Music

I doubt the IOC will consider it, but it is not uncommon for world-class players to be utterly drenched after a half-hour (add stage lights for another dimension of pain). Fortunately, Beethoven, as famously intense as he was, was not wholly unforgiving. He tended to avoid making unreasonable demands of concert performers, having been one, and had an amateur market to cater to, being a decent businessman.

Still, there are plenty of great pianists with “no way, no how” lists, and there is no doubt in my mind that some of his most famous works land on those simply out of endurance considerations; we’re talking people who wouldn’t shy away from later, more complex pieces.

It doesn’t help that the modern piano has heavier, wider keys than the pianoforte 200 years ago did.