Frederic Lamond (1868-1948): Beethoven - Sonata no.31 (2/4)

Frederic Lamond was another of Liszt's pupils from the 1880s. He was born in Glasgow, like his fellow student Eugen d'Albert. Unlike his fellow Liszt students who made records, Lamond made a speciality in the music of Beethoven (with an almost equal enthuisiam for Brahms), and recorded most of the piano sonatas. For around 50 years he was regarded as the greatest interpreter of Beethoven's piano music, and before Schnabel made his complete recording of the sonatas, Lamond's records were the benchmark.

Unlike the more reserved and rather more cerebral Schnabel, Lamond tended towards a rather gruff, masculine and definitely emotive view of Beethoven (a tendency he seems to share with d'Albert judging by the few recordings that survive of him). This probably reflects the approach taken by Liszt (who, let us not forget, met Beethoven as a child, and who was taught by Beethoven's pupil, Czerny).

For some reason, his records fell out of favour and his popularity in concerts dried up during the 1930s. Lamond was always a little erratic in recording, and reports indicate that his technique had deteriorated somewhat by the time he came to record the lions share of his records, but a great deal of what we do have is of very high quality indeed.

This is a recording of Beethoven's penultimate piano sonata (op.110 in A flat) - a nice chance to hear a nineteenth century pianist in late Beethoven. I think that this a very fine performance, and the work suits Lamond's approach very well. The recording was made in 1928.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• classical
• recording
• frederic
• lamond
• beethoven
• op.110
• Ab
• flat
• sonata

[LUDWIGfreeOFidolatry]

I award this 4 1/2 SCHINDLERS.He brings a fanulously improvisational sense to this and his downbeats are much lighter than the normally disgusting display of heavily predictable sforzandi rumbling down the road like a King Tiger Tank.There is an interesting mix of Jocose conviviality mixing something ominous and desperately pining in the background.This traditional approach to Beethoven was gradually made illegal starting in the Conservatories in the last decades of the 19th century.