On The Hunt

[Todd]

Yaeko Yamane.  Another quirky version, with nary a bar going by without something going on.  Lotsa pedal at the outset blurs the opening passages, for instance, while unique accenting, different weighting of voices, and (often micro-) changes in tempo or dynamics for no discernible reason pop up everywhere.  Yamane injects much personality into her playing, but it all jells and sounds appropriate to, or at least within (wide) bounds.  Some pianists just have it.  Of course, some listeners may hate it.  The Scherzo is just a bit relaxed tempo-wise, and some of the playing lacks maximum impact, showing Yamane's penchant to play some music very softly.  There are some rapid decelerandos and even micro-pauses, perhaps to let the pianist resituate her hands, and some more blurred playing, but again it just sort of seems to jell.  The Menuetto is comparatively soft and lyrical, while the Trio is rushed and both pointed and playful.  The Presto is fun and kind of bubbly and moves along with what can best be described as purposeful aimlessness.  It's got a Kempffian freedom to it, and Yamane reveals that she can, when so inclined, belt out some music.  The sonata, like the cycle, is so infused with personality that it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

[Todd]

Vladimir Ashkenazy.  Since I first listened to it, Ashkenazy's cycle has stuck in my mind as an exceedingly well played but sort of plain cycle.  Nothing too adventurous, but no misfires.  That stayed in my mind when I re-listened to this, though here Ashkenazy's superb ivory tickling does have its benefits.  Within the very plain overall timing of an 8'36" Allegro, Ashkenazy displays an ability to seamlessly stretch out slower sections nice and then rev up in quicker passages, and to execute dynamic shifts and accent notes at least as well as the otherwise best and brightest.  Same with the Scherzo, which also has plenty of pep.  Ashkenazy's overall tempo in the Menuetto is a bit brisk but he makes it sound un-rushed, and the Trio is both relaxed and potently accented where appropriate.  Nice.  Nicer still is the Presto, which has enough drive, pep, sharp enough accenting, and just right clarity and weight to satisfy.  The recording is better than I remembered.

[Todd]

Even I was wondering when the hell I would get around to St Annie.  Now is the answer.  It's basically evident immediately in her EMI recording that's she's a cut above almost everyone else, all those puny mortals.  Her comparatively brisk timing creates expectations of a high energy take, and sure enough that's what one gets.  There's superb dynamic gradation, with fortes sounding like fortes, and there's a forceful, almost jittery feel to her quick, high energy playing.  It doesn't overwhelm or distract; it sounds the way it's supposed to sound.  This is snappy, harder hitting, more aggressive Beethoven, but still humorous Beethoven.  And when St Annie wants to transition into or out of high speed playing, she does so with a most impressive, most natural sounding touch.  While the Scherzo is not especially fast, St Annie again plays with divergent tempi and belts out the forte notes and chords with zest and rollicks through the music, as if to say for all posterity, this is how the Scherzo should go!  She's not wrong.  The Menuetto, well, it's lovely and lyrical and flows, while the Trio is more heavily accented and tense, all in perfect proportion.  In the Presto, one hears how to do things again.  St Annie doesn't explode of the gate.  No, she starts more tentatively and relaxed, and then launches into the music with gusto.  She then backs off a bit, and then does it again.  She knows to play up the dynamic contrasts, yes she does.  There's bite, wit, drive, the whole shebang.  A great recording. 

Her Hungaroton recording is, too.  Oh, yes it is.  Stylistically very similar - duh - but benefitting from better recorded sound and quicker decays from the Bosendorfer she uses, everything is essentially turned up to 11.  The one drawback is that the pianist's technique seems less secure, even with the superduperspliced editing technique that was used.  That written, she seems even more intent on pushing things as far as possible, approaching a degree of recklessness in the fastest passages.  But it's musically pure recklessness.  I don't listen to St Annie as much as I probably ought to nowadays, though I've so thoroughly incorporated her approach into my listening experience that even now, with long listening droughts, I still subconsciously compare every artist, every recording to her, and find pretty much all them wanting.  Then, when I revisit Fischer's playing, she's even better than I remember, and I remember her as basically the best.  That's why she's a saint.

[Jo498]

The EMI Annie Fischer recording is a candidate for the most severe, occasionally brutal and least humourous interpretation of this sonata (it certainly is the toughest and grimmest among the dozen or so I have heard). It's interesting, sure, but I wouldn't call it great by any stretch of imagination.

[Todd]

Malcolm Binns.  I had to buy the big box to get Binns' cycle, but it was worth it to me because I had to hear it.  What did I get?  Slow.  The Allegro is slow.  It's also kind of clunky sounding, due to the period instrument that sounds broken.  Through the wreckage one can divine Mr Binns' playing, which has its moments.  There's a sense of playfulness and energy in the fast passages, and good use of tempo changes.  It could be worse.  The Scherzo actually sounds quite peppy, even with its duration.  (There's at least one Annie Fischer Hungaroton sized edit in there, too.)  But again, the instrument just doesn't help here.  Binns then goes for a slow, slow, slow - meaning too slow - Menuetto, which sounds like a kludgy Largo on a broken instrument.  The Trio is slow, but comes off better and a bit weightier.  The Presto has plenty of pep, but the instrument just doesn't work.  Sometimes the string twang as though the instrument is broken.  (I listened through headphones this time around, which amplified the already known problem.)  Ugh.

[Todd]

For no particular reason, I decided to segregate American pianists from the rest of the bunch and listen to all of them in series to hear what happens.






A good chunk of Mr Bishop's reputation rests on his Beethoven, so he got the nod first.  Starting with his Philips recording, one can hear how he got the reputation.  Perfectly paced, and about as fluid in terms of tempo changes as Mejoueva, with beefy dynamics where needed, a gentler touch (but not really gentle) than his later recordings show, and with ample humor, Kovacevich more or less lays down a world class, top-shelf Allegro.  I've nary a beef.  Ditto with the Scherzo.  In the Menuetto, Kovacevich demonstrates how to play with a brisk tempo without sounding rushed in the outer sections, while he plays more forcefully, but not too much so, in the Trio.  He ends things with a bouncy, springy, energetic Presto underpinned by a growly bass.  Top shelf stuff.

In his EMI recording, more distantly recorded and more metallic sounding, Kovacevich opts for a notably quicker overall tempo.  It sounds a bit cleaner and more prankish, and is punctuated by some mean sforzandi, and while superb, it's missing something.  The Scherzo has oodles of energy, and fortes that sound violent.  The Menuetto is even tighter the second time around, yet still not rushed.  The Trio does have hints of steel, though.  The Presto again finds the pianist playing faster and harder, maybe too hard.  It's a fine version, but the Philips version is the shit.

[Todd]

Murray Perahia.  Perahia does everything right in the Allegro, except he does not exude enough energy.  On the other hand, the clarity and steadiness of voices exceeds most versions to this point.  Call it a wash.  Perahia revs up in the Scherzo, playing with steady, bubbly rhythm, though again the last bit of energy goes missing.  Predictably, the outer sections of the Menuetto sound especially lovely, though the Trio, while nice and clean, kind of bores.  The Presto ends the sonata on strong note, with all the positive traits previously mention, plus ample energy.  Overall, it's too polished and not crackling enough.

[Todd]

Seymour Lipkin.  The pianist vocalizes more than I remembered, and he takes the Allegro at something of a comfortable tempo, and keeps dynamic contrasts mostly under wraps, only belting out a few loud sforzandi.  It makes for a pleasant listening experience.  The Scherzo is slightly more energetic, but even so could use some more energy.  The Minuet is likewise pleasant in the outer sections, but Lipkin cranks things up in the middle section.  In the Presto, Likpin lets loose a bit more.  Were only the rest of the sonata at this level.

