Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[prémont]

There I can only find this:

Perhaps James Brawn can put Australia in the Top Ten

so I conclude that you haven't traversed his cycle yet.

[Brian]

There I can only find this:

Perhaps James Brawn can put Australia in the Top Ten

so I conclude that you haven't traversed his cycle yet.

He has been waiting for a complete set he can purchase at once. (I think it is completed but as individual albums?)

I am a Brawn fan.

[prémont]

He has been waiting for a complete set he can purchase at once. (I think it is completed but as individual albums?)

I am a Brawn fan.

It's complete but, as you write, in individual albums. Can we be sure that a complete box will be released?

P.S.: I'm also a Brawn fan.

[Todd]

He has been waiting for a complete set he can purchase at once.

Yep.  I can stream the Brawn cycle and may do that as a first. 

I have put together the list of the legit or potentially legit cycles that I do not currently own.  (Claudio Colombo's cycle and its like are excluded.) There are only fourteen total.  Two are dodgy.  One is YouTube only.  Many are OOP.  A couple have not been released in full.  Of the two LP only, cited because I can conceivably buy them that way, only the Riefling can conceivably be reissued since Bernard Roberts I is a direct to disc LP release.  That leaves James Brawn and Yurina Tetsu as the two currently purchasable cycles I do not own.  Alfredo Perl's second set should be available in full by end of year.


Bernard Roberts I - LP only
Daniela Varinska - OOP
Dirk Herten - Not certain is legit
Eric Zivian - YouTube only
Gotthard Kladetzky - OOP
Hiroaki Ooi - Not released in full
James Brawn
Michael Huber - Not certain is legit
Michael Steinberg  - OOP
Robert Riefling - LP only
Russian Collective - OOP
Shoko Sugitani - OOP
Valentina Lisitsa  - Not released in full
Yurina Tetsu

[George]

Now that the scientific method has yielded the most perfectly accurate ranking known to man, it's time to publish the results:


The Top Ten – in order, as determined by Science!
Minsoo Sohn

Did you download this set or manage to get a physical copy? Looks like no physical copies are even listed on amazon.

[Todd]

Did you download this set or manage to get a physical copy? Looks like no physical copies are even listed on amazon.

Download.  As far as I can tell, it is digital only.  Korean market releases are moving to that.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Download.  As far as I can tell, it is digital only.  Korean market releases are moving to that.

I can't find Sohn or Lucchesini on CD either, but I've been able to download both of these as well as Yu Kosuge, and Russell Sherman complete, and have already burned a set of CDs for Sohn. I will do the same at least for Lucchesini, once I eliminate the applause and restore a missing repeat or two (such as the 10/2 finale).

[kapsweiss2021]

Yep.  I can stream the Brawn cycle and may do that as a first. 

I have put together the list of the legit or potentially legit cycles that I do not currently own.  (Claudio Colombo's cycle and its like are excluded.) There are only fourteen total.  Two are dodgy.  One is YouTube only.  Many are OOP.  A couple have not been released in full.  Of the two LP only, cited because I can conceivably buy them that way, only the Riefling can conceivably be reissued since Bernard Roberts I is a direct to disc LP release.  That leaves James Brawn and Yurina Tetsu as the two currently purchasable cycles I do not own.  Alfredo Perl's second set should be available in full by end of year.


Bernard Roberts I - LP only
Daniela Varinska - OOP
Dirk Herten - Not certain is legit
Eric Zivian - YouTube only
Gotthard Kladetzky - OOP
Hiroaki Ooi - Not released in full
James Brawn
Michael Huber - Not certain is legit
Michael Steinberg  - OOP
Robert Riefling - LP only
Russian Collective - OOP
Shoko Sugitani - OOP
Valentina Lisitsa  - Not released in full
Yurina Tetsu

I think you have forgotten Massimiliano Damerini's cycle (The Library Classics). It's on streaming services.

[Jo498]

AFAIK Lucchesini was issued 20 years ago only in a box by Stradivarius and never? reissued. It was a dark horse for some time but ardently recommended by some connoisseurs; I got a used copy a few years later at a very good price, otherwise I probably would not have bothered.

