Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Drasko]

I got it for $3 in the bargain bin at a local shop back when such things existed. I am very fond of it, but fair warning; one must love the sound of a fortepiano to really enjoy this, as his instrument (an early Erard, IIRC) is not a reproduction, and (ala Beethoven) he makes it rattle from time to time. Definitely a hit in MY book.

It's 1806 Broadwood, and it sure does sound like 1806, and I also like it for that. 

[Mandryka]

His [Kempff's]Op. 110 in the stereo set is wonderful.

I thought the mono was much more interesting than the stereo. As far as I can hear in the stereo he just tosses the music off, but in the mono it's not like that at all.

But maybe you don't hear that -- was it you who once minimised the differences? I can't remember. Anyway, if it was you, I don't hear it like that in op 110. And not in Op 2/2 neither.

[George]

I thought the mono was much more interesting than the stereo. As far as I can hear in the stereo he just tosses the music off, but in the mono it's not like that at all.

In the Op. 110 what I ma looking for is to be moved emotionally. The stereo definitely does this for me. I will revisit the mono soon.

EDIT - In the opening to the mono, he playing is beautiful, but soon after he rushes ahead. The movement continues in this way, with passages of beauty, followed but others that sound too rushed to me. I don't hear this in the stereo recording.   

EDIT 2 - The second movement is strange, with little impact given to those opening chords. It's also way too slow for me.

But maybe you don't hear that -- was it you who once minimised the differences? I can't remember. Anyway, if it was you, I don't hear it like that in op 110. And not in Op 2/2 neither.

No, it wasn't me, I surely hear differences in the mono and stereo. Each set has a number of performances that best the one on the other set.

[mc ukrneal]

In the Op. 110 what I ma looking for is to be moved emotionally. The stereo definitely does this for me. I will revisit the mono soon.

EDIT - In the opening to the mono, he playing is beautiful, but soon after he rushes ahead. The movement continues in this way, with passages of beauty, followed but others that sound too rushed to me. I don't hear this in the stereo recording.   

Bit confused here. Are you saying it should be slower? He is not really all that different in time than nearly anyone else I have (up to 30 seconds, but most are 10-20 seconds slower in that first movement). Although, Backhaus is about 30-40 seconds faster even than Kempff! Pollini is more or less similar in timing. That's just looking quickly at a few comparisons. Are you starting out with an ideal performance of how you think it should be?

[david-jw]

I bought it for the diabelli but op 111 is included and whilst i found the first movt a bit rushed,  Katchen's arrietta is sublime imo. very moving, and i'm pretty burned out on different versions of the late sonata's atm.

[George]

Bit confused here. Are you saying it should be slower?

Sorry, I can't explain it any better than I did.

[Mandryka]

I bought it for the diabelli but op 111 is included and whilst i found the first movt a bit rushed,  Katchen's arrietta is sublime imo. very moving, and i'm pretty burned out on different versions of the late sonata's atm.

I've never heard the Op 111. The Diabellies are exciting.

Katchen's someone who I'd like to hear more of.

[Holden]

I have this and the previous posts have prompted me to give the Arietta a good listen which is what I'm doing now. Arrau on DVD is my benchmark for this performance so it will be interesting to see how Katchen works this sublime piece of music.

[PaulSC]

Stewart Goodyear, whose recording of the late sonatas (28–32) earned some favorable reviews a couple of years ago — in part for his exceptionally dynamic and colorful Hammerklavier — now has a two-disc set of the "Middle Sonatas" on deck. It's due in mid-March on the Marquis label, and it encompasses sonatas numbers 13 to 18 (i.e. opus numbers 27, 28, and 31).



[asin]B003XQE0K4[/asin]

[Todd]

 


A couple more young pianists have joined the LvB piano sonata cycle fray.  Jonathan Biss has already recorded some Beethoven, which to my ears is quite good.  But in person he's not quite so captivating.  (Maybe I caught him on a bad night.)  Anyway, his cycle could be interesting.  HJ Lim is a fresh-faced Korean pianist who is starting her recording career with the New Testamant.  Ballsy.  How would it be?

First, to Biss.  He starts off with Op 10/1, and he opens with nice, swift, but supremely controlled ascending arpeggios. His approach is classical but energetic and most satisfying. The slow movement is fairly conventional, and meticulously played. The final movement is performed along similar lines. Op 22 is next, and not only does it sound light and quick, it sounds almost like Biss is having fun playing it. It just sounds jaunty. The whole work comes across this way. Op 26 is a bit heftier where it needs to be – in the funeral march, here nicely tense – but it is otherwise very much an energetic, young man's Beethoven.  The disc closes with a nicely energetic take on 81a.  It comes across more middle period than late period, and it lacks the emotional gravitas of better recordings, but it blends nicely with the rest of the disc and maintains a similar style. 

The only quibble I have with the disc has to do with sound. It's too close. It's not as bad as with Jean Muller's or Craig Sheppard's claustrophobically close recordings, but the microphones could have been placed back a few feet. I could have done without Biss' heavy breathing, an artifact of the close sound. But tone and dynamics are pretty darned good.

Now, to HJ Lim.  Well, um, she certainly likes to play fast.  Crazy fast.  Reckless, even.  And she really likes to fiddle with tempos all the time, without, it seems, rhyme or reason.  I started with disc 2.  Op 7 launches out of the gate faster than any version I have heard.  The dotted rhythm is crack-addled chimp fast.  She pushes and pulls the tempi around.  Hey, here's a passage – why not try an insane accelerando?  Why not, indeed?  The Op 14 sonatas are pressed way too hard.  Charm and lyricism are mostly AWOL.  Op 27/1 almost withstands the onslaught, but in addition to the relentless speed, there is some nearly as relentless key pounding here and there.  (The same thing showed up in Op 7, just not as negatively.)  Lim's tone is never harsh, but I can't say that subtlety is in evidence anywhere.  The Mondschein sounds odd.  Lim rushes the opening, eschews dark and hazy, going instead for terse and disjointed.  The second movement ain't too bad, and is pretty straightforward, but the closer alternates between nervous and twitchy and unrelenting.  Fast and loud, loud and fast, fast and faster, loud and fast.  It's nearly exhausting despite its brevity.

I was then ready for disc one.  Ms Lim starts off here recording career with nothing less than Op 106.  As I expected, she plays the opener fast, fast, fast – though not faster than Gieseking or Gulda at their fastest.  I was kind of looking for something more, though I knew I would not get it.  In this sonata, another trait of Ms Lim's playing started to become more bothersome: lack of clarity.  Some of the notes sort of just blur together.  Frequently.  But, did I mention it's fast?  The second movement is fast, too.  The slow movement is super fast.  At a shade under thirteen minutes, I do believe it is the fastest rendition of the slow movement I have heard.  But it doesn't flow.  Sometimes it sounds like a mass of notes being played almost at random.  It doesn't convey anything much for me.  And the constant tempo changes, ugh.  The final movement Largo is actually pretty good, but then Lim takes the fugue at a breathless pace and starts pounding out the notes on top of that.  Op 22 follows, and it is the most successful of the lot.  It's plenty quick and energetic, and Lim's tendencies do not detract too much.  That written, it's hardly a great performance.  Op 81a ends the first disc, and the whole thing sounds more like early LvB than the end of the middle period.  The slow movement lacks gravitas, but it does have some pounding.  The finale is an athletic exercise more than anything else.  There's a whole lot of Lim and not a whole lot of LvB here.  Throw in somewhat reverberant, slightly muddled sound, and this isn't exactly a prize.

So, Biss is pretty darned good.  His first disc is a solid opener.  I look forward to the next volume.  Lim's not good.  Her playing is certainly unique, no doubt of that.  It's really, really, really fast.  For those who like that, here's a neato start to a cycle.  I'm kind of thinking I want something more.

[George]

Lim's not good.  Her playing is certainly unique, no doubt of that.  It's really, really, really fast.  For those who like that, here's a neato start to a cycle.  I'm kind of thinking I want something more.

Like a centerfold?

[Todd]

Like a centerfold?

I'd settle for better music making.

[springrite]

Like a centerfold?

She needs to spread it out a lot more.

(That IS a musical reference, of course)

[Tyson]

The chick is ballsy.  Funny.

[Holden]

I've already posted a brief review of the HJ Lim (but I can't find it)

In it I totally concur with Todd but I'd go a step further to say that this is some of the worst Beethoven playing I've ever heard. If you are going to play fast you have to have the technique - she doesn't! If you are going to play LvB you have to understand the music - she doesn't! I never thought I'd say this but I'd rather hear Lang Lang!

[prémont]

She needs to spread it out a lot more.

The legs apart, of course.

[Oldnslow]

Todd or anyone---have you heard the Stewart Goodyear CD on Marquis of the late sonatas or his new release of the middle sonatas, including Op.31? I read that he just played all 32 sonatas in concert in ONE day---beginning in the morning and ending about midnight, with a couple of food breaks...hehehe.

[val]

I think I will try the Bliss recording you mentioned. His version of Schumann's Kreisleriana was very beautiful with some sublime moments (the 2nd piece in special).

[Todd]

Todd or anyone---have you heard the Stewart Goodyear CD on Marquis of the late sonatas or his new release of the middle sonatas, including Op.31?

Not yet, though I've read some other positive things.  My guess is that I will hear him at some point.  I'm not sold on the 32 in one day.  I don't know if even I could handle that much LvB in one day.

[Oldnslow]

I listened to Goodyears' middle sonata set the last couple of days (Op. 27/28/31) and was mightily impressed, both interpretively and technically. Very intense in places, yet he is able to bring out the inherent humor in many of these works. The recording quality, criticized by reviewers, didn't bother me much and the ear easily adjusts. I liked his playing so much I ordered the late sonata set.  Apparantly he plays the Hammerklavier at Beethoven's tempo markings, something Schnabel did but couldn't bring off technically. Maybe Goodyear can.  I assume he will record all the sonatas, which I look forward to.  I'd even attend a marathan concert of all 32, should he choose to bring it to the Pacific Northwest.