Reynaldo Reyes, Beethoven Piano Sonatas Concert II

Pianist Reynaldo Reyes

Featuring:

Reynaldo Reyes, piano

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven

     Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14 No. 1

     Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 Moonlight

     Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14 No. 2

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

I remember scratching my head when I failed to catch the first concert of this series of three concerts featuring the piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. One of my friends who was able to watch the said concert found it very odd that he wasn’t able to see me watching this and a piano performance at that. I told myself that I’d make sure to catch the rest of the concert series held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. But catching this second concert proved to be tricky since it had to be postponed to a later date due to bad weather. Eventually, the weather cleared, the rescheduled concert pushed through at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) and most importantly, I was there to watch it.

The programme consisted of four Beethoven piano sonatas: one that I’ve learned to play, two that I’ve listened to before, and one that I wasn’t really familiar with at all. It was a very interesting choice of early Beethoven works but the highlight of the concert was definitely the extremely popular Moonlight Sonata. Reyes chose to play the first movement not as slow as in most recordings/performances but rather as a funeral march which is a bit faster. He said beforehand that this section was originally intended to be played as such so that’s what he did.

The rest of the sonatas played were not as popular but Reyes’ performance got me thinking if it was possible for me to play these sonatas. I think that the ones in E major and G major are playable but I fear that I am not yet ready to play the one in A major. It seemed very technically difficult which is rather surprising since it is a very early Beethoven composition. Not only that, his performance made me want to practice playing the Moonlight Sonata again since I think that I’ve gotten very rusty playing that piece. For an encore, Reyes played Bagatelle No. 4 in B minor, Op. 126 by Beethoven, obviously. The opus number indicates that it is a much later Beethoven work compared to the sonatas so it sounded very different and rather very modern.

I think that the years already took its toll in his accuracy and precision but seemed that his stamina hasn’t yet been affected. For him to play four Beethoven sonatas in one concert is something that is truly amazing and I do hope that I’d be able to find the stamina and endurance to achieve that feat. For me, watching him was like having a lesson in artistry since there were many instances in which he played the pieces very differently from what I would normally do like the funeral march of the Moonlight Sonata.

Pianists Rudolf Golez, Reynaldo Reyes, Nena del Rosario-Villanueva
and Rene Dalandan

Reynaldo Reyes will perform the third and last of his Beethoven Pianos Concert series on August 17, 2011, 7:30 PM at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater).