Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Todd]

The Sohn cycle appears to have been pulled from all commercial streaming sites, and as far as I can tell it was not released in physical form, at least outside the Korean market.  That's common for Korean market releases.  It may be available on torrent sites.

[lordlance]

It's somewhat amusing (to me) that despite being twenty years older than the Brautigam cycle, Badura-Skoda's fortepiano sounds much better and less - you'll have to excuse me if this is too technical for some of you - clanky.   

[Todd]

Eight more cycles down, which can only mean it's time to refresh The One True List:


The Top Ten – in order, as determined by Science!
Minsoo Sohn
Andrea Lucchesini
Annie Fischer
Daniel-Ben Pienaar
Irina Mejoueva (Bijin)
Artur Schnabel
Russell Sherman
Wilhelm Kempff (DG, mono)
Yu Kosuge
Eric Heidsieck

[Rudolf Serkin & Sviatoslav Richter; OK, they didn't complete a cycle, but this is where they belong]


Second Tier - Cycles 11-20 (in alphabetical order)
Francois Frederic Guy
Friedrich Gulda (Amadeo)
Kazune Shimizu (Sony)
Paul Badura-Skoda (JVC/Astree)
Robert Riefling
Takahiro Sonoda (Evica)
Wilhelm Backhaus (mono)
Wilhelm Backhaus (stereo)
Wilhelm Kempff (DG, stereo)
Yusuke Kikuchi


Second Tier - Remainder (in alphabetical order)
Bernard Roberts II
Claude Frank
Daniel Barenboim (EMI, 2005)
Eduardo del Pueyo
Emil Gilels
Fazil Say
Friedrich Gulda (Orfeo)
Hie-Yon Choi
Maurizio Pollini
Maurizio Zaccaria
Michael Levinas
Peter Takacs
Robert Silverman
Rudolf Buchbinder (Unitel)
Seymour Lipkin
Takahiro Sonoda (Denon)
Tamami Honma
Younwha Lee

[Bruce Hungerford; OK, he didn't complete a cycle, but this is where he belongs]


Third Tier (in alphabetical order)
Aquiles Delle Vigne
Abdel Rahman El Bacha (Mirare)
Akiyoshi Sako
Alfred Brendel (Philips, 1970s)
Alfred Brendel (Vox)
Alfredo Perl (Arte Nova)
Andras Schiff
Boris Giltburg
Claudio Arrau (1960s)
Claudio Arrau (1980s)
Craig Sheppard
Daniel Barenboim (EuroArts, 1983/84)
Daniel Barenboim (DG)
Daniel Barenboim (EMI, 1960s)
David Allen Wehr
Dieter Zechlin
Friedrich Gulda (Decca)
Garrick Ohlsson
Gerard Willems
Gerhard Oppitz
Ian Hobson
Ichiro Nodaira
Igor Levit
Irina Mejoueva (Waka)
James Brawn
Jingge Yan
John O'Conor
Jonathan Biss
Konstantin Scherbakov
Kun-Woo Paik
Louie Lortie
Malcolm Bilson, et al (Beghin is second tier)
Malcolm Binns
Martin Roscoe
Massimiliano Damerini
Michael Houstoun (Morrison Trust)
Michael Houstoun (Rattle)
Michael Korstick
Muriel Chemin
Paul Badura-Skoda (Gramola)
Pavaali Jumppanen
Peter Rösel
Robert Silverman (AudioHigh)
Rudolf Buchbinder (Teldec)
Saleem Abboud Ashkar
Sequeira Costa
Stephen Kovacevich
Stewart Goodyear
Walter Gieseking (EMI/Tahra hybrid)
Wilhelm Kempff (1961, King International)
Yaeko Yamane
Yurina Tetsu
Yves Nat


Fourth Tier (in alphabetical order)
Abdel Rahman El Bacha (Forlane)
Aldo Ciccolini
Alfred Brendel (Philips, 1990s)
Andre De Groote
Angela Hewitt
Anton Kuerti
Christian Leotta
Daniel Barenboim (DG, 2020)
Dino Ciani
Georges Pludermacher
Giovanni Bellucci
Idil Biret
Ikuyo Nakamichi
Jean Bernard Pommier
Jean Muller
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Jeno Jando
John Kane
John Lill
Konstantin Lifschitz
Llŷr Williams
Mari Kodama
Maria Grinburg
Martin Rasch
Martino Tirimo   
Melodie Zhao
Mikhail Lidsky
Paul Lewis
Richard Goode
Robert Benz
Robert Taub
Ronald Brautigam
Rudolf Buchbinder (RCA)
Sebastian Forster
Steven Herbert Smith
Steven Masi
Timothy Ehlen
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Yukio Yokoyama


Near Bottom Tier (in sorta particular order)
HJ Lim
Rita Bouboulidi
Tatiana Nikolayeva
Anne Oland
Mordecai Shehori


Eighth Circle of Hell
[Glenn Gould; OK, he didn't complete a cycle, but this is where he belongs]


Crime Against Humanity
Riccardo Schwartz

[Todd]

And here's how the tiers break down in visual form: