I was teaching Beethoven's mammoth 'Hammerklavier' Sonata today--that last movement fugue is incredibly difficult--pianistically challenging to say the least. My student, who has also brough Medtner's g minor Sonata and Copland's Piano Variations, was sharing how Egon Petri and Ernst Levy played the 'Hammerklavier'--names we almost never hear unfortunately--and when Beethoven heard a 13-year old Franz Liszt--can you imagine the young Liszt being presented to Beethoven? Perhaps Beethoven was my age when he heard Liszt. He asked Liszt to play a Bach fugue--and then transpose it! The great pianists since Beethoven, many of them played the 'Hammerklavier'--I asked my student why so many don't today--he said, 'It's too hard!' Well, it also seems hard to see major record labels lay-off top-tier administrators who have dedicated their lives to the industry--and it's all going digital download--yes, the world is evolving into a new industrial revolution in technology, and we have to adapt to the changes. But we must always remember the great artists and the vast repertoire they performed in recitals--we must keep recitals alive, otherwise, the repertoire will shrink enormously--yet, who can pen a work such as the 'Grosse Fugue' or 'Hammerklavier' sonata? It always amazes me to think about what it must have been like to be around amongst these giants of composition.