Pollini and Beethoven

[Holden]

I'm listening to Pollini in late LvB - one of the best CD purchases I've ever made! While Pollini has not deliberately sat down in the recording studio to record his take on the 32 (a la Lewis, Brendel, et al) he has slowly but surely recorded all but 7 of the oeuvre - 4, 9, 10, 16, 18, 19 and 20 and according to the DGG website he will finish these as well.

The 2 CD set of the late sonatas has to be one of the best piano recordings I have in my collection and I am wondering if it's worth looking at the rest of the LvB that Pollini has recorded. Someone sent me an MP3 of his Waldstein but I no longer have that so maybe it wasn't memorable and maybe the late sonatas recording was a one off from someone I'd never considered to be a Beethovenian. Does anyone who has heard Pollini in LvB have any opinions? Todd, George, Mandryka, Dirk, et al - what is your take on Pollini's Beethoven?

[George]

Pollini's Beethoven is variable, IMO. His late sonatas are indeed great, but as time went on, that greatness never reappeared, except in his live Waldstein on DG.

One caveat - I don't have all his LvB, but I have most of it.

[Todd]

Does anyone who has heard Pollini in LvB have any opinions?

Pollini's late LvB is among the best on record, and it's the best solo LvB he's done.  I have all of his commercial LvB sonatas, and I enjoy them all, but he's a bit hit and miss.  His 80s stuff, in particular, is not fully up to snuff, but his more recent recordings - Op 10 and Op 2, in particular - are quite good.  The live Waldstein that George mentioned is superb, and his twofer that includes two Op 57s offers the ability to hear both a studio and live take.  I prefer the live.

Pollini is also outstanding in the last three concertos. 

He's a must own for me.

[Mandryka]

Pollini's Beethoven is variable, IMO. His late sonatas are indeed great, but as time went on, that greatness never reappeared, except in his live Waldstein on DG.

One caveat - I don't have all his LvB, but I have most of it.

I remember liking the  live Op 26 on the same disc George?  Anyway I would recommend that one to anyone who wants to explore his Beethoven



There's also a live Appassionata and a live Hammerklavier from Paris in 2009  which I thought was good (the concert had an excellent Schoenberg with it)  and also a Therese which I enjoyed. In the Paris concert he played some Op 126 bagatelles in the encore -- I'd never heard him play these before. Has anyone heard him play the Diabelli Variations? Is the Cd as interesting as his other late Beethoven?

When he's at his best he's very like Michelangeli and Fiorentino-- you feel as though he's creating in the moment of the performance, and everything is chiseled (I can't think of a better word, sorry)

[Roberto]

The 2 CD set of the late sonatas has to be one of the best piano recordings I have in my collection and I am wondering if it's worth looking at the rest of the LvB that Pollini has recorded. Someone sent me an MP3 of his Waldstein but I no longer have that so maybe it wasn't memorable and maybe the late sonatas recording was a one off from someone I'd never considered to be a Beethovenian. Does anyone who has heard Pollini in LvB have any opinions? Todd, George, Mandryka, Dirk, et al - what is your take on Pollini's Beethoven?

I have the DG 2CD late sonatas set and I love it. I can't forget it even I listening to others too. Based on this success I listened to samples from the earlier sonatas but in these sonatas Pollini sometimes too fast and misses many beautiful moments. So I didn't buy them.

[Holden]

Mandryka, the Diabellis can be sampled on youtube (though I didn't find the complete 33). Sounded interesting.

[snyprrr]

What's all this fuss about the sound quality of these Late recordings? Some say 'metallic', and some say 'in the piano', of which both descriptions sound scrumptious. Is there a 'corrected' re-issue?

[George]

What's all this fuss about the sound quality of these Late recordings? Some say 'metallic', and some say 'in the piano', of which both descriptions sound scrumptious. Is there a 'corrected' re-issue?

The original CD set (pictured below) sounds better than the later "Originals" mastering, IMO:

[Roberto]

I have the "Originals" reissue and it sounds great. I had the original LP too but I didn't noticed any difference between them.

[Josquin des Prez]

His recording of the Hammerklavier is pretty intense. The rest of his late Beethoven is also good. To be frank i see a general decline of Pollini's playing as time went on. All of his 70s recordings are great. After that it becomes an hit and miss, not sure why.

[Opus106]

When he's at his best he's very like Michelangeli and Fiorentino-- you feel as though he's creating in the moment of the performance, and everything is chiseled (I can't think of a better word, sorry)

[emphasis mine]

It's interesting that you it put it that way, because that's the way I feel about the late sonatas in general. I just have my Gulda, so I don't know how others play it all that well. Having said that, I know that I downloaded some ostensibly live recordings of the late sonatas by Pollini which I haven't listened to yet. I'll take your post as the much-needed reminder.

