A pianistic passion

MARK SWED’S article regarding the “Appassionata” is magnificent [“Appassionata Unleashed,” Feb. 5]. I was born deaf, and after surgery at age 3, I gravitated to the piano. When I was 5 or 6, my first recording was that of the great Horowitz -- Beethoven’s “Appassionata” with the D-major sonata, Opus 10, No. 3. Even then, I knew the star of the LP was the “Appassionata.” I said, “I want to do this.”

The other great pianist, Rubinstein, also played the “Appassionata.” Horowitz and Rubinstein -- their names always went together. Who was the poet, who was the pianistic genius? For me, they were one and the same.

Why the “Appassionata”? It was the essential piece in the pianist’s repertoire. It was Beethoven at his best -- fire, passion, lyricism, spirituality, the religious slow movement with its variations on a chorale, and the tempestuous last movement. It was indeed the “Appassionata” that Horowitz recorded in the 1960s to set a benchmark for pianists -- and it did.

It is fantastic to see this sonata coming back into pianistic vogue. It is thrilling to see young pianists wishing to devour its passion and fury.

JEFFREY BIEGEL

Lynbrook, N.Y.