Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Florestan]

Guys, I know that site for a long time (intoclassics.net). It's a treasure trove, especially if you can read Russian (I do).

You can even search for what you need. On the left of the page look for the green text Поиск (Russian for search) and then type a composer or performer name in the box below the text по всему сайту (Russian for in the whole site). Hit the Enter key. After the results are retrieved, click the links and then look for the text Ссылка (Russian for link) and go to the web address below it.


Hope this helps.

NB Not all final links are functional.

EDIT I expanded the explanation a bit.

[Mandryka]

Click on this, or just go to it now that I've posted it here

https://yadi.sk/d/IBjeQ929mXk27

then click on download

I haven't heard it, and I've never heard of the pianist.

[George]

Click on this, or just go to it now that I've posted it here

https://yadi.sk/d/IBjeQ929mXk27

then click on download

I haven't heard it, and I've never heard of the pianist.

Thanks, downloading now. Never heard it or of the pianist either.

[JulieHN]

Anyone have any information on an alleged LvB sonata cycle that

Michael Steinberg has purportedly recorded on "Elysium"?

I cannot find any (!) information to confirm that... which is rare and makes me wary.

It exists! Listening to them right now! Wonderful, brilliant recording! Every detail, very specific, brings out genius of Beethoven. Spectacular. Unfortunately, out of print. But I have both LP AND CD versions! I'M SO LUCKY!

This pianist is not be confused with the other Michael Steinberg. The pianist is a friend of mine and the other I met eons ago!!

[Oldnslow]

Todd- have you ever heard the complete set of Beethoven sonatas (and variations) from a pianist named Steven Herbert Smith ( a prof. emeritus from Penn State), recorded 2009-2012? ARG reviewed them very favorably in in the current issue, so I ordered them from Amazon.

[Todd]

Todd- have you ever heard the complete set of Beethoven sonatas (and variations) from a pianist named Steven Herbert Smith ( a prof. emeritus from Penn State), recorded 2009-2012? ARG reviewed them very favorably in in the current issue, so I ordered them from Amazon.

I've never heard of the pianist or the recording.  I know what my next purchase is, though.

[Oldnslow]

They are live recordings  before a small audience (well recorded supposedly) and I believe offered by Smith himself (through amazon) from a site called Beethovensmith. I found that I enjoyed a couple of other sets by professors (Craig Sheppard and Peter Takacs) so I thought I would take a chance on another prof...

[Brian]

I'm honor-bound to here mention the other Great American Beethoven Professor, Penelope Crawford. (Sadly, never to be a complete set.)

[Todd]

The final volume of Yu Kosuge's cycle is slated for release next month.  Should I, shouldn't I . . .

[Fred]

My opinion doesn't mean much (and that is not false modesty). But after listening to Laul I find it hard to listen to most of my other sets. He's got excitement, danger, intensity, in spades - and it didn't cost a penny. 

[Fred]

Or to put it another way, I've got several Kosuge discs and didn't bother listening to most of them. Well played and well mannered and, well, that's it ...

[jlaurson]

The final volume of Yu Kosuge's cycle is slated for release next month.  Should I, shouldn't I . . .

Dear Todd -- can you confirm/correct/add information about this cycle, if you have any of it yet?


SACDs (hybrid?)

I: Aufbruch
II: Liebe
III: Leben
IV: Transzendenz
V: Ultimate

Dates of first recording, last recording... anything special about the instrument used?
Which label?
2 disc sets of Hybrid SACDs each?

That sort of thing. Much obliged -

Jens

[Todd]

Dear Todd -- can you confirm/correct/add information about this cycle, if you have any of it yet?

Don't have 'em, but the set is comprised of five 2 hybrid SACD sets from Sony, available in Japan only.  I'll probably have them soon enough.

[George]

Released today in the UK! (Info below from MDT) Not sure why they chose to release only 8 of the 24 sonatas he recorded in the pre-war years.




Ludwig Van Beethoven
Wilhelm Kempff
The late Beethoven sonatas: Pre-War 78-rpm recordings 1925–1936

CD 1 (76.02)

    1-2. Sonata No 24 in F sharp major Op 78, Recorded in 1932 (Polydor 90193)
    3-5. Sonata No 26 in E flat major 'Les adieux' Op 81a, Recorded in 1928 (Polydor 66687/8)
    6-7. Sonata No 27 in E minor Op 90, Recorded in 1928 (Polydor 62639 & 66712)
    8-10. Sonata No 29 in B flat major 'Hammerklavier' Op 106, Recorded on 7 & 25 January 1936 (Polydor 67077/81)

CD 2 (71.26)

    1-4. Sonata No 28 in A major Op 101, Acoustic recording, 1925 (Polydor 66178/9)
    5-7. Sonata No 30 in E major Op 109, Recorded on 29 July 1936 (Polydor 67091/2)
    8-10. Sonata No 31 in A flat major Op 110, Recorded on 29 July 1936 (Polydor 67088/90)
    11-12. Sonata No 32 in C minor Op 111, Recorded on 31 July 1936 (Polydor 67093/5)

Wilhelm Kempff had such a long life, and recorded so prolifically in the LP era, that we tend to forget that he began his recording career in 1920 in the acoustic period, and recorded 24 of the 32 Beethoven sonatas on 78's. Indeed, in the pre-war period he was second only to Schnabel (whose complete cycle was done in the 1930's) in the amount of Beethoven he recorded, and he made the first ever recordings of the sonatas Op81a, Op90 & Op101, included in this set.

Kempff went on to record two complete sonata cycles in the 1950's and 1960's but he has always been regarded as a poetic and lyrical player and his Beethoven is therefore more closely allied to Mozart than the more barnstorming approach of others. The 'first thoughts' included here are perhaps the freest of all his recordings and have an almost improvisatory feel. Perhaps the impossibility of editing at this period captured Kempff more naturally than in his later efforts.

None of the recordings included here are currently available elsewhere and Op90 and Op101 have never been reissued since their original release on 78s. The acoustic Op101 is a particularly rare item barely known to collectors.

APR 2cds APR6018

[prémont]

None of the recordings included here are currently available elsewhere and Op90 and Op101 have never been reissued since their original release on 78s. The acoustic Op101 is a particularly rare item barely known to collectors.

Do you know, how many he actually recorded in the pre war years?

The defunct Dante release contained no.s:

2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31 and 32, and now we get 27 and 28 on APR.

This makes up for 24 of the sonatas.

[jlaurson]

Do you know, how many he actually recorded in the pre war years?

The defunct Dante release contained no.s:

2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31 and 32, and now we get 27 and 28 on APR.

This makes up for 24 of the sonatas.

For some reason I was under the impression that ...

...Wilhelm Kempff recorded 25 sonatas in the 20s through the 40s for Polydor (on electrical 78s), even before Schnabel did his cycle, and they are near impossible to get a hold of. (Opp.2/3, 22, 27/1, 28, 31/2, and 101 missing from making the cycle complete.) They had been available, briefly, from the sketchy Dante/Lys label on 9 individual discs. (Kempff even recorded eight of the sonatas earlier than that, in 1924-25... on shellacs.)

I wonder if I mis-counted or if I have at least kept my research notes to track down that 25th sonata.)


Beethoven Sonatas - A Survey of Complete Cycles
The Great Incomplete Cycles

[George]

Do you know, how many he actually recorded in the pre war years?

Yes, the info I posted (from APR) said 24.

[André]

Anybody heard the DGG Sokolov Hammerklavier ? I am very curious about it.

[Mandryka]

Anybody heard the DGG Sokolov Hammerklavier ? I am very curious about it.

The first movent is lyrical and expressive, at the expense of heroic forward momentum. You will have to decide for yourself whether the music is interesting enough melodically for that sort of treatment.

The third movement is slow but not particularly dreamy, there's a great variety of attack and portato, sometimes quite distinctive to me, and the dynamic range is striking.  My feeling is that the approach is emphasising melody, a sort of romantic effusion, rather than counterpoint, but I need some more time to feel comfortable about what he's doing there, I may not be being fair. I also have the impression that he makes the adagio  sound like complex music, structurally.

I've only listened to these two movements, I have no idea how he makes the whole sonata cohere.

I heard him play this in Lyon (so not this concert) and in the recital it was his timbre which was most memorable, especially when he played loud. The sound is not bad for a recording, just not as special as his sound in real life. The difference in hall acoustics may partly account for this of course.

I have a strong intuition that amw will LOATH it.

[prémont]

Yes, the info I posted (from APR) said 24.

So we can conclude, that my list above is complete?