Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Todd]

So if there is a 1955 cycle, it wasn't for Intercord. It may have been for Westminster. I don't know if the Heritage Society one is the same as the Intercord (I would assume so much).

So it's back to a possible Westminster cycle only.  If there is one, I want it.  If not, that's a unicorn I don't have to chase.

[Marc]

So it's back to a possible Westminster cycle only.  If there is one, I want it.  If not, that's a unicorn I don't have to chase.

http://www.badura-skoda.cc/en/contact.html

[Todd]

http://www.badura-skoda.cc/en/contact.html

As I posted before in this thread, I already tried that.  I never heard back.  Feel free to give it a try.

[Marc]

As I posted before in this thread, I already tried that.  I never heard back.  Feel free to give it a try.

Ah. Sorry.
I missed that.

And I won't try.

Probably, in a time where only letters and telephones existed, we would have had more chance.

[Todd]

I should note that I was working in concert with a Briton trying to hunt down the same information.  He likewise received no information. 

For kicks and grins, I'm going to contact https://bpse.org/, of which PBS is the international president and Andras Schiff is the UK president.  I predict I will not hear anything back.

[Marc]

[...]
For kicks and grins, I'm going to contact https://bpse.org/, of which PBS is the international president and Andras Schiff is the UK president.  I predict I will not hear anything back.

[Parsifal]

RCA started recording in stereo in early 1954. It's possible that Westminster recorded in stereo in 1955 even though they didn't release in stereo until a few years later. It's also possible that the MHS set was artificial stereo from a mono original.

Wikipedia says MHS was founded in 1962 and Intercord in 1966. But the online discography has a recording date of 1955 for the Intercord/MHS cycle. My guess is those labels licensed the recordings from whoever owned Westminster's catalog at the time.

Will be interesting to see what Jens learns!

Westminster was acquired by ABC records in the "early 60's," but another interesting tidbit is that MHS was founded by one of the founders of Westminster.  The Westminster PBS/Beethoven sonatas started in 1953, too early to imagine that they were making stereo master tapes.

I can confirm that the information on BPS's website is faulty at least in this regard: The INTERCORD cycle was the one recorded in 1970 for the Konzerthaus which was then edited by Rico Gulda und Albert Franz for CD release on Gramola in the early 2000s.

So if there is a 1955 cycle, it wasn't for Intercord. It may have been for Westminster. I don't know if the Heritage Society one is the same as the Intercord (I would assume so much).

The RBS web site lists 3 LPs of Beethoven Sonatas on Westminster. I've seen one (Sonata #28, 30) offered for sale on eBay with Westminster branded cover art. Another with three named sonatas is included in the PBS edition on DG.

Surprised by Beauty, if you have any contacts at Deutsche Grammophon, they would be in a position to find out. Maybe they could look into the log book of Westminster tapes and see how many PBS/Beethoven Sonata albums are in there. They must have access, since they were able to dig up that one disc of Beethoven Sonatas.

[Parsifal]

FWIW, I sent the suggestion of PBS Beethoven Sonatas from the Westminster Catalog as a suggestion to Australian Eloquence. Feels like a message in a bottle.

Ah. Sorry.
I missed that.

And I won't try.

Probably, in a time where only letters and telephones existed, we would have had more chance.

Yes, in those days when effort was required to send a message there was a lot less fluff to wade through. Maybe the thing to do is to actually send a letter through the mail. If you made the effort to buy the stamp, maybe you can be depended upon to make the effort to buy the thing if they release it.

[Todd]

Electronic contacts are easy, so I already contacted bpse.org, and I used DG's contact feature to inquire about both the possible existence of a Paul Badura-Skoda cycle for Westminster and the possibility of reissuing Gotthard Kladetzky's cycle.

[Parsifal]

Maybe in classical world this counts as "buzz."

[Todd]

Maybe in classical world this counts as "buzz."

That's reserved for Lang Lang.

[Pat B]

Westminster was acquired by ABC records in the "early 60's," but another interesting tidbit is that MHS was founded by one of the founders of Westminster.  The Westminster PBS/Beethoven sonatas started in 1953, too early to imagine that they were making stereo master tapes.

What I was primarily thinking, but did not clearly express, is that I doubt there are four complete cycles.

Agree that Westminster 1953 is extremely unlikely to be stereo. (I had only seen 1955, which is early but plausible for a small label. Mercury went stereo in 1955.) That may be a moot point. Jens says Gramola and Intercord are the same cycle. The tidiest explanation for the "stereo" label on the MHS set is that it is also the Intercord.

[Jo498]

I do not know about these piano recordings but the Westminster orchestral recordings I have from ca. 1955 or even 1957 are all still mono. I'd guess they started around 1957/58 (Scherchen's stereo Eroica and Mozart Requiem are from 1958).

[Parsifal]

My correspondence with Eloquence Australia

Paul Badura-Skoda recorded a series of Beethoven Piano Sonatas for Westminster in 1953-55 (perhaps even a complete cycle, the discographies available on-line seem to be incomplete). Deutsche Grammophon acquired this catalog and has release a small subset. It would be wonderful to see a series of Paul Badura-Skoda recordings from the Westminster catalog, particularly the unreleased Beethoven Sonatas.

Thank you

I'm encouraged. I think "Thank You" was written by a human.

Come on, now it is up to the rest of you to heighten the "buzz."

[Parsifal]

How does one go about hiring a Russian Troll Army?

[Marc]

[...]
I'm encouraged. I think "Thank You" was written by a human.
[...]

[Parsifal]

I'm not kidding, it arrived several hours after my email. If I had gotten a three paragraph reply 10 milliseconds after hitting send I would know that no human had seen it. 

[Marc]

I'm not kidding, it arrived several hours after my email. If I had gotten a three paragraph reply 10 milliseconds after hitting send I would know that no human had seen it. 

I didn't think you were kidding... I just found the way you described it funny (in a positive way).

[Todd]

Unexpectedly, I heard back from the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe.  I explained that I was on a mission to collect all Beethoven piano sonata cycles, and that I needed some clarification as to how many times PBS recorded the cycle.  The reply from the administrator of BPSE (I excluded her name) more or less referenced the PBS web-site.  This sort of makes me conclude that PBS recorded two cycles only, which I already own.  Hopefully, DG will respond and offer definitive information regarding whether a Westminster set exists.


Hi Todd,

Thanks for your message. I believe the Intercord (12 LP) and the Gramola cycles are not the same. The first set is recorded in 1955 and the latter is recorded in 1969/70. And it seems Badura-Skoda recorded only separate sonatas for the Westminster Label.

You will find his discog of Beethoven recordings here. Hope this helps and good luck with your mission!

Best,

[George]