Replica of the Erard Frères piano in the shape of a harpsichord by Beethoven (Paris, 1803)
By Chris Maene (Ruiselede, 2016)
In October 1803, Beethoven acquired a French piano from the Erard Frères workshop in Paris. The composer is "so delighted, reports a visitor, that he considers all pianos made [in Vienna] to be rubbish in comparison." At the Orpheus Institute in Ghent, an original replica of Beethoven's Erard was built in partnership with Pianos Maene. It allowed Tom Beghin and his group of researchers to try to understand Beethoven's enthusiasm, but also his growing frustration, as the instrument underwent a series of technical revisions. These revisions were part of misguided attempts to "improve" the Parisian instrument, that is, to bring it into line with Viennese expectations. In 1810, however, Beethoven declared himself defeated: "My French piano is now quite useless," he wrote.
Beethoven's complex and fascinating relationship with his Erard is the subject of a new documentary film, Beethoven's Farewell to Paris, directed by Steven Maes and Tom Beghin (Evil Penguin Classic, 2021). This film will be screened at MIM in preview. For his recital, Beghin will resolutely reconnect with Beethoven's enthusiasm and perform the first piano sonata that Beethoven composed on his new Erard upon his arrival in Vienna: his Sonata in C major, Opus 53, widely known as " Waldstein ". Come and rediscover a famous composition whose raison d'être was so clearly French, and which deserves to be juxtaposed with works by contemporary pianist-composers based in Paris, such as Louis Adam and Daniel Steibelt.