This week’s Music at Lunchtime concert was given by Form 4 pupil, Elsa, performing music for solo piano. She performed all four movements of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in F minor, op. 2 no. 1.
Elsa’s recital opened with the first movement, an exciting start with notes driving the melody, as if it wanted to take off in flight. Full of energy, there is a tense agitated feel throughout the movement. This portrays Beethoven’s love of exploiting the piano through sforzandos and Elsa performed this with flair. In contrast, the second movement has a highly ornamented lyrical feel, and her lightness of touch was very fitting. This was especially evident in the middle section of beautiful floating parallel thirds.
Moving onto the third movement, Elsa captured the feel of the menuetto with the melody passing between the left and the right hand with a melancholic feel. The fourth movement continued to show agitation with the relentless left-hand semiquavers, which gave Elsa’s technique a chance to shine, bringing the recital to a triumphant close.
Elsa performed this difficult programme with great musicality, and it was enjoyed by everyone in the audience.
The recording from today’s concert is available online here.
Next week’s ‘Music at Lunchtime’ concert will be a horn recital given by Form 7 pupil, Joshua.
