Beethoven: Bagatelles (2012)

A bagatelle is a short, light composition, generally considered to be of little substance, yet the bagatelles of Ludwig van Beethoven are usually placed among his most sophisticated and elusive compositions, even though he called them "trifles." The most popular of these piano pieces is the Klavierstück in A minor, "Für Elise," which is frequently anthologized and known to casual listeners from its use in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Considerably less familiar, even to classical listeners who should know them, are the Seven ... Read More

A bagatelle is a short, light composition, generally considered to be of little substance, yet the bagatelles of Ludwig van Beethoven are usually placed among his most sophisticated and elusive compositions, even though he called them "trifles." The most popular of these piano pieces is the Klavierstück in A minor, "Für Elise," which is frequently anthologized and known to casual listeners from its use in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Considerably less familiar, even to classical listeners who should know them, are the Seven Bagatelles, Op. 33, the Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119, and the Six Bagatelles, Op. 126, as well as a handful of bagatelles without opus numbers, which have been brought together for this Hyperion release by pianist Steven Osborne. To say that these miniatures are obscure is not quite accurate, but their relative infrequency in recitals and on recordings has made them unnecessarily mysterious. Osborne demonstrates that they are quite approachable and easy to absorb, and while he is... Read Less