Brigitte Meyer

Brigitte Meyer – Haydn: Piano Sonatas (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:14:16 minutes | 2,40 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Label G

Brigitte Meyer was born in Biel, Switzerland, where she experienced a happy childhood that, as far back as she can remember, was shaped by music. She gave her debut with orchestra at age eleven and went on to study at the conservatories in Biel and Lausanne, where she graduated at the age of nineteen with a degree in performance. She had already begun an active concert career but wished to continue her studies in Vienna – a decision that was rewarded by a personal invitation to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from Bruno Seidlhofer, who later spoke of three outstanding pupils: Friedrich Gulda (the genius), Martha Argerich (the great virtuoso), and Brigitte Meyer (the great musician). Meyer received the Bösendorfer Prize in Vienna and was a finalist at the Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Vevey.
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Brigitte Meyer – Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 “Waldstein” (1977)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 45:37 minutes | 740 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © VDE-GALLO

Following the acquisition of an Erard fortepiano in 1803, Beethoven was inspired to write this sonata, one of the finest among his 32. The composer had known for about two years that he was losing his hearing, but he was far from complete deafness. The crisper tones of the new instrument were much more appealing to him than his old Walter piano. This sonata, dedicated to the composer’s patron and friend Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, came on the scene as a great challenge for pianists. The first movement, marked Allegro con brio, begins with a rhythmic, driving, obsessive theme that creates an enormous sonic space and a veritable energy field between the hammering chords in the left hand and the right hand’s completion of the phrase, several octaves higher. Reiterated, starting from a slightly lower register, the theme seems less energetic, but the effect is deceptive. While the energy level remains high, additional ideas are developed, and the second subject is introduced as each of these ideas strives to dominate the composition’s discourse. This second subject, in E major, introduces a moment of tranquillity, but calm quickly dissipates, moving toward a brilliant, triumphant finish with the underlying rhythmic intensity of the main theme. The development section begins with a darker cast to the main theme, which then goes off into a new direction. The previous materials become interlaced and developed, and this process generates considerable tension. In the reprise that follows, Beethoven ingeniously avoids a mere restatement by expanding on the phrase at the end of the main theme’s first reappearance.
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