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18 ALDO CICCOLINI
Let’s now discuss Clementi and his vast and surprising
Sonata Op.34
no.2
(published in 1795), which few pianists perform, unfortunately, but
which is one of the great sonatas of the classical period.
A.C.
: The first thing that comes to mind when listening to it is Clementi’s place
of birth; he is indeed Italian in this work. I discovered the work when Horowitz’s
Clementi recording came out. I had rushed to the Rue de Rome to buy the
composer’s sheet music, which I spent many evenings poring over.
Opus 34 no.2
is the work of a magnificent pianist who knows and understands the
instrument in a kingly fashion. I have a particular affection for the slowmovement
Un poco adagio
, some of the purest pages of classicism, exemplary in their simplicity
– true chamber music. And then the unsettling
Molto allegro
that follows… There
is a connection between this finale and Mozart’s
Sonata In C Minor
. But Clementi is
less inhibited than Mozart.
And the
Molto allegro
is also for Clementi the occasion to show his
mastery of the
canon
…
A.C.
: Clementi was a virtuoso of the canon. In the middle of the movement,
the theme is handled like a canon, in E minor. And it all unfolds with incredible
effortlessness.
How do you explain the fact that such a beautiful work as
Sonata op. 34
no.2
is so rarely performed on the stage?
A.C.
: Clementi wrote a lot of
études,
and this pedagogical output put him out of
favour. He is looked upon with a certain suspicion and yet what a magnificent
musician emerges from his
Sonatas
! Beethoven understood this.