[Todd]

Robert Taub.  From the one buck cycle.  Taub plays the Allegro with sufficient pep.  His accents tend toward the slightly brittle sounding, and he uses pauses and rubato in a sometimes not ideal sounding way, but it's fine overall.  The pianist then zips through Scherzo at 4'33", and he makes sure to play up the dynamic contrasts.  It sounds quite peppy and humorous through the slightly exaggerated approach, though some of the later music becomes a bit muddled.  The Menuetto is then taken at a broad tempo.  The playing does not flow particularly well, while the Trio sounds clunky.  The Presto, like the Scherzo, is plenty zippy, and it cruises along nicely enough, but the whole sonata kind of just doesn't work very well.

[Todd]

David Allen Wehr.  The quite spacious recording allows one to savor Wehr's ability to effortlessly generate a big sound, and on top of that, the Allegro, at under eight minutes, manages to have the same type of overall tempo flexibility of some longer versions.  Wehr's keyboard command sounds absolute, and partly as a result, wit seems a bit less evident, or at least less emphasized.  The Scherzo sounds just a bit broad in comparison, but that's no detriment.  Indeed, the energy level is high, and Wehr's ability to belt out forte passages compels.  Wehr goes for quick outer sections in the Menuetto, though even the Trio stays pretty quick, and it sounds playful and potent, with He-Man accents.  Nice.  Somewhat curiously, the Presto sounds a bit subdued in the context of what came before, which is not to say that it sounds slow or timid.  Indeed, there's a sort of relentless forward drive.  It's heavy-ish, but extraordinarily good.  An exceptionally strong version, better than my positive memories indicated.

[Todd]

Richard Goode.  Goode starts with a slow Allegro, exaggerated in the slow opening.  Goode speeds things up a bit, and he keeps things decidedly classical in demeanor.  No outsized gestures or especially hard hitting sforzandi here, and the Alberti bass seems slight.  The Scherzo should succeed, given Goode's just right tempo and excellent dynamic contrasts, but it just doesn't click.  Something similar occurs with the Menuetto.  Finally, in the Presto, Goode hits all the right notes, as it were, with speed, energy, wit, and so forth.  I can't really put my finger on why I'm not fonder of the playing overall, but there it is.

[Todd]

Steven Herbert Smith.  Smith opens the Allegro very slowly, though he transitions to notably faster tempo for most of the movement.  Smith plays the Scherzo in a fast, fun, no-nonsense fashion, and he slows down to a moderate but well-judged tempo in the Menuetto, not over- or underdoing anything.  The Presto is much like the Scherzo.  The entire sonata comes off very well, indeed.  (Looking back at my original comments on the whole set, it turns out that this is one of the highlights of the cycle.)

[Todd]

Another American Steven, this time Masi.  A slightly slow start gives way to a light-ish, fun, energetic Allegro filled with personal rubato and some nice, subtle dynamic shifts throughout.  A couple slightly fudged passages serve to make the playing sound more inspired - it's not edited to perfection.  The Scherzo is a bit on the broad side, and it sounds quite fun overall, though a couple passages sound a bit rough in terms of execution.  The Menuetto is fairly slow and unaffected in the outer sections, while Masi allows himself more freedom in the Trio, really hammering out some music.  The Presto finds Masi playing with a good amount of rubato and some hefty accenting, but the rhythmic pulse is at times unsteady.  A recording with strong points and not so strong points.

[Todd]

Craig Sheppard.  At just shy of nine minutes, Sheppard takes his sweet time in the Allegro.  He plays with admirable clarity and really very fine dynamic contrasts, but the playing is too low energy and comes off as perhaps a bit more serious than ideal.  Alas, the Scherzo, coming in at 5'42", is just too slow and deliberate.  Sheppard keeps things slow in the Menuetto, which works well in the rather lovely outer sections, and then he thunders in the Trio, while still keeping the tempo slow.  The Presto is also taken at a slow overall tempo, though Sheppard's steadiness and wide ranging dynamics sound nice.  Overall, it's too slow and low energy for my tastes.

