Takahiro Sonoda Plays Beethoven, Take 2

[Todd]

About six years ago I picked up Takahiro Sonoda's Denon LvB sonata cycle and enjoyed it quite a bit, and rated it possibly the finest cycle by a Japanese pianist.  Fast-forward six years, and I still enjoy it quite a bit and rate it as perhaps the best cycle by a Japanese pianist, though Yusuke Kikiuchi's cycle offers serious competition.  I was tempted to try Sonoda's Evica cycle, but given its extremely high price, I hesitated.  Well, thanks to the Bank of Japan's wise monetary policies under Shinzo Abe, the price for the set finally came down to a reasonable-ish level, so I decided to buy.  Even at a reasonable-ish price, this is the most expensive cycle I've bought.  I hoped it would be good.  I repeated silently to myself (I hope it was silently): I will love this set!  I will love this set!  Man, I wanted it to be good.  Better than good.

I started off with sonata #1.  Right out of the gate, Sonoda sounds serious, sober, formal, unfrilly, and measured.  His tempo choices are just a bit on the broad side, but they are unwaveringly steady.  A metronome could be calibrated against his playing.  His dynamic range is more limited than some other pianists, which is most notable in the Prestissimo, but the unrelenting but slightly measured forward drive and still satisfying dynamic range is its own reward.   2/2 opens with an energetic and vivacious, but still serious, Allegro vivace, and any concerns about dynamics vaporize as Sonoda plays with a very wide range indeed.  His left hand playing is also very clean, clear, and punchy.  The Largo displays rock steady rhythm and sounds almost like a funeral march at times.  The serious but vivacious Scherzo is punched out in the outer sections, and has a middle section containing an appealing degree of urgency.  The Rondo sounds largely similar, and displays great clarity of voices and broad dynamics.  2/3 opens a bit somberly, but soon enough Sonoda's playing takes off – well, sort of.  It's suitably fast and energetic, but in a self-contained way.  The Adagio is somber and serious, and played at a tempo that allows a bit of tension to build up, and some of the tolling notes thunder nicely.  The Scherzo here is quick and moves forward with an unyielding drive.  Nice!  Sonoda infuses the Allegro assai with verve and snap, and if it is not the last word in unabashed virtuosic showmanship, it is more than virtuosic enough.  A wholly satisfying start to the cycle. 

The Op 10 trio followed.  In the first sonata, Sonoda starts off the Allegro with a slightly deliberate but well paced and clear ascending arpeggios.  The rest of the movement is deadly serious and has that unrelenting but not overbearing forward drive of earlier sonatas.  The Adagio is sensibly paced and pleasantly austere, with Sonoda's right hand playing adding a bit of bite where appropriate.  The Prestissimo opens with a slow and deliberate mien, and then picks up the pace, and then repeats the style.  It is not a barn-storming take, but rather a serious one.  10/2 starts off with a rhythmically snappy Allegro, and while light enough, it doesn't shake the seriousness of Sonoda's playing.  That's a good thing.  The Allegretto sounds tense and serious start to finish.  The Presto, with repeat, finds Sonoda easing up just a bit, and displays pep along with rhythmic snap.  The 10/3 Presto starts off just a smidgeon slow, but in very short order Sonoda adopts a just right tempo.  Everything about it is just right, in a very serious way.  Not surprisingly, the Largo e mesto starts off serious, almost severe, and while slow, it is quicker than the Largo designation hints at.  Sonoda never eases up during the movement, playing with tension throughout, even making just repeated right hands notes around the five minute sound tense.  He ratchets up the tension to the big climax nicely, but the climax is strangely anti-climactic and small in scale.  But he winds down the movement expertly, and ends in a desolate, 106 slow movement fashion.  Nice!  (Again.)  The Menuetto and (especially) the Rondo lighten things up quite a bit, but again Sonoda never just lets loose.  The playing is all very controlled.  The disc is filled out with the Opp 76 and 80 Variations, and the Op 89 Polonaise.  All are played in lighter fashion than the sonatas, and all sound just spiffy.  Another wholly satisfying disc.

Op 7 followed.  Sonoda adopts a just right tempo for the Allegro, plays forcefully and with that relentless but not overdone forward drive.  He pushes right through to the end, slowing for nothing.  The Largo offers a nice contrast, but here Sonoda keeps the tempo on the slightly swift side for the designation, at least near the beginning.  He plays it straight, and hammers out loud chords where appropriate.  The piano may be brightish, but the mood is dark.  As the movement continues, Sonoda slows down a bit and the playing becomes a bit "cooler", though still punctuated with powerful playing when needed.  The Allegro is quick, snappy, and both light and serious in the outer sections, and the middle sections growls and displays more super-rock-steady left hand playing that is a treat to hear.  The Rondo is quick and tense, and renders the whole sonata heftier and more serious than it probably ought to be, but Sonoda judges everything so well, that he pulls it off.  Op 13 follows.  Sonoda hammers out the right hand chords, and uses the sostenuto pedal to good if perhaps over-obvious effect, and he plays the Allegro (somewhat) surprisingly quickly.  The relentless playing becomes nearly jittery, but remains supremely controlled, and both hands are clear throughout.  The coda is as thrilling as it is potent.  This is one fine opener.  The Adagio slows things down, and while Sonoda cannot be said to play with a tonally lustrous legato, he does indeed make most of the music songlike.  The closing Rondo is played at another just-right tempo and eases up a bit from the intensity of the first movement, but nonetheless displays enough musical heft to satisfy this listener.  A top shelf Pathetique.  The disc closes with Op 26, and Sonoda's super-serious style suits the opening movement by making it graver than it should be.  The variations do sound reasonably differentiated, but the striking staccato and pointed sforzandi Sonoda like to deploy renders the movement more middle or late sounding than usual.  (This trait was evident in his Denon cycle, too.)  The Scherzo just speeds things up a bit – and I mean that as praise.  Such hefty, serious playing translates into a stern, formal funeral march, which, while boasting nice dynamics, remains somewhat constrained – but in a good way.  Sonoda wraps up the sonata with a perpetual motion Allegro of not a little vitality and weight.  Another wholly satisfying disc.

Next, it seemed a good idea to go for the "Easy Sonatas" disc, filled with the Opp 14, 49, and 79 sonatas, plus some filler.  14/1 starts off the disc, and while still a bit on the serious side, and while displaying a bit of ringing in the upper registers, Sonoda lightens up, and the whole sonata sounds just about right.  Not rushed, definitely not slow, not too light, it's good, solid, early Beethoven.  14/2, as is so often case, is better.  More lyrical and fun, Sonoda displays something of a soft side, in a buttoned-down sort of way.  The Op 49 sonatas get even lighter treatment, the second especially.  It's actually charming here, with nary a hint of excess seriousness.  Op 79 opens with some too heavy chords, but quickly recovers, though the Presto alla tedesca is not especially quick.  The disc also includes the Op 63 and Op 70 variations, both nicely done; a somewhat somber Für Elise; and the 6 Ecossaisen, also nicely done, with an almost danceable rhythm.  Yet another wholly satisfying disc.

Next up was a single sonata disc, which contains only Op 28, along with the Opp 34 and 35 variations.  Sonoda starts off the sonata with a very proper sounding Allegro.  The tempo is just right, the mien serious and purposeful, the tone appealing but not fulsome.  The left hand remains steady, almost insistent, and the melodies flow naturally, and Sonoda knows when to throw in just a hint of tension – or a bit more than that, as in the second theme.  The Andante contrasts rather starkly with the opening movement.  Sonoda's overall tempo is slow, and his playing is very deliberate and stiff, but it is for effect, and it happens to work.  The similarly slow middle section retains the purposeful stiffness, bit also, somehow, sounds just a bit mischievous.  The Scherzo's outer sections sound crisp and the middle section more obviously mischievous than in the Andante.  Sonoda plays the Rondo in such a fashion that the whole movement flows nicely, but individual moments and sections are a bit more deliberate or intense, and again he manages to infuse a bit of mischievousness into his otherwise serious approach.  A most excellent Op 28, and one that can be compared to some heavy hitters.  The two sets of variations are well done in the very serious vein, and Sonoda makes sure to thunder out some of the chords in the Eroica variations to superb effect.  A fifth wholly satisfying disc in a row.

Next up, a blended disc, comprising early-ish and late-ish and late works.  27/1 starts, and Sonoda starts off with measured, serious playing in the Andante, and cranks up the speed and volume for the Allegro, though the playing is a bit cloudy here for some reason.  The Allegro molto vivace, also slightly cloudy, has a relentless but rock-steady gallop thing going on in the left hand, and sounds positively middle period.  The Adagio is formal and cool, and the Allegro vivace is, predictably and appropriately, like the prior faster sections in demeanor, and the ending is nicely beefy.  The playing is good and all the pieces are there, but something is missing in this sonata.  Good, yes; great, no.  27/2 follows.  Sonoda goes slow in the Adagio sostenuto, and his steadiness in overall tempo is most impressive.  The playing is somber and cold start to finish.  The Allegretto is likewise slow, and a bit lumbering, with some near-crashing chords.  The Presto agitato breaks the sameness (monotony doesn't really work to adequately describe the effect), with Sonoda playing at a fast but controlled pace, and with a satisfying dynamic range, including some crashing, nearly banging chords.  It is a grinding, unyielding take on the movement, and caps a unique take on the work.  Op 78 follows.  Sonoda adopts basically perfect tempi both for the Adagio cantabile and the Allegro ma non troppo section that follows, and plays the latter with something akin to a perpetual motion style, and he takes advantage of the Yamaha's brighter tone in the melodies.  Serious yet light-ish.  The Allegro vivace is a bit lighter, though the upper registers still display a bit more bite than normal.  Op 90 follows.  Sonoda plays the opening slower than normal, going for dark drama in the slower material, and he plays the faster music with a severe, brittle mien, one possessed of more than a little bit of anger.  It's heavy duty, that's for sure.  Sonoda plays the second movement with greater lyricism, but his is not a particularly mellifluous sound.  I have the feeling his Schubert would be of the grim variety.  (I think I should find out.)  He also does something uncharacteristic up to this point: he slows some passages way down, briefly stretching out the playing to emphasize literally each note, before returning to a standard but slow overall tempo.  The effect is both a bit odd and effectively disconcerting.  Op 101 ends the disc.  Sonoda plays the opening movement in a slow tempo and immediately establishes a suitably transcendent sound, interrupted only by some odd spurious noise around forty seconds in.  The march is clear, perfectly paced, displays a wide dynamic range and nicely hefty lower registers and potent sforzandi throughout.  Nice.  Sonoda then transitions flawlessly to an Op 106-style slow movement that is cold and desolate.  The concluding Allegro again displays a perfect tempo, near- or actually-perfect late LvB sound, and if ever there was a pianist suited to play with "determination", it was Sonoda.  Sonoda peaked with the late sonatas in his Denon cycle, so it is not surprising that the same thing appears to be the case here.  A slightly less than wholly satisfying disc, starting only good but ending extremely strong.

The ever critical Op 31 sonatas followed.  In 31/1, Sonoda opens the Allegro vivace just a bit slow and serious, but quickly switches to faster, more energetic playing, and if never adopting a playful demeanor in place of a more serious approach, he does lighten up, and he goes for that slightly unyielding approach again.  The Adagio boasts some nice trills, and Sonoda lightens up even more.  The left hand play is 'sloppy' in a precise and measured way.  The melodies dominate in a most pleasing manner most of the time.  The middle section is a bit laid back, and the return of the original theme finds the left hand playing tightened up and the right hand playing more free and easy.  The final movement is quick, but not too fast, and has that unyielding thing going on most of the time, but Sonoda knows just when to back off, and at times it almost sounds as though he might be having fun, as in the rollicking coda.  Sonoda plays the opening Largo of 31/2 a bit on the quick, light, and non-dramatic side, but that seems mostly so that he can get to the Allegro and play it fast-ish and with a comparatively narrow dynamic range, imparting a sense of urgency but not high drama.  Sonoda keeps the Adagio on the light 'n' tight side, keeping in line with the opening movement, and the Allegretto is presented in fast and decidedly tense and aggressive fashion.  The sonata is 'classical' in approach overall, but the finale is a corker.  31/3 opens with an Allegro of slightly measured tempo, and comparatively serious mien, but Sonoda manages to infuse a bit of wit when and where needed.  The Scherzo is just a hint on the slow side, but Sonoda's rhythmic insistence and stability, and his pounding out of chords and underscoring left hand arpeggios when needed, keeps the movement chugging along just fine.  The Menuetto is light and attractive and charming in spots, and the Presto con fuoco is quick, has beefy bass, and a relentless but entirely pleasant forward drive.  Sonoda delivers an extremely strong Op 31.  It's another wholly satisfying disc.

The next disc selected starts off with Op 53.  Sonoda wins no speed contests for his opening of the Allegro con brio, but the tempo is appropriate, and the left hand playing growls a bit.  The playing throughout the opening movement is formal and proper, extremely well executed, but a bit dull.  The Introduzione is cool and aloof.  Sonoda comes alive in the Rondo.  He speeds up a bit, though he never rushes, but the dynamic contrasts are more pronounced, the sforzandi harder hitting, and the playing largely maintains an inevitable forward momentum.  So, good, not great.  Op 54 follows, and here Sonoda offers a nice degree of contrast between the two themes, though I guess the first thing could be a but more lyrical.  The second movement benefits from Sonoda's ability to play with unyielding drive, though he keeps the tempo a bit on the safe side until the coda.  Another good but not great performance.  The rest of the disc is given over to the two op 51 Rondos, the Andante Favori, and the Op 119 Bagatelles.  The Rondos are freer and lighter in approach than the preceding sonatas, and benefit nicely.  The Andante Favori sounds a bit formal, but is lyrical enough to please.  Surely, the highlight of this disc is Op 119.  Sonoda's playing is definitely very serious, so some of the fun is drained from the pieces, but the flip-side is that the pieces are presented in the manner of late Beethoven sonatas, and have more heft.  Not, perhaps, a challenger to the very best, but excellent.  A good disc.

The next disc opens with Op 57.  Sonoda plays the Allegro assai with a sensible enough tempo, and he ratchets up the intensity nicely, underpinning it with some heavy duty left hand playing.  As he builds up the climaxes, he achieves near-St Annie levels of intensity.  This comes at the expense of clarity, but here that is a tradeoff worth making, as the rockin', growlin' climax right before the coda demonstrates.  The Andante is oddly but effectively clunky, with Sonoda playing some variations  with unusual stiffness.  It's unique, appealing in its own way, and it makes the movement more of an equal of the outer movements.  The Allegro ma non troppo returns to the same style of the opener.  It opens with crashing chords, moves to quiet and ominous playing, maintaining a high level of tension, with hard, bright right hand playing, right up until the first crescendo.  Sonoda plays right  through to the end with the same level of intensity.  Already this year, Daniel-Ben Pienaar's joined the elite of the elite in this sonata.  Now Sonoda joins him and them, though his take is nicely different.  Next, Op 81/a.  Sonoda goes for a big, or at least big-ish opening movement, a series of grand but heartfelt gestures.  The second movement is solemn and the very deliberate and very clear right hand playing displays a desolate feel that seems just right, especially when contrasted with the ebullience and vitality of the last movement.  Sonoda almost veers into virtuosic, showy playing, but stops just shy of that approach, and the result is just plain exciting.  This can be compared to the very best versions out there.  The disc wraps up with the Op 77 Fantasie, a work I seldom listen to, and when I do, it is invariably to Rudolf Serkin's version.  Sonoda's playing is very serious and formal throughout, and once again he deploys the hefty bass of his Yamaha to good effect.  It's a very fine version, though I doubt I start listening to the piece very much.  Another wholly satisfying disc.

The penultimate disc starts off with 106.  Sonoda opens with broad tempo (about 11'24" overall timing) and a large-scale approach.  He keeps the movement moving forward with unyielding drive, and as the movement progresses, he seems to play with increasing intensity and an ever so slightly quicker tempo at times.  The second movement is fairly conventional in approach, and effectively played.  Right out of the gate, the Adagio is very slow, and starkly somber, almost a dirge.  As the movement progresses, Sonoda alternates between this style – the first reappearance of slow music is starker yet – and a tense, searing style, accentuated by bright, sharp right hand playing.  The just under twenty minute timing both flies by and manages at times to sound almost static.  It's quite impressive.  Sonoda opens the concluding movement with a Largo that acts as a perfect transition, and then he launches into the fugue.  He plays it satisfyingly swiftly, with nice clarity and heft and more of that unwavering steadiness.  It's a corker of a performance overall, which is hardly surprising given Sonoda's track record in the late sonatas.  The disc closes with Op 22.  Talk about a contrast.  Sonoda plays the Allegro con brio at a just right pace, and the playing bounces along with a superb rhythmic has drive.  The Adagio is just a bit on the quick side, and Sonoda basically plays straight through, not imparting any special drama or depth.  The Menuetto and and Rondo both display playing similar in style to the opening movement, and the Rondo, in particular, has that whole rhythmic snap thing.  Yet another wholly satisfying disc, anchored by a world class Hammerklavier.

The final disc has the last three sonatas.  Sonoda peaked with the late sonatas in the Denon cycle, and 101 and 106 in this cycle both demonstrated that, if anything, he improved with age, so I approached the sonatas with very high hopes.  Mr Sonoda fulfilled my hopes.  109 opens with a bright and quick first movement, and it forgoes late a LvB soundworld for a tenser, more assertive sound and feel.  The Prestissimo just ratchets everything up a bit, but not too much.  Sonoda doesn't really let up for the final movement, either, keeping things tenser and brusquer than normal.  Rather than attain a transcendent feel, it sounds more like a great master offering a formal, strict interpretation stripped of all sentiment, though Sonoda ends the sonata is serene fashion.  110 is a bit less hard than 109, introducing some transcendent feeling into the playing in the opening movement, but Sonoda keeps it slightly aloof.  The second movement is fast and intense, with not a whiff of sentiment.  The final movement finds full-on transcendent playing during the Adagio, even though the tone remains somewhat hard.  The fugue and inverted fugue are both clean, clear and very steady in tempo, and beefy in bass, and the transition from the fugue to the return of the Adagio has a masterly transition from clear, potent playing back to the transcendent style; it sounds a bit extended and emphasized, though it's really not.  Op 111 starts with a dark Maestoso and moves into a strident, clangorous, aggressive Allegro, with Sonoda pounding away on his Yamaha to splendid effect.  The Arietta is transcendent from the start, but the second half is almost magically serene.  The first two variations carry on the same basic sound and feel, and then, wham, the third variation hits with surprising force.  It's more pointed and fast than "boogie woogie" in nature, and it really grabs and holds one's attention.  As the movement continues, Sonoda veers away from the transcendent feel toward cooler, stricter playing.  The "little stars" are particularly strict sounding, but not in a negative way.  Sonoda's steady playing results in even, measured chains of trills, and he plays the music leading up to the coda with a sense of urgency that is most compelling, and the coda is effective but doesn't offer Elysian views, but rather a formal and serious end.  It's still most effective.  Once again, Sonoda deliver some superb late lat LvB, though his Denon recordings may be a bit better.  Or not. 

I wanted a better than good cycle, and I got it.  I wasn't surprised.  Unless Sonoda's technique faltered, or his interpretive ideas changed drastically, I figured it was a safe bet that the playing and interpretations would be excellent.  And that turned out to be the case.  Indeed, if anything, the playing strikes me as more assured in this later cycle; the playing is incredibly solid playing from a sexagenarian.  This is a serious, intense, basically classical take across the board.  Flash, eccentricity, and excess are not to be heard.  With only a few exceptions, Sonoda plays at an extraordinarily high level in every sonata, and those exceptions have more to do with my taste and expectations than his playing.  Overall, this cycle surpasses the Denon cycle, and now stands as my favorite cycle from a Japanese pianist.  Like Sonoda's earlier cycle, it lands in my second tier.  This has been a really good year for Beethoven sonata cycles for me.

Sound is slightly distant, but admirably clear, with excellent dynamic range.  The Yamaha grand sounds bright and clear, with hints of metal here and there.  Bass is good but not too prominent.