Piano Sonata 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 indicating 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 important composers of his time. These three sonatas – all of them successful – are arranged in ascending order of difficulty and skill. At the heart of this A-major Sonata is the well-known, reflective Largo appassionato movement, whose staccato bass line is evocative of double bass pizzicati. It is a complete contrast to the quick 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 markers of the piano repertoire.