It took me years to appreciate it. I guess I found it a bit to "normal" at first and one has to crank up the volume, otherwise the sound is sometimes a bit distant (but certainly more "natural" than many older studio recordings). There are a few interpretive choices, esp wrt repeats that annoy me, e.g. he plays the 1s mvmt of op.2/1 pretty fast and without any repeat, so it becomes the shortest movement of the sonata and the whole thing seems even more off balance than usual. But I am positively surprised more often than not when I revisit some of his recordings. Also a "bonus" is that he seems quite good in sonatas that are almost only recorded within sets, e.g. op. 31/1 or 54 or 78.
So I can support the promotion in the ranking (although not the demotion of Gulda and Gilels, both usually better than almost all of e.g. Serkin's partial cycle).

Used copies are still findable but a bit expensive.

https://www.discogs.com/de/release/12052060-Andrea-Lucchesini-Complete-Beethoven-Piano-Sonatas

[Mandryka]

For me Lucchesini  is a bit to polished, smooth, lyrical to be a favourite.

[prémont]

For me Lucchesini  is a bit to polished, smooth, lyrical to be a favourite.

I think this approach works wery well for many of the sonatas, but of course not for all of them.

[prémont]

AFAIK Lucchesini was issued 20 years ago only in a box by
So I can support the promotion in the ranking (although not the demotion of Gulda and Gilels, both usually better than almost all of e.g. Serkin's partial cycle).

The issue with Serkin's performances is their inconsistency. At his best, he ranks among the very best, particularly in pieces like Op. 106 and Op. 110, but frequently his playing wasn't more than average.

[Todd]

I think you have forgotten Massimiliano Damerini's cycle (The Library Classics). It's on streaming services.

I didn't forget about it; I didn't know about it.  A few minutes of internet snooping shows that Damerini was a real deal pianist, with recordings on multiple labels.  His LvB set was released in total only last year around the time of his death and appears unavailable for any type of purchase.  Eric Zivian's YouTube cycle aside, streaming only cycles are a bit suspect.  I'll try to remember to dig a bit deeper at a later time to see if it is a legit cycle. 

[Jo498]

I probably don't like Serkin as much as some others even at his best (I think despite similarly huge competition he is better in the concertos) but I basically agree with that. However, the pieces where Serkin is best like op.13, 57, 106 or 110 are extremely well covered anyway, so the point of a "cycle" (or about half of it as with Serkin) is mostly lost.
And IMO Gilels also has a bunch of extraordinary recordings among the 27 he recorded and also Gulda among his 32.

For me, the strength of a cycle lies in the general excellence and consistency of approach, even if it doesn't work perfectly for all pieces (none will be equally convincing everywhere), and also in the pieces not as lucky in the discography.

Practically, with streaming etc. this is often a moot point today as one can cherrypick at will whereas in former times one would either have to spend huge amounts of time and effort for the best single discs or get a cylcle more cheaply to have some basic coverage.

[prémont]

For me, the strength of a cycle lies in the general excellence and consistency of approach, even if it doesn't work perfectly for all pieces (none will be equally convincing everywhere), and also in the pieces not as lucky in the discography.

Good point!

[Mandryka]

I didn't forget about it; I didn't know about it.  A few minutes of internet snooping shows that Damerini was a real deal pianist, with recordings on multiple labels.  His LvB set was released in total only last year around the time of his death and appears unavailable for any type of purchase.  Eric Zivian's YouTube cycle aside, streaming only cycles are a bit suspect.  I'll try to remember to dig a bit deeper at a later time to see if it is a legit cycle.

I didn't realise he died, a friend of mine who plays piano rated his Sciarrino really highly. I'm listening now to his Waldstein and it seems to be  not totally uninteresting in fact - not at all fast and furious but rather serious and sober and even handed, maybe even Teutonic with smattering of Italian brio.

[Florestan]

maybe even Teutonic with smattering of Italian brio.

Or maybe even Italian with smattering of Teutonic seriousness. 

No, really and with all due respect, sometimes I feel that whoever said that

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture

was absolutely right.

[Todd]

Or maybe even Italian with smattering of Teutonic seriousness. 

No, really and with all due respect, sometimes I feel that whoever said that

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture

was absolutely right.

Why spend time on a forum discussing music?

[Mandryka]

Or maybe even Italian with smattering of Teutonic seriousness. 

No, really and with all due respect, sometimes I feel that whoever said that

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture

was absolutely right.

Actually I've changed my mind. It is totally uninteresting.

[George]

Serkin brings an effective, unique style to this music. I prefer his incomplete set to all other incomplete sets.