For this week’s Moto Rec, we highlight a video drawn from a recent album devoted to Ludwig van Beethoven’s three Piano Sonatas Op. 10, performed by Roberto Prosseda on an 1820 Conrad Graf fortepiano.
The featured movement is the Prestissimo from Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1 — a finale of compressed energy and relentless drive. Written between 1796 and 1798, the Op. 10 set marks a decisive step in Beethoven’s evolution from Classical clarity towards a more individual and dramatic language. In the C minor sonata in particular, the sense of urgency and structural concentration anticipates the darker expressive terrain of his later works.
What makes this video especially compelling is Prosseda’s decision to perform on a Graf fortepiano from 1820. Its lighter action, differentiated registers and transparent sonority reveal details often softened on a modern concert grand. The rapid figurations of the Prestissimo emerge with biting clarity; accents speak sharply, and abrupt contrasts feel less monumental and more rhetorical — closer to speech than to symphonic declamation.
In his notes for the album, Prosseda reflects on how returning to early Beethoven on a historical instrument reshaped his understanding of phrasing and articulation. Rather than seeking novelty, he aims to rediscover a familiar repertoire through the sound world for which it was conceived. The result foregrounds rhythmic tension — particularly the characteristic “short–long” motif running through the Op. 10 set — and restores a sense of raw contrast to the music.
The video was filmed at Musicafelix Studio in Prato, Italy, by Duilio Meucci for Challenge Classics. It forms part of Prosseda’s ongoing exploration of early Beethoven on period instruments, following his previous Op. 2 recording.
The full album of the three Sonatas Op. 10 is available here:
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 10 – Roberto Prosseda
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