoted entirely to Beethoven, Alexandre Tharaud has chosen the composer’s last three sonatas: No. 30 in E major, No. 31 in A flat major, and No. 32 in C minor. These formidable works were composed between 1820 and 1822, shortly before the Ninth Symphony, and belong to the ‘late period’ that produced such mighty landmarks as the Hammerklavier Sonata and the Missa solemnis. Tharaud explains that: “With his last three sonatas Beethoven brought his catalog of piano works to an end, but when I open the scores, I sense the piano-writing becoming more creative with every line, as if the composer were inventing the piano of the future. It feels as though this is a brand-new Beethoven.”