Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Great Gable]

Quite. Though I'm addicted to headhone use - it's when I connect most to the music. I guess it's my funeral if I lose the sense I love so much. Mind you, they can now repair certain types of hearing loss which was once considered terminal, so things aren't all bad.

I ceased to use my phones when I got to a certain stage with my main Hi-Fi. It sounds so wonderful now that I won't use phones. The expansive soundstage, both in width and depth is a real joy. (Sorry - not meaning to rub it in)

[Mark]

(Sorry - not meaning to rub it in)

I'll always use cans, as I can never truly decide what I think of a CD until I've listened to it through headphones at least twice.

Anyway, we're OT. My apologies.

[Todd]

This is a big question, and of course one's personal preferences as to style will have a big impact on what one likes.  I tend to prefer a more intense, faster, leaner approach, though other styles work well.  Hence Kempff, Lucchesini, and Sherman on my favorites list.

My top four are pretty much set at this point – Annie Fischer, Friedrich Gulda (Amadeo), Wilhelm Kempff (mono), and Wilhelm Backhaus (mono).  All are indispensable, and no one else matches up to them for me.

But of course, there are many other fine sets.  Close behind are Robert Silverman, Russell Sherman, Artur Schnabel, Eric Heidsieck, Emil Gilels, Claude Frank, Seymour Lipkin, Andrea Lucchesini, and Barenboim's DVD cycle, all for different reasons. 

(Another winner is Akiyoshi Sako's cycle on Camerata, which I've just about completed.  About "normal" in terms of tempi, Sako plays with a broad dynamic range, and shows a muscular (but not too much so) style, with excitement where it's needed and coolness where appropriate.)

If one must work within a tight budget, I'd say Gulda (Amadeo), Heidsieck, Frank, or Lucchesini are all good places to start.  If one wants a more "popular" (or historically lauded, anyway) approach, then Kempff and Schnabel are hard to beat.

[George]

That can be problematic, but I do listen often to historical keyboard recordings on my headphones.  Takes some adjusting, but I get used to it.

Me, I can handle the noise but I get headaches after awhile. 

[Brian]

If one must work within a tight budget, I'd say Gulda (Amadeo), Heidsieck, Frank, or Lucchesini are all good places to start.  If one wants a more "popular" (or historically lauded, anyway) approach, then Kempff and Schnabel are hard to beat.

Though I remain very happy with the Lucchesini box (as mentioned previously) and have supplemented it with a couple superb performances by Jando, that Gulda is incredibly tempting. And at $35 ... it may be in this shopper's future.

[George]

Judging by those standards, Gulda would be closer to my liking.

On the Eloquence label the recording is remastered... are there any improvements on the sound quality?

I think I read somewhere that the Eloquence remastering and the Brilliant remastering are one in the same.

You can read a review here:

https://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=9625

[Todd]

And at $35 ... it may be in this shopper's future.

I paid around $90 for my set (the Australian packaging with the concertos included), and even then I think it's a tremendous bargain.  It close to the holidays, so treat yourself.

[Brian]

I paid around $90 for my set (the Australian packaging with the concertos included), and even then I think it's a tremendous bargain.  It close to the holidays, so treat yourself.

I just discovered I have free access to the Annie Fischer set through my university (Naxos Music Library). Perhaps that treat for myself will come at no price tag whatsoever. 

EDIT: Come to think of it, Naxos Music Library is a good investment for the sonata-seeker. You get to stream (though not download, unless you record them using freeware like Audacity) the complete cycles of Fischer, Ohlsson, Oppitz, Jando, Brendel (Vox), Kuerti, Houstoun,  and, if you live outside of the USA, Schnabel. You also get the ongoing cycles of Brautigam (fortepiano) and Korstick. Granted, after one or two listens you'll only want to return to a few of these cycles (Fischer, Jando, Brendel, Schnabel, Brautigam, perhaps Ohlsson), but for sheer quantity it's hard to beat!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Goode rates tops for me. Supple, finely shaded, with more nuance - bar for bar - than anybody. Though not lacking in heft by any stretch.

Next is Gilels. Wrought with chiseled beauty.

I'd also rate Richter. Though tantalizingly incomplete.

Both Annie Fischer and Kempff (mono) have interesting insights but I've yet to be 100% won over by either of them. Annie's touch lacks a certain grace I look for in Beethoven while Kempff has a sort of 'airy' quality that has me wishing he'd just crank it!! sometimes. Let his hair down, or something...

[Holden]

I just discovered I have free access to the Annie Fischer set through my university (Naxos Music Library). Perhaps that treat for myself will come at no price tag whatsoever. 

EDIT: Come to think of it, Naxos Music Library is a good investment for the sonata-seeker. You get to stream (though not download, unless you record them using freeware like Audacity) the complete cycles of Fischer, Ohlsson, Oppitz, Jando, Brendel (Vox), Kuerti, Houstoun

Are we talking Michael Houston here? His LvB cycle is very good indeed but I can't imagine how you would be able to hear it via Naxos Music Library. If, however, this is the case, then how do I sign up?

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I've seen a few Anton Kuerti sets on LP lately (forget the label). Are these worth having? Are they out on CD?