[Todd]

Russell Sherman.  One of the most idiosyncratic Beethoven interpreters, his take on the sonata offers ample evidence of his unique style.  The Allegro is broad of overall tempo, and starts slow, but even in the slow playing, he will extend or shorten note values, seemingly just because.  All throughout the exposition, he pokes and prods at the score.  It's a hyper-detailed form of idiosyncrasy.  It's also not especially energetic or fun, though humor is evident.  It's sort of bizarrely analytical, but in a good way.  Also, Sherman's dynamic range is rather wide, which he only illustrates a few times, when he plays extremely loudly.  Otherwise, he plays in a finely graded narrow dynamic band.  The Scherzo starts off with playing that is fast to the point of what seems like exaggeration, with the left hand dominating the proceedings, but the overall timing and tempo really isn't that fast.  It's quite something.  The Menuetto is really quite lovely and mostly standard in conception, and the Trio isn't particularly distorted, though Sherman throws in some nice accelerandos, just because.  The Presto has a nice level of energy, and here Sherman, who can play just as clear as he wants, slurs some chords in a more marked way than just about anyone, and otherwise peppers his playing with individual touches, again just because.  For those who like Sherman's very personal style, this sonata works very well, indeed.

[André]

I have Sherman in Schubert sonatas D.850 and 960. A very stimulating view of Schubert's music, neither romantic nor overly objective.

[Todd]

Timothy Ehlen.  Another pianist who takes his time with the Allegro, and who flows back and forth between tempi nicely.  The second theme is faux clunky, with more impressive than I recalled separation of hands.  A slightly higher energy level would have been even better yet.  Leading with the left hand, Ehlen plays up the dynamic contrasts and fun in the Scherzo.  The slow Menuetto is almost too lyrical and morose in the outer sections - this ain't Schubert - while the Trio is fairly standard.  The Presto displays plenty of oomph and energy and clarity and makes for a satisfying closer. 

[Todd]

Homemade Beethoven by John Kane.  Slurred chords open a lengthy overall take, which overall is characterized by a nice sense of fun and some broad dynamics.  Kane follows up the broad opening movement with a quick Scherzo, which has a rambunctious playful sense to it, with nice forte outbursts.  The Menuetto more or less checks every box, with nicely paced and lovely outer sections, and a bold, pointed Trio.  The Presto is boisterous and fun, and Kane delivers some left hand playing more than subtly different than other pianists, while not tipping into eccentricity.  The bold dynamic contrasts also remain.  This is not the best performance out there, but it is good and outdoes some big names. 

[Todd]

Garrick Ohlsson.  Yet another lengthy open from an American, with Ohlsson displaying a level of precision rather more refined and dynamic range rather obviously wider than many other pianists.  One gets the sense of permanent restraint, even in the loudest music.  There's also a most delightful, effortless flow, even when the playing is purposely blocky.  Ohlsson's having fun.  Ohlsson then delivers one of the slowest Scherzos imaginable, at 6'32".  His dynamic contrasts are enormous, with thundering fortes morphing into perfectly controlled fortissimos, and the very slow, very deliberate playing at first seems too serious, but one quickly hears a sense of mischief in the delivery.  Ohlsson is going against expectations.  He keeps things slow in the Menuetto, too, delivering beautiful, steady outer sections and a dynamically super-wide ranging Trio.  He makes many other pianists seem puny.  The Presto is again a bit broad, but here Ohlsson masks that with a perpetuum mobile style that flows effortlessly, and again the dynamic contrasts are among the very best on record, or even possible.  It's impossible not to appreciate the playing quality, and in the context of a shootout, Ohlsson's recording fares better than I recalled. 

[Todd]

Earl Wild.  Wild pulls off the trick of sounding like a young man.  The overall timing is middle of the road, but with accelerandos, bold dynamic contrasts, and a metallic sound in the forte passages, the movement sounds faster than the timing.  The energy level is high, though the delivery is more aggressive and biting than fun.  Wild pulls off a similar trick in the Scherzo, with the biting forte chords adding even more heft.  Wild keeps the Menuetto fairly tight, with a strong Trio, but the outer sections seem kind of plain.  He closes with a high voltage Presto in line with the rest of the interpretation.