Beethoven: Sonata No.2 in A Major, Op.2 No.2 (Blechacz, Kovacevich, Pletnev)

The general impression of the Op.2 No.2 is that it is a lithe, graceful, often lyrical thing. This belies, however, its radical (even parodic) tendencies, and huge technical difficulty: it’s clear that B. was determined to outdo his predecessors early on, and this sonata is already well beyond Mozart and Haydn. The most striking fact feature of this sonata is its way with key: it changes in unexpected and often extremely modern-sounding ways: see what happens in the second theme group at 00:47, where it moves in intervals of a minor third, the use of C and (extended) F major in the development of the 1st movement, Bb in the 2nd (11:45), G# min in the 3rd (14:16), and F Bb major in the last section of the 4th. It’s incredible that something so graceful moves with such modulatory aggressiveness, but the colour B. generates with these sorts of shifts shows why the Romantics couldn’t get enough of their modulations to bVII or bVI or III. There’s also the textures B. deploys here, which were previously unheard