Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2

Beethoven’s three piano sonatas op. 2 were the first works in this genre to which he gave an opus number, thus signaling to the music world the special importance that he assigned to them. He wrote them during his first years in Vienna and, along with his op. 1 piano trios, they helped to establish his reputation as one of the most significant composers of his time. These three sonatas – all of them small masterpieces – are arranged in ascending order of difficulty and virtuosity. At the heart of this A-major Sonata is the well-known, profound Largo appassionato movement, whose staccato bass line is reminiscent of double bass pizzicati. It stands in stark contrast to the nimble Rondo-Finale, whose theme returns each time with ever more elaborate arabesques. Murray Perahia’s fingerings have been tried and tested over several decades of performing these works, and offer a new approach to these milestones of the piano repertoire.