Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[George]

Did Kovacevich ever record the Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas?  I thought his set on Philips is incomplete ...

It is and he did (on EMI), but for my money the Philips stuff is better.

[Coopmv]

It is and he did (on EMI), but for my money the Philips stuff is better.

I only have his set on Philips, which generally has better SQ ...

[kishnevi]

There's this budget trio available for less than $10 US including s/h on Amazon MP:
[asin]B001BJ84B6[/asin]
there's also a budget double CD, but everything on the double CD is in the three CD set, and the double is only about half a dollar cheaper on Amazon MP. 

[Brian]

Oh lordy. I just started listening to Francois-Frederic Guy on NML. This man is good.

[DavidRoss]

Did Kovacevich ever record the Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas?  I thought his set on Philips is incomplete ...

Yes, and his complete set on EMI is one of the very finest.

[Todd]

Oh lordy. I just started listening to Francois-Frederic Guy on NML. This man is good.

Yes, yes he is.  The second volume is released on physical media on June 12th in the US.  I will be buying it on June 12th.

[Leon]

This review in the NYT of HJ Lim's performance of the Beethoven sonatas No. 29 & 30 contains some interesting information concerning her interpretative approach to these works:

An idiosyncratic player with plenty of original ideas and the technique to carry them out, Ms. Lim has devoted considerable time to studying not only the works themselves but also Beethoven biographies and letters and other historical materials. For her EMI recording (to be released exclusively on iTunes), she has written her own extensive notes, grouping the sonatas into eight unconventional headings like "Aspects of an Inflexible Personality" (Op. 2, Nos. 1, 2 and 3) and "Extremes in Collision" (Op. 10, Nos. 1, 2 and 3).

During a postconcert discussion with the composer Daniel Felsenfeld, Ms. Lim — an engaging speaker whose French-accented English reflects her years in France, where she moved without her family at 12 to study — spoke about her aim of attaining the right balance between composer and interpreter. "Mutual understanding and empathy," she added, are essential when performing these sonatas.

Ms. Lim has spoken of Beethoven's "craziness," and she emphasized the unsettled elements of the sonatas here, like the intense rolling chords interspersed with the gentle melody of the opening of Opus 109 and the wild fugue of the "Hammerklavier."

In 2010 she performed all 32 sonatas over the course of eight days in Paris and, as the review indicates, will release a recording of the complete set this year, in what would appear NOT to be a cursory reading of the works.  I am usually skeptical of compete recordings of the sonatas, but Ms Kim seems to have given considerable thought to how each work fits into her classification scheme and creates some interest for me to hear what she's done.

It is too bad that the complete set is being released exclusively through iTunes - not only because of the notes which she has written and which would I would prefer to have in a booklet, but because iTunes is my  least preferable source for buying music.

[Todd]

It is too bad that the complete set is being released exclusively through iTunes

No it's not.  My set shipped today from Amazon UK.  It cost me $30 total.  Ms Lim's first volume was decidedly crappy, and I do not have high expectations for the rest of the cycle, but I must hear it.

[Leon]

No it's not.  My set shipped today from Amazon UK.  It cost me $30 total.  Ms Lim's first volume was decidedly crappy, and I do not have high expectations for the rest of the cycle, but I must hear it.

Good news that it is available beyond iTunes, but it is not good to hear that you think her first set was "crappy".  If the interview is an accurate indication of how much thought she put into her interpretive decisions, it these are not careless performances.

At that price, I'm probably going to bite.

[Todd]

If the interview is an accurate indication of how much thought she put into her interpretive decisions, it these are not careless performances.

I have no doubt Ms Lim put a lot of thought into her interpretations.  I do not like her interpretations thus far.  It also seems to me that she may not have the technique to deliver on all her ideas.  She loves to play fast, but clarity suffers.  Compared to Stewart Goodyear, who also likes to play fast, she sounds labored, cloudy, and imprecise.  Perhaps that's part of her interpretation, along with pointless changes in tempi.

Price has gone up about 10 quid since I ordered in April.

[Sergeant Rock]

No it's not.  My set shipped today from Amazon UK.

Mine shipped on the 19th. I expect it tomorrow.

Sarge

[Todd]

Mine shipped on the 19th. I expect it tomorrow.

Hrumph!

[kishnevi]

Ms Lim's first volume was decidedly crappy, and I do not have high expectations for the rest of the cycle, but I must hear it.

Only a true and dedicated collector could say that. 

I have the two volumes of Guy in my shopping cart at Arkiv for order this week.

FWIW, I've also seen a DVD at the local b&m store of Guy playing (I think) three LvB sonatas in concert.  Going by the picture on the cover, it's a very young Guy, in some sort of outdoor venue.  I had already decided to get the CD recordings,  so I didn't get it, but a true and dedicated collector might.  Just sayin'.

[Leon]

Even though I'm not a fan of iTunes, I may get these performances from there since they are selling the entire set for $9.99. 

[Brian]

I have the two volumes of Guy in my shopping cart at Arkiv for order this week.

I've heard Guy do No 12 (Op 26) and Op 49 No 1 and on the basis of those alone I'd buy the two full volumes if I had some more cash and storage space. Really good.

[Todd]

I have the two volumes of Guy in my shopping cart at Arkiv for order this week.

I've got the FFG second volume carted, as well as Bavouzet's first volume.  Next up, probably, will be Yusuke Kikuchi.  Anyone else notice a dearth of LvB piano sonata recordings to select from these days?

...but a true and dedicated collector might.  Just sayin'.

Hmmm . . .



On a related note, Irina Mejoueva's cycle has been issued in complete form in Japan.

[Sergeant Rock]

HJ Lim's cycle arrived this morning: in a cardboard box, four jewel cases each with its own booklet:






Sarge

[jlaurson]

HJ Lim's cycle arrived this morning: in a cardboard box, four jewel cases each with its own booklet:

Sarge

Some subtitles, those are.

May I ask why you went for that cycle?? (Please no obvious answers. I have eyes, too.)

[Sergeant Rock]

Some subtitles, those are.

May I ask why you went for that cycle?? (Please no obvious answers. I have eyes, too.)

1) To hear something different; to hear her idiosyncratic way with Beethoven (whether good or bad is yet to be determined)

2) Irresistible price for a new cycle: 8 CDs for the price of one. (Edit: well, it was irresistible when I ordered it last month; the price has since gone up)

Sarge

[Todd]

Can't wait to hear how eternally feminine Beethoven was in his dotage.