“You really get a glimpse into what Beethoven must have been like, away from the compositional side, as a man. He must have been, a little bit, an in-your-face type of person.”

“He calls it quasi una fantasia (almost like a fantasy) … and I think he doesn’t only want to say that it isn’t a piano sonata, but that it also comes from his improvisation. He was so famous for being the greatest improviser of his day.”

“I never thought [working on these pieces] would be so difficult. I went in to a sort of cocoon. When I peeked my head out, I felt I was a changed person. The way I play music, the way I hear music, and above all, the way I play the piano has changed.”

“It really does feel like standing on the threshold of a huge jump, and he’s already halfway across. It’s almost in midair, emotionally, and in every way. The beginning of the piece is such the opening of a flower. It doesn’t start suddenly. It begins with a sort of question.”

“There’s a wonderful bass line after the opening, which sounds totally—I was in a jazz club in Houston last week, and I was like, ‘Yes, that’s what that sounds like. It sounds like a walking bass in a jazz tune!’”

“Many people don’t like this sonata. [They say it’s] like a monster. But what a great monster! … This music is not heavy and not ponderous. It’s explosive and fantastic, and occasionally, even, very humorous.”

“Someone who thinks a lot, like Beethoven, thinks, ‘my God, can we go on with singing and making arpeggios forever?,’ like he does in the first movement … and the subtle third movement, this kind of metaphysical moment, is a compositional reflection from Beethoven … saying ‘where are we going in the history of music?’”