Video
Op.130 & Op.133 - an insight by Sara Bitlloch
The “Grosse Fuge” that Beethoven originally composed as the conclusion for Op.130 was so challenging that he had to write an alternative ending. Filmed at the Wigmore Hall shortly before the quartet performed the work in December 2011, Sara Bitlloch gives her insight to one of the most profound pieces of classical music writing.
You can follow the score by downloading it here - full score: Op.130; full score: Op.133 Grosse Fuge. Public Domain Vienna: Universal Edition.
A very fine opening concert in Reading of your Beethoven cycle. Listening to the radio it is possible to ignore the fact that playing these quartets makes considerable demands on the whole physique of the instrumentalists so it was fascinating last night to watch as well as listen; seeing was not a distraction: it enhanced the experience.
I am not clear as to whether you are offering a cycle of six with one of Opus 18 in each programme, or of five, with one of the middle period as focal point. i wonder how you decide what pieces to put in to the same programme. Seventeen is an awkward number to divide up. Is there an obvious way to do this? Is there an ideal combination of pieces? Are there possibilities to be avoided at all costs: the three quartets in F, for example because not sufficiently contrasted?
There are of course no dull Beethoven quartets, but your first three are superlatives and to have them all in one evening, so convincingly presented, was sheer bliss. Thank you for a wonderful experience and I look forward to the next episode.
Best wishes for your venture, Donald Matthew