Beethoven : The Bagatelles (贝多芬：钢琴小品集)

In addition to his 32 sonatas, astonishing "Diabelli Variations," and 5 concertos with orchestra, Beethoven also composed a series of smaller pieces he called "bagatelles." The name, which more or less designates a little nothing, a bit of whimsy or fluff, scarcely designates the imaginative and emotional content that Beethoven often invested in these little works. Many were studies for other pieces, or ways of trying out ideas before developing them in larger works. Listening to Alfred Brendel play these works is revelatory: he convinces you that these short works are perhaps the most profound things that Beethoven ever penned. He knows them intimately, having edited some for the Wiener Urtext Edition of Beethoven's works. Yet while he brings these pieces a sense of gravitas, he never forgets that brevity is the soul of wit. In short, this disk lets you enjoy Beethoven's final works for his own instrument played with as close to perfection as you're going to get.