Kaufman's '33 Variations' set to unfold at La Jolla Playhouse

By PAM KRAGEN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 2, 2008 12:14 PM PDT ∞

Few music experts dispute that Ludwig van Beethoven's genius was tinged, and perhaps even fed, by madness. But none have been able to agree on what drove the German composer's all-consuming, four-year obsession with Diabelli's waltz.

When asked in 1819 by music publisher Anton Diabelli to compose a variation for Diabelli's banal 45-second waltz, Beethoven first rejected the request, saying the prosaic piece of music wasn't worth his time. But something changed Beethoven's mind, and he spent the next four years writing not one or two, but 33 variations on Diabelli's waltz, a 45-minute collection of music that became Beethoven's longest piano composition and is today considered by many musicologists the greatest masterpiece of the variation form.

Beethoven's puzzling fascination with Diabelli's waltz is at the heart of Moises Kaufman's play "33 Variations," which has its West Coast premiere next week at La Jolla Playhouse. The production opens the Playhouse's 2008/09 season, its first under new artistic director Christopher Ashley.

"33 Variations" had its world premiere last year at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage and on Saturday it won the American Theatre Critics Association's 2008 New Play Award.

The play tells the story of a fictional American musicologist who travels to Bonn to examine the Beethoven archives for keys to his Diabelli obsession. Along the way, the terminally ill musicologist discovers hidden mysteries about herself and her troubled relationship with her daughter.

Kaufman ---- author of "The Laramie Project" and "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" ---- has been in La Jolla fine-tuning the play, which he also directs, and answered a few questions about the drama last week.

Q: How did the idea for "33 Variations" come to you?

A: It was four years ago. I stopped by Tower Records near Lincoln Center looking for some Beethoven and a salesperson said, 'You have to listen to this,' and he showed me the Diabelli Variations. When he told me the story and I heard the music, I knew I had to write a play about it. My music tastes are very eclectic. I like reggae as much as I like Philip Glass as much as I like classical. That night I was in the mood for Beethoven and I lucked out, asked the right question and the rest is history.

Q: Tell me a little more about the Diabelli Variations.

A: Diabelli was a very wealthy music publisher and a mediocre composer who got this idea to compose a waltz, send it out to the 50 best composers in Vienna and ask everyone to write a variation. He wanted to be respected as a composer, and he thought this would certify his status. Everyone he sent it to, including Schubert and Liszt, said yes. Everybody except Beethoven, who took one look at it and said it was garbage and he wouldn't be caught dead in the vicinity of it. But very soon afterward he changed his mind and became obsessed with it. Why did he do this? What was it about this insignificant waltz that captured his imagination? I'm fascinated by that question.

Q: How did you come up with the fictional characters for the play?

A: As I began doing the research and what happened to Beethoven, I needed a character who was as passionate about this as I am, so I created the musicologist Katherine Brandt. That's how I work. I do a lot of the creation of my work in the rehearsal room. As we rehearse, these characters begin appearing onstage fully formed. First came Katherine, and then sure enough, she had a daughter. Then Beethoven's assistant, Schindler, became a character. They emerge as they are needed to tell the story.

Q: Were you happy with how the play turned out in Washington last year? And if not, do you plan any changes for the La Jolla production?

A: Yes, I was very satisfied with it then and I'm more satisfied with it now. I've been deepening it, but it's essentially the same.

Q: Now that you've spent four years listening to the Diabelli Variations, has your appreciation for the music changed?

A: Yes. I feel completely different. I now understand Beethoven much better and have so much more context with which to experience the music. I do feel it's a masterpiece, but don't take my word for it. The great pianist Alfred Brendel has described the Diabelli Variations as the most important piece in the history of the instrument.

Q: Why is it a masterpiece?

A: Because it has so many different colors and textures and emotions and sensibilities, and it takes listeners on such an exacting journey. I feel that I can see Beethoven in this music. When you take on a historical character, you always feel a distance from them, but with his music I feel a special intimacy.

Q: Which of the variations is your favorite?

A: It depends on the day, but I think my favorite is No. 24. When you listen to it, you will know why.

Q: This play features a concert pianist onstage performing Beethoven's music. How many of the Diabelli Variations will we hear in the play?

A: Two-thirds of them. We have the great good fortune of having a great concert pianist in the play, Diane Walsh, and she's stunning.

Q: Part of the scenic design for this play is a screen where the audience will see actual photographs of Beethoven's hand-written sheet music. Why did you want to include these in the production?

A: It was magical being in the room with Beethoven's sketches, and I wanted to share that with the audience. To see his music is to understand him. Mozart composed everything in his head, and when he wrote it down, it came out perfect. But Beethoven struggled with his music, and much of his work is sketches. He first wrote in pencil and then went over in ink the parts he loved. So you see the development of the music this way.

He also wrote detailed musical notations on how he wanted the music played ---- 'lento,' piano' or 'forte,' and then he wrote in the margin, 'I need cheese and milk.' It's a diary not only of his compositional process but also of his daily life. It gives you an intimacy of the artist that is hard to describe. We look at those texts, and we really see an emotional narrative. When he was in a good mood, the writing is light. And you can see the anger and frustration of the man, he scribbled and wrote very hard and heavy. It's a record of his emotional and sentimental life.

Q: Do you think this play will appeal to nonclassical-music lovers?

A: Our experience in Washington was that people who know the least about music enjoy the piece the most. They enjoyed having this mystery unfold before them that they knew nothing about before they arrived.

Q: How are rehearsals going?

A: So far, so good. It's really beautiful out here in La Jolla and I'm enjoying myself immensely.

"33 Variations"

When: Previews, April 8 through April 12; opens April 13 and runs through May 4; showtimes, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; 7 p.m. Sundays

Where: La Jolla Playhouse at Mandell Weiss Theatre, UC San Dieg, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla

Tickets: $29-$62

Info: (858) 550-1010

Web: www.lajollaplayhouse.org

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