Variations in Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata—Playing the Repeats Differently

One reason I’ve wanted to perform Beethoven’s Appassionata piano sonata is to share a discovery I made about its exquisite slow movement variations. Beethoven writes the conventional repeat signs for each half of the theme and its variations and all the music certainly does sound glorious a second time. But I found that an entirely new dimension of the piece surfaces when the repetition emphasizes the left hand. In the theme, we suddenly hear an expressive an expressive baritone countermelody. The first variation features syncopation between the two hands. Hearing the right hand prominent the first time, we focus on Beethoven’s beautiful dissonant suspensions. But focusing on the left hand on the repeat, again an expressive baritone solo emerges. The second variation is the spiritual center of the entire sonata with its quiet, almost pop-tune-like arpeggios in the right hand. Focusing on them the first time through creates that calm blissful center for the piece. But how amazing on the repeat if we focus on the left hand! Again we reveal a baritone voice with an expressive octave leap that was all hidden below. So then when the third variation begins with its accumulation of quick delicate arpeggios, scales, and trills, that energy flows naturally from the right-left hand contrasting energies that came before. This might seem an eccentric way to perform the piece, but I feel it reveals beauty otherwise somewhat hidden…