Für Elise

This recording of Beethoven's 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli in C major, Op. 120, by British pianist Imogen Cooper was a strong seller when it appeared in March 2019, and there appear to be several reasons why. One is the introduction of the program with the Bagatelles, Op. 119, which are not so often heard and make a fine lead-in. Cooper almost runs the bagatelles together, which one might question: each one is a distinct entity, and playing them as Cooper does loses the strangeness of, say, the 15-second Allegramente bagatelle. But Cooper seems to be asserting the unity of the set, which is reasonable even though Beethoven wrote the works at different times; some are early works, and some were newly composed for publication in 1822.