Beethoven Op. 81a

There's a YouTube video of Daniel Barenboim playing Beethoven's 26^th piano sonata! First movement and part of second here, and here's the rest of the second and the whole third movement (attacca).

He plays the first movement with a crazy amount of rubato, but it is a very Romantic-style movement, and, after all, he's Daniel Barenboim; he can do whatever the heck he wants. His playing of the second and third movements is absolutely perfect. Look how relaxed his hands are! What an incredible pianist.

Schumann's piano concerto

I was digging through music files the other day, and ran into Schumann's piano concerto, in a. It's a really pretty piece! I think I might try it this Summer. Here's what it sounds like, played by Svyatoslav Richter, one of my favourite pianists:

: I. Allegro Affetuoso (first link, second link)
: II. Intermezzo, which is attacca
: III. Allegro Vivace

The third movement is in 3/4, but if you listen carefully, sometimes it's interestingly ambiguous. And it's way fast, too, so no good for waltzing :(

Schumann tried two piano concerti before this, but neither worked out, apparently. This one was written for his wife, Clara Schumann, who was an amazing pianist. She even wrote some cadenzas for other concertos, including Mozart's 20^th. Supposedly Grieg used this one as a model for his concerto.