[Expresso]

I think I read somewhere that the Eloquence remastering and the Brilliant remastering are one in the same.

You can read a review here:

https://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=9625

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=81236

Here it says that the mastering is different. Eloquence always uses a technology called AMSI (Ambient Surround Imaging technology).
I have some CD's from eloquence, i'll give them another spin to see what this AMSI is all about.

[Mark]

Goode rates tops for me. Supple, finely shaded, with more nuance - bar for bar - than anybody. Though not lacking in heft by any stretch.

Amen. 0:)

[val]

My choice would be Gulda (BRILLIANT CLASSICS). Only one weak point: the Sonata opus 53.

But there are some other extraordinary versions:

Arrau (PHILIPS), sometimes heavy and artificial, but with extraordinary moments: the opus 2/2, 10/1, 22, 53 and 101.

Schnabel (NAXOS), violent, full of energy and enthusiasm, but also extraordinary in the slow movements (the Largo e mesto of the opus 10/3 is a model that no one ever reached).

Backhaus (DECCA), severe, with a remarkable architecture of the works. He is always more concerned with the global movement that with the details. Some of his great moments are the opus 26, 28, 31/2, 57, 79, and a sublime opus 110.

Kempff (DG, 1951), a splendid sound, very poetic. In certain works, however, I wish he had more greatness (opus 53, 57, 106). The versions of the opus 2/3, 27/1 and 2, 28, 78 and 90 are very beautiful.

The first version of Brendel (VOX) very simple and natural, almost fragile sometimes, is also very interesting (in any case, more than his later versions to PHILIPS).

Regarding more recent versions, I heard some interpretations of Richard Goode. He seems too pale and absent in some moments but the slow movements in general are good.

[Don]

Are we talking Michael Houston here? His LvB cycle is very good indeed but I can't imagine how you would be able to hear it via Naxos Music Library. If, however, this is the case, then how do I sign up?

Houstoun's cycle is on the Morrison Music Trust label, and this label is part of the Naxos Music Library. 

[Brian]

Houstoun's cycle is on the Morrison Music Trust label, and this label is part of the Naxos Music Library. 

Seconded, and thank you Holden for the recommendation. Having discovered the riches available on NML I am ready to go sonata-crazy!

[George]

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=81236

Here it says that the mastering is different. Eloquence always uses a technology called AMSI (Ambient Surround Imaging technology).
I have some CD's from eloquence, i'll give them another spin to see what this AMSI is all about.

I have the Eloquence and Decca versions of 4 of Backhaus stereo LvB sonatas and remember comparing them side by side. What I remember from what came out of that is that the Eloquence sounded more "produced," while the Decca sounded more natural.

[Lethevich]

The real expert on this question is Todd. I asked him and he recommended the almost brand-new set of Mr Andrea Lucchesini - recorded live just a few years ago - on the Italian label Stradivarius. I could not be happier. Lucchesini has (as Todd promised) a uniquely beautiful piano tone, a gentle lyricism that you will either love or hate, depending on how you like your Beethoven. (He's not for all tastes, probably.) He is not, however, afraid to put in the full force when necessary. And the sound is marvelous. And the price is dirt cheap - you might be able to find it for around $45.

I also listen regularly to Jeno Jando's recordings, and love them. His No. 32 is growing on me rather rapidly.

Todd's review of Lucchesini

I got the Lucchesini thanks to Todd's opinion of it as well - I was looking for a modern SQ recording to suppliment my others, and this has been perfect.

[jwinter]

Over the weekend I had some time to kill (in-laws in the house  ), so I ripped some fairly modern Beethoven sonata sets (Goode, Kovacevich, Brendel III, Barenboim DG) for my iPod, there to reside with Kempff, Gilels, & the usual suspects.  Which prompted me to ask:

What is your favorite sonata set recorded in the last 20 years, and why? 

If you have listened to many sets (Hi Todd & George!), do you think that the level of Beethoven interpretation, on average, has improved over time?  Gotten worse?  Are there any trends? Ie, are most of your personal top 10 by pianists who have long since shuffled off the mortal coil?

[Todd]

What is your favorite sonata set recorded in the last 20 years, and why? 

If you have listened to many sets (Hi Todd & George!), do you think that the level of Beethoven interpretation, on average, has improved over time?

From the last 20 years, only Russell Sherman and Robert Silverman currently crack my Top 10 (though it's not carved in stone).  For reasons, you can read my write-ups of those two cycles.  Andrea Lucchesini almost makes the cut, too, and Seymour Lipkin isn't far behind.  Michaël Levinas's cycle is turning out to be an excellent one, but I still have to sample some late sonatas to be able to rate him, and Akiyoshi Sako's playing sounds better with each successive hearing.  And even Barenboim's newest cycle has some formidable strengths.

As to whether the playing has gotten any better, and so on, I'd have to say: Not really.  But it hasn't really gotten any worse, either.  The old Legends deserve their reputations, but some newer/younger pianists have better techniques and are less prone to individual excesses (Sherman aside!), and some can really plumb the depths.  One heartening thing, at least for me, is that the best of newer/younger pianists make the music sound fresh and vital, which is really what counts.