Beethoven's Late Piano Sonatas... Who Reigns Supreme?

[jlaurson]

I have not gone back to the Pollini recordings (which I have on LP) for years; I don't know if that is significant...(Perhaps I should shell out for the CDs & listen again). I imprinted on Schnabel's 111, it is the ultimate for me, but all of his Beethoven is for me hors pareil. I have been transfixed by Richter's Melodiya recordings of opp.109-111 as made available on Brilliant recently. I will add the Prague op.106...

I would.
Pollini, Late Beethoven Sonatas ("Dip Your Ears No.13")
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2004/10/dip-your-ears-no-13.html

Even if you didn't love it, it's well-nigh impossible not to be impressed by it. Tremendous approach in both 111 and 106.

[Franco]

I think I have those as part of the Pollini Edition set of 12 CDs.  He is one of my favorite performers, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to hear him at Carneigie Hall in the 1980s.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I have been transfixed by Richter's Melodiya recordings of opp.109-111 as made available on Brilliant recently.

Just a minor point of clarification: those Brilliant Op.109-111 recordings aren't Melodiya originals. They're pirates recorded in Moscow and have circulated on various labels in the past (Music & Arts, Russian Revelation, etc...).

But yes the Op.111 is ravishing (don't have the other two).

[Scarpia]

Any comment on the Schiff recordings on ECM.  I like Schiff but haven't heard any of it, mainly out of annoyance that they have been releasing the thing in dribs and drabs even though the full cycle was all recorded at one time.  I'm waiting for the full set to be released, discontinued and remaindered at Berkshire.   

[jlaurson]

Any comment on the Schiff recordings on ECM.  I like Schiff but haven't heard any of it, mainly out of annoyance that they have been releasing the thing in dribs and drabs even though the full cycle was all recorded at one time.  I'm waiting for the full set to be released, discontinued and remaindered at Berkshire.   

1.) Yawn

2.) The cycle was not recorded at one time. Dates are March 2004 through November 2006. And late patching/re-recording sessions didn't finish until September 23rd, 2007.

[Franco]

Article in today's New York Times about Till Fellner's concerts of the complete cycle in venues around the world.  

I wonder if a recorded cycle is in the works?

All I can find is a recording of the cello/piano works.  I am unfamiliar with his playing, although the article praises him for a singing tone and points out he is a student of Alfred Brendel.

Mr. Fellner's approach to the symphonic Opus 7, one of the less frequently performed of Beethoven's 32 sonatas, was distinguished by his singing tone and poetic approach. Only the mighty "Hammerklavier" is longer than Opus 7, which Beethoven wrote at 27. Mr. Fellner performed the majestic Largo, con gran espressione, which foreshadows the noble slow movements of the late sonatas, with poised introspection.

This kind of music writing is a bit tiresome.

[jlaurson]

Article in today's New York Times about Till Fellner's concerts of the complete cycle in venues around the world.  

Everyone is doing it. François-Frédéric Guy does it all in a few days in Washington, this month!

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=907

François-Frédéric Guy has dilly-dallied in Washington before, but no more of that when he sits down to play a complete (!!!) Beethoven piano sonata cycle in just ten days. It'd require considerable stamina even on the listener's part to sit through all 32 sonatas in the nine sessions at La Maison Française (never mind the performer), but what an opportunity, also. He'll start on Friday November 13th (7PM), continues with two performances on Saturday (4PM and 7PM), then one each until and including the 17th; he then finishes the cycle (played more or less in numerical order) on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd. Always at 7PM—except Sundays, when the recitals will begin at 4PM.

[Todd]

Any comment on the Schiff recordings on ECM.

It's a mixed bag.  The second volume is probably the best of the set, with a few other highpoints thereafter, but it can hardly be called consistent or even particularly noteworthy.  And I generally greatly like Schiff's pianism.

[Scarpia]

It's a mixed bag.  The second volume is probably the best of the set, with a few other highpoints thereafter, but it can hardly be called consistent or even particularly noteworthy.  And I generally greatly like Schiff's pianism.

Ok, saved me some money there.

1.) Yawn

2.) The cycle was not recorded at one time. Dates are March 2004 through November 2006. And late patching/re-recording sessions didn't finish until September 23rd, 2007.

I see...

[mjwal]

Oh, I didn't say that I didn't appreciate that recording, I worshipped it in fact - and then along came CDs, and later I moved and my Thorens was in some cellar. But I suppose that the CDs sound much better than well-worn LPs. Basically, I suppose I've listened to enough different interpretations since the 80s to return to Pollini's Röntgenbilder with renewed and matured appreciation!

[RJR]

I have known it for nearly 30 years!

Apart from the Pastoral and maybe Op 79(? -- will check later) I can't get into it.

The Kempff Opus 10 1, 2, 3 are lovely. The first record that I ever bought after hearing Claudio Arrau play the Waldstein at Royce Hall, UCLA, in 1967. I know, why didn't I buy Arrau instead? Didn't really know what I was doing. Actually I was searching for Barenboim's Hammerklavier Opus 106 that I had just read about  and when I checked the Beethoven bin I picked up Kempff playing the Opus 10s. It was written in German and it said klaviersonaten. Hammerklavier, Klaviersonaten? Thought they meant the same thing.  So, I figured that I was buying someone else playing the Hammerklavier sonata. Wrong. In the long run, though, it was better to have started off with the Opus 10s rather than the mighty Hammerklavier.