Hammerklavier

Synopsis

Hammerklavier is Reza's first autobiographical novel (published by Faber) is a meditation on life, love, music and time. Set in Paris at different incidents during a woman's life - in part a humorous memoir of Reza's late father, it is a truthful story of an extraordinary writer and the shared love with her father of a Beethoven sonata.

Our Review:

2 September 2003

Hammerklavier is the name of Beethoven’s opus 106, one of his most technically complicated sonatas. It's also the title of Yasmina Reza's semi-autobiographical novel which has been translated into English and adapted for the stage in the form of a one-woman monologue.

Reza's close relationship with her father is the subject. And the difficult sonata, which he's less capable of taming as he gets closer to death, comes to represent his struggle to live - he insists on playing it though he stumbles and must restart again and again.

Reza's fascination with time, as explored in her play Life x 3, here takes a darker existentialist slant. She describes it as her enemy, musing on life as the elusive and fleeting moments between birth and death.

All of this is incredibly thought-provoking, but how does the novel translate into a piece of theatre? The lack of plot drive is a huge disadvantage, and although we feel we understand ...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (195.92.194.14) - 7 September 2003:

The full review sums this play up beautifully, though I didn't mind the design or the blackouts. I thought it ended rather suddenly and missed the last few lines, but the acting was interesting to watch most of the time. ...

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