Diabelli-Variationen – Beethoven 250
Mitsuko Ushida

GALA Chamber Music

Sunday, 30 August 2020
6 pm, Saanen Church

It was intended to be nothing more than a mere publicity stunt: a panorama of early 19^th-century piano music by Viennese publisher Anton Diabelli, which was to take the form of variations on a waltz theme by the greatest composers of the time, the theme being provided by Diabelli himself. And with Beethoven – despite the fact that he considered the theme very poor: “ein Schusterfleck“ [a shoemaker's piece] – the operation turned into a monumental masterpiece: 33 variations and over an hour of music. It took him four years to complete it, during which time his last three timeless sonatas came into being. If we add the 6 Bagatelles Op. 126 that he created in the process, it is a kind of “testament“. This is something that only experienced pianists, such as Mitsuko Uchida, whose career will soon span half a century, are able to tackle.