Rudolf Buchbinder Plays Beethoven

[Todd]

The niggling issue with most of Rudolf Buchbinder's Elveebee cycle is apparent right from the get-go.  That issue is sound.  It is almost claustrophobically close, almost too detailed, and as a result of that and knob-twiddling somewhere along the way, somewhat limited in bass reproduction, rendering scale less than exemplary.  In this it reminds me of Craig Sheppard's cycle.  For whatever reason, the last three sonatas fare better in this regard.  They were recorded in the last concert of the series, so maybe something was different in the set-up.

That issue aside, the only observation that could be taken as negative has to do with the fact that there are some obvious slips and memory lapses.  No biggie for the most part as these appear to be true blue concert recordings, but I have to mention it.  Only once or twice does Buchbinder seem at sea musically, and then for only the very briefest of spans.  He's human.  I like that.

Also immediately apparent is the fact that this is a heavy duty cycle.  Buchbinder does not produce the most mellifluous piano tone.  He does not play up the witty passages a whole lot.  (That's not to say he doesn't at all.)  But that's okay, because he has heftier things to say.  And he largely wants to say them in a hurry, for his playing is generally quick across the board.  His playing is also incisive, with nice bite where needed.  In some ways, his playing reminds me Friedrich Gulda's.  The aforementioned Craig Sheppard also came to mind because of Buchbinder's seriousness.  But Buchbinder is his own man.

But his style has its limitations.  The early sonatas tend to sound a little too intense and forced.  Some pianists can pull off intense early sonatas (Annie Fischer, say), and while Buchbinder ain't at all shabby here, he must cede to many other players on many of the works.  None of the first three sonatas are knockouts, though the ending to 2/3 has more than a few exciting moments.  Op 7 and 10/2 are similar.  Op 22 is a bit leaden and flat, for some reason.  The heavier sonatas – 10/1, 10/3, and 13 – all fare quite well, with nice intensity and drive and energy.  Maybe the last bit of drama is missing, but that's quite alright.  And for some reason, the two Op 14 sonatas are superb, with ample energy and playfulness.  I wasn't expecting it, but there you go.

The middle sonatas are better.  In fact, from 27/1 right on through to the last five, there's really not a bad sonata, though 81a is a bit less personal and emotive than I tend to prefer.  Particular standouts include 27/2, 28 (really, an outstanding performance), 54 (if anything, even better), and a nice, stormy 57.  Too, the Op 31 trio, always critical for me, all come off well, with 31/3 striking a nice balance between seriousness and wit. 

Which leads to the late sonatas.  Here there are some issues, as it were.  It's not that Buchbinder is bad, not at all, it's just that he lacks that certain something I find in the best recordings of the last sonatas.  His playing isn't transcendent/philosophical/etc enough.  Op 101, in particular, doesn't work, sounding like an extension of middle period works.  The mighty 106 is played nice and fast, with a nicely brisk slow movement, but it, too, sounds too middle period in nature, and too small in scale.  The last three sonatas start auspiciously, with a fine 109.  The improved sound gives the piece a more ethereal air than what came before, and the final movement displays a bit of that transcendent sound I'm looking for.  Op 110 is sort of a blend of 109 and earlier works, and is good, if not a world beater.  Op 111 is almost a tale of two sonatas.  The opening movement comes off nicely as a result of Buchbinder's incisiveness and drive, but the second movement is missing a little something.  The trills could be better, I suppose, the Arietta a bit more ethereal, as could the playing after the boogie-woogie variation.  It's not that anything is wrong, per se, it's more that the overall feeling of the work is missing that ultimately indefinable something of the best performances.

Yet another cycle down, and as with many cycles, it doesn't quite rise to the level of the best out there.  That written, Buchbinder has more than a few interesting things to say.  His seriousness, intensity, swiftness, and obvious familiarity with and love for the music make the set enjoyable to listen to, especially in a good number of the "middle" works.  For me, this cycle falls into a category populated by a good many fine cycles – the aforementioned Sheppard, Mejoueva, Brendel's second cycle, among others – that I'm quite glad to have, but that do not ultimately scale the highest heights.

[Mandryka]

Actually I enjoyed II of Op 111 quite a lot.

I've not listened to the whole thing by any means. There's something very distinctive about the rhythms -- the hesitations -- and I'm not sure whether I like it or not, but I can hear it's not uninteresting. And also I keep being stuck by the way all the voices are often given equal weight - you can hear all the music, he doesn't put stress on one voice rather than another. At least some of the time -- there in OP 111/ii and also in the largo of 10/3 -- which I also liked.

Anyway, it's on spotify.

[Oldnslow]

I've listened to Buchbinder's set up to the Appassionata and have enjoyed it very much. The close recording  shows of the pianist's superb clarity, and I especially enjoy hearing the very cleanly articulated left hand lines. He obviously knows this music inside and out, and while his approach is quite straightforward in many respects,  there is nothing mundane or routine in either his conception or playing. I would rate this set very highly so far.

[George]

Anyway, it's on spotify.

How did you find it? I searched using his name and no Beethoven sonatas. 

[Mandryka]

How did you find it? I searched using his name and no Beethoven sonatas. 

http://open.spotify.com/album/3HHP3THbTd5Wcn4n9ykXUT

[George]

http://open.spotify.com/album/3HHP3THbTd5Wcn4n9ykXUT

Thanks. Tried the link and a search using "Sonata Legacy" and came up with nothing. Perhaps it's unavailable in the USA?

