Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Opus106]

Oh, yes, I know she's recording Beethoven, and doing a pretty good job of it, too. I just didn't know that she usually records on a Fazoli--thought that was a unique situation for her second WTC on record.

Ah. She describes how this model/make helps in her interpretation (at least in Vol.1) in the notes.

[PaulSC]

The Goodyear box is news to me to. Coincidently, I just listened to his second volume (sonatas 13–18) straight through. A disappointing experience on the whole: I found his playing very monochromatic and with too little variety in the shaping of phrases. The slow movement of 31/2 is particularly stiff, with all the decorative runs played blazingly fast against a rather mechanical left hand.

I THINK I still like volume 1, with the late sonatas, somewhat better. I'm a bit afraid to go back to it right now.

(Sorry, sanantonio, not trying to spoil your news...)

[Todd]

I find Goodyear is at his best in more overtly virtuosic pieces - eg, 2/3, 53, 57 (especially) - and his handling of 106 is the best controlled among the faster recordings (eg, Gieseking, Lim, even Gulda), though artistically I'll take Gulda.  In some ways he strikes me as a less masterful version of Gulda, and he offers the perfect antidote to Lim's fast playing.  Goodyear can actually manage the tempi he chooses.  I'd like to hear him live, because I'm not confident the Marquis sound is wholly accurate; I've found the few other recordings I've heard from that label to have less than exemplary sound.

[PaulSC]

I find Goodyear is at his best in more overtly virtuosic pieces - eg, 2/3, 53, 57 (especially) - and his handling of 106 is the best controlled among the faster recordings (eg, Gieseking, Lim, even Gulda), though artistically I'll take Gulda.  In some ways he strikes me as a less masterful version of Gulda, and he offers the perfect antidote to Lim's fast playing.  Goodyear can actually manage the tempi he chooses.  I'd like to hear him live, because I'm not confident the Marquis sound is wholly accurate; I've found the few other recordings I've heard from that label to have less than exemplary sound.

Todd, do you know Georg Friedrich Schenck's 106? I don't, but I thought of you when I read the following recently in the Piano Classics catalog:

Catalogue Number: PCL0027
German pianist Georg Friedrich Schenck, a pianist of colossal power and scope, gained an international reputation as teacher of an unorthodox "Creative Interpretation Technique", which resulted in stunning results (international prize winner Evgeny Bozhanov is a student of Schenck).
Schenck the pianist (born in 1953) studied with Claudio Arrau and Andre Watts. He recorded the complete Beethoven piano sonatas and complete piano works of Brahms. His interpretation of Beethoven's notoriously difficult Hammerklavier Sonata adheres to the original metronome marks of Beethoven, a revelation of Beethoven's ideas and spirit!

("resulted in stunning results," hmm...)

[Todd]

Todd, do you know Georg Friedrich Schenck's 106?

I don't, but I may have to investigate his work.  Perhaps it blows the others I mentioned away, perhaps not.  BTW, Robert Taub also used the original metronome marks, but I have not yet splurged on volume four of his cycle.  The one volume I have is rather uninvolving - fast and technically sure, but not much there beyond that.  Perhaps I'll revisit that again soon, too.  It's rare for pianists to attempt 106 as written, but not unheard of. 

[Madiel]

Yamaha owns Bösendorfer.

Relatively recent development that, in the last few years.

I know because it was all over the Tori Amos fan world.  Her albums don't say she plays "piano", they say she plays "Bösendorfer" or "Böse".

[mc ukrneal]

This was getting lost with all the Berlioz posts in the Listening thread and may be of more interest here anyway:

Having missed out on Rudolf Firkusny's disc of Beethoven sonatas, I decided that I would buy a copy (new or used) if it went under $10. So when it sold for $9.99, I snapped it up. A shame I have waited to listen to it for so long. I started right away with Op 109 (my favorite) and it is outstanding. Shame that the sound has some background hiss. When he plays loud, you don't hear it at all, but of course is noticeable when quiet. Thing is, it is so good that I stopped noticing it entirely. I am really floored. The quality of the playing is sky high. I can't wait to listen to the rest of it. If the rest is like this, it will be a discovery of the year for me!

[George]

This was getting lost with all the Berlioz posts in the Listening thread and may be of more interest here anyway:

Having missed out on Rudolf Firkusny's disc of Beethoven sonatas, I decided that I would buy a copy (new or used) if it went under $10. So when it sold for $9.99, I snapped it up. A shame I have waited to listen to it for so long. I started right away with Op 109 (my favorite) and it is outstanding. Shame that the sound has some background hiss. When he plays loud, you don't hear it at all, but of course is noticeable when quiet. Thing is, it is so good that I stopped noticing it entirely. I am really floored. The quality of the playing is sky high. I can't wait to listen to the rest of it. If the rest is like this, it will be a discovery of the year for me!

His Beethoven is great!

[DavidRoss]

Ah. She describes how this model/make helps in her interpretation (at least in Vol.1) in the notes.

Interesting reading, as always with Ms Hewitt, but she says nothing about the Fazoli in those notes that I could find.

[DavidRoss]

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[Gurn Blanston]

Other than needing a shave, he actually looks more feminine than Cecilia does.

[Todd]

The quality of the playing is sky high. I can't wait to listen to the rest of it. If the rest is like this, it will be a discovery of the year for me!

That is a superb disc.  The Moonlight and Waldstein rate among my favorites.  I have five of the six EMI reissues comprising the Firkusny series, missing only the Schumann, and they are all excellent.  I'm hoping that whoever buys EMI reissues all of his Capitol recordings.  DG and Sony/RCA could hopefully do the same.

[George]

Other than needing a shave, he actually looks more feminine than Cecilia does.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[PaulSC]

Interesting reading, as always with Ms Hewitt, but she says nothing about the Fazoli in those notes that I could find.

It's not a lot, but it's more than nothing:

The Allegro third movement returns us to playful mood in a less sophisticated manner than Op 10 No 3 but is full of humour and charm. Its middle section, in E flat minor, is made up of rumbling triplets that contrast totally with what has come before. The colour of this passage would probably have sounded very different on Beethoven's piano than on most modern instruments, and I think we need to keep that in mind when playing it. The fourth pedal on my Fazioli piano which I used for this recording works wonders here, bringing the hammers closer to the strings while at the same time lowering the keys so that the action is much shallower, enabling a swift, clear, and yet quiet execution.

[Opus106]

It's not a lot, but it's more than nothing:

Thanks for taking up David's post, Paul. I had somehow missed it.

[mc ukrneal]

That is a superb disc.  The Moonlight and Waldstein rate among my favorites.  I have five of the six EMI reissues comprising the Firkusny series, missing only the Schumann, and they are all excellent.  I'm hoping that whoever buys EMI reissues all of his Capitol recordings.  DG and Sony/RCA could hopefully do the same.

Well I am convinced now and will probably start collecting what I can. I just realized he plays some of the concertos in the Steinberg ICON set that I have (including some Beethoven), so I will bump that up the pile.

[Todd]

I just realized he plays some of the concertos in the Steinberg ICON set that I have (including some Beethoven), so I will bump that up the pile.

Those recordings, along with the Milstein concerto recordings, are the best things in the Steinberg set.  Firkusny's Emperor is extremely good. 

[DavidRoss]

It's not a lot, but it's more than nothing:

Great, thanks, Paul!

[mc ukrneal]

Off the recent high of the Firkusny, I shot the not long ago acquired Gilels set to the top of the piano listening list. Op. 109, being my favorite, was the first one to hit the player...and....disaster! Oh no! This is one of the more exaggeratedly slow performances I have ever heard and it crosses over the whole piece (unlike some that will start the first movent slow and then fire the engines up for the prestissimo). None of that here. So far, I hate it. I mean, really hate. I suppose there is a strange curiosity in how he is able to play it in slow motion, but the piece loses its cohesion in a major way. Sure, he does speed up in some of the variations (finally), but there is still often this feeling of hearing every single note clang to the detriment of the overall line. This single disaster means this is not a set to be recommended (by me).

For those of you that recommend it - how can you do so with OP. 109 played in this way?!?!?!

[asin]B000ICM0YY[/asin]

[George]

My main problem with the Gilels set is that the outer movements are often too slow, so I can sympathize.