#Beethoven250 Day 86
Allegretto in C Minor (WoO 53), 1796–97
Trudelies Leonhardt (sister of the famous Gustav) performs this bagatelle on a 200-year-old pianoforte, sounding great for its age.
Should Beethoven be performed on period pianofortes rather than modern pianos? If we truly want to hear what Beethoven’s contemporaries heard, and what Beethoven himself heard — at least when he could still hear — then period instruments can reveal that.
The problem with period pianofortes in Beethoven’s case is that he was always pushing towards instruments with brighter and louder sound. What Beethoven heard in his head was likely closer to the modern piano than the instruments of his time.
Charles Rosen writes that period pianofortes are inadequate for Beethoven — suitable only in that they “reveal the composer’s ambitions more clearly, his refusal to allow the physical limitations of instrument or musician to dictate his inspirations.” (Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, 117)