[Mandryka]

Thanks. Tried the link and a search using "Sonata Legacy" and came up with nothing. Perhaps it's unavailable in the USA?

Proof, if proof were needed, that Europe is more civilized than the New World. 

[George]

Proof, if proof were needed, that Europe is more civilized than the New World. 

[Verena]

What I found rather interesting reading the booklet is that Joachim Kaiser - a doyen of music critics in Germany who wrote a book on great pianists - called him the manually most gifted pianist he has ever encountered ..
Have not quite made up my mind about the recordings, I kind of liked the last sonatas on first hearing, but I would not rate them among the best I have heard. A little magic is missing in my view.

[Mandryka]

Op 111 is almost a tale of two sonatas.  The opening movement comes off nicely as a result of Buchbinder's incisiveness and drive, but the second movement is missing a little something.  The trills could be better, I suppose, the Arietta a bit more ethereal, as could the playing after the boogie-woogie variation.  It's not that anything is wrong, per se, it's more that the overall feeling of the work is missing that ultimately indefinable something of the best performances.

What I found rather interesting reading the booklet is that Joachim Kaiser - a doyen of music critics in Germany who wrote a book on great pianists - called him the manually most gifted pianist he has ever encountered ..
Have not quite made up my mind about the recordings, I kind of liked the last sonatas on first hearing, but I would not rate them among the best I have heard. A little magic is missing in my view.

My initial impression was that in Op 111/ii he's trying to avoid  metaphysics. There's a long tradition of that: Petri, Grinberg, Lefebure and maybe Rosen and Peter Serkin. It's no bad thing necessarily and I sensed a a sort of frankness in his style which was appealing. But I need to listen again really. I only posted to say that magic , ether, ultimately-indefinable-something-ness may not be a desirable quality -- it all depends on your aesthetic. Some people may want to present this as a modernist work, not a spiritual one  -- why not?

This music has been off my radar for a while though.

[Verena]

My initial impression was that in Op 111/ii he's trying to avoid  metaphysics. There's a long tradition of that: Petri, Grinberg, Lefebure. It's no bad thing necessarily and I sensed a a sort of frankness in his style which was appealing. But I need to listen again really. I only posted to say that magic , ether, ultimately-indefinable-something-ness may not be a desirable quality -- it all depends on your aesthetic. Some people may want to present this as a modernist work

This music has been off my radar for a while though.

Interesting point. I agree. Theoretically, I would have thought that I personally prefer late Beethoven to "sound metaphysical", but since you mention Grinberg and Lefebure - these are some of my very favorites, so I also seem to enjoy an approach which avoids the metaphysical stance.

[Todd]

Some people may want to present this as a modernist work, not a spiritual one  -- why not?

Well, I suppose one would have to define "modernist."  Beethoven was many things, but I have a hard time swallowing that he was a modernist in the currently understood sense of the word.  There are many ways to intepret late Beethoven, but I for one like my late Beethoven, including the string quartets, to be more detached and ethereal.  Other presentations rather miss the point.

[Mandryka]

I would say Grinberg is modernist in Op 111/ii in this sense: there is no consolation through magic, no uplift, no escape into the ether,  the interpretation is a cold hard stare into the tragic void. 

I should say that I think it's an extremely  gut wrenching, cataclysmic  performance. One of the most interesting I have heard.

http://www.youtube.com/v/yamxB9WVkUM

[Todd]

the interpretation is a cold hard stare into the tragic void. 

I agree about cold, and would throw in metallic and clangy.  It's not so much modernist as not particularly good.  (I'm basing this on the version in complete cycle set I listened to.)  The ending of 111 is not at all meant to be tragic.

[Mandryka]

I love the energy of the first half of  variation 3.  The  way she makes the sforzandi in the LH so spiky. And in the second half I like the way she contrasts forte and piano, and  the collision between the counter-melody in the left hand and the rhythm in the right.

I think the fugue in the first movement is very well played --for example, the independence of her hands --   the the way she superposes legato and staccato -- at the start . And I love the whip crack opening of this movement.

At the level of vision she is uncompromising.

[Todd]

Also immediately apparent is the fact that this is a heavy duty cycle.  Buchbinder does not produce the most mellifluous piano tone.  He does not play up the witty passages a whole lot.  (That's not to say he doesn't at all.)  But that's okay, because he has heftier things to say.  And he largely wants to say them in a hurry, for his playing is generally quick across the board.  His playing is also incisive, with nice bite where needed.  In some ways, his playing reminds me Friedrich Gulda's.  The aforementioned Craig Sheppard also came to mind because of Buchbinder's seriousness.  But Buchbinder is his own man.

What I wrote about Buchbinder's RCA cycle basically applies to his Teldec cycle, only more so.  It is more consistent, more straight-forward, in more appealing sound and, as befits a studio cycle played by a younger man, beset by nary a slip.  Buchbinder's very serious approach means that some more playful elements are largely AWOL (31/1, say), some earlier sonatas wilt a bit (Opp 14), and his late sonatas here are very much a young-ish man's take, and they certainly don't rival the best out there, though the super intense, crazy fast opening movement of Op 90 is intriguing. That written, I must say that I enjoy this cycle more than his newer one, and when one considers the seven CDs of piano music included in addition to the sonatas, including a compelling Diabelli, this is the Buchbinder set to get, or would be if I didn't feel impelled to own both.  No fussy, prissy, silly HJ Lim-like dross here; this is the real deal.  It definitely served to tide me over until Guy's cycle is done.