[Herman]

The original CD set (pictured below) sounds better than the later "Originals" mastering, IMO:

originally these were LP issues

[Mandryka]

Mandryka, the Diabellis can be sampled on youtube (though I didn't find the complete 33). Sounded interesting.

I'm going to say that Pollini's Diabelli Variations on DG are one the very greatest I have heard. This is partly because of the extraordinary unity of it, it's seamless and once you start listening you just can't tear yourself away, so inevitable is the logic of the music making. Colourful, varied and poetic too IMO.

There are some really unforgettable things in there, particularly at the major transitions in the music. For example Pollini gives Var xx depth, giving it the stature it demands - var xx signals that from now on the music will change, theme abandoned, or mostly abandoned. I'm not so interested in technique, but var xxviii is astonishing even to a non- pianist like myself.

And the dissonances which are relished in Var xxviii give that key variation its due. In many performances it acts as a warning sign that we're about to embark on some "transcendent" music Op 111 style. In the three slow variations which follow, Pollini is no less poetic than Schnabel and Backhaus  for example, or Sokolov or Serkin or Richter or Arrau. But the poetry is rugged and mundane. Wordsworth rather than, I dunno . . . Hopkins. I like that, though I like the other way too, but I can imagine that here some people will be left behind, and for some it will be a deal breaker.

Their loss.

[Expresso]

I haven't heard the sonatas, but his playing on Beethoven's piano concertos and the Diabelli variations is excellent.

[Holden]

I'm going to say that Pollini's Diabelli Variations on DG are one the very greatest I have heard. This is partly because of the extraordinary unity of it, it's seamless and once you start listening you just can't tear yourself away, so inevitable is the logic of the music making. Colourful, varied and poetic too IMO.

There are some really unforgettable things in there, particularly at the major transitions in the music. For example Pollini gives Var xx depth, giving it the stature it demands - var xx signals that from now on the music will change, theme abandoned, or mostly abandoned. I'm not so interested in technique, but var xxviii is astonishing even to a non- pianist like myself.

And the dissonances which are relished in Var xxviii give that key variation its due. In many performances it acts as a warning sign that we're about to embark on some "transcendent" music Op 111 style. In the three slow variations which follow, Pollini is no less poetic than Schnabel and Backhaus  for example, or Sokolov or Serkin or Richter or Arrau. But the poetry is rugged and mundane. Wordsworth rather than, I dunno . . . Hopkins. I like that, though I like the other way too, but I can imagine that here some people will be left behind, and for some it will be a deal breaker.

Their loss.

I found the Diabellis on Spotify and have just finished listening. I would agree that the sense of unity is an aspect that makes this an excellent recording. The somewhat limited dynamic range that Pollini uses for a lot of this recording is a bit of a concern as variations, for me, are all about colour and light, shade and texture. My top Diabelli is from Arrau who also achieves that unity. I can't think of another pianist that does.

The poetry is there for Pollini as well, as it was for Schnabel and one pianist you've not mentioned, Kovacevich. Pollini finishes this work better than any of the above, avoiding a tendency to rush towards the final notes.

All that said, Arrau still sits at the top for me.

[Holden]

Someone sent me an MP3 of his Waldstein but I no longer have that so maybe it wasn't memorable....

I had a rethink about this and did a bit of a search. Actually someone copied the whole CD (11, 12 and 21) and I filed it in my pianists section and not with the LvB sonatas as I should have. Yes, this Waldstein is extremely good indeed and I'm now wondering when Pollini recorded it. Is it from the 70s or is it later? There are no notes with the CDR and the only indication I have is 1998. This is also on the DGG website but very little else.

[Todd]

...I'm now wondering when Pollini recorded it. Is it from the 70s or is it later?

The studio version is from 1988, the live version from 1997, assuming the DG releases.

[Mandryka]

I found the Diabellis on Spotify and have just finished listening. I would agree that the sense of unity is an aspect that makes this an excellent recording. The somewhat limited dynamic range that Pollini uses for a lot of this recording is a bit of a concern as variations, for me, are all about colour and light, shade and texture. My top Diabelli is from Arrau who also achieves that unity. I can't think of another pianist that does.

The poetry is there for Pollini as well, as it was for Schnabel and one pianist you've not mentioned, Kovacevich. Pollini finishes this work better than any of the above, avoiding a tendency to rush towards the final notes.

All that said, Arrau still sits at the top for me.

If you think it's about colour, shading and texture you must love Sokolov!

[Mandryka]

Anyone out there like Pollini's op2s?

[Todd]

Anyone out there like Pollini's op2s?

Yes.