Peter Takács plays Beethoven

[Todd]

After waiting for months and enduring delays, including one attempt to purchase the set several months ago on its third (I think) release date, I finally got my hands of Peter Takács' new Elveebee cycle.  It was worth the wait.  Mr Takács, whom I had never heard nor read of prior to learning of this cycle, is a professor of piano at Oberlin College.  One can surmise that he knows a thing or two about playing the piano and playing Beethoven.  This project started in 2001 and took years to record.  This seems to imply a bit of dedication.  These are good things. 

Mr Takács does indeed know his Beethoven.  His cycle is pretty much a no-nonsense take, though one riddled with interpretive leeway around the edges.  His tempi are just about right, and if they stray from "neutral," they stray slightly (and I mean slightly) fast.  His dynamic range is just about right, though from time to time it's possible to enjoy a titanic range offered by someone like Russell Sherman.  His technique is solid.  His independence of hands fine.  Inner voices get their due without becoming the main event, as it were.  Everything is immaculate, and everything sounds both studied and fresh.  When Mr Takács does allow himself some leeway, it's in the form of musically suitable embellishment.  And he does like to play the bass an octave or two lower than usual, something enhanced by the use of a Bösendorfer.

The cycle starts quite promisingly with an excellent, vibrant Op 2.  The first can be stormier, sure, and the third more overtly virtuosic, but what's on offer here is uniformly excellent.  All three come off as youthful, though they are played quite seriously.  Takács' is a studious, classical take.  Op 7 is splendid first to last, and Op 10 is nice, indeed.  Takács takes the opening arpeggio of the first sonata at a fast, precisely controlled pace, and things proceed nicely from there.  The second of the set is suitably humorous.  The third perhaps lacks the ultimate in drama in the slow movement, but that doesn't make the recording any less compelling.  Op 13 is more classical and restrained that the most fiery versions, but it works for me, and both Op 14 sonatas are joys to listen to.  (That's two cycles in a row with high grade Op 14 sonatas.)  Op 22 is energetic and youthful, the last gasp of young Beethoven, and Op 26 is superb, with distinct, colorful variations, a somber and heroic funeral march, and a snazzy ending.  Things drop a level for Opp 27 and 28.  There's nothing wrong with them – indeed, they're quite good – but they just didn't tickle my fancy quite as much.

Then there's Op 31.  Takács delivers a crackerjack trio.  The first is all humor and wit; the second is dark and brooding; the third is a vigorous musical prank.  I can't say that Takács delivers world beaters in any of the three works, but it was fun to just sit and listen to all three consecutively.  Twice.  The musical goodness doesn't end there.  The Op 49 sonatas, on an earlier disc here, are little gems and are played as such.  The really good stuff comes in Opp 53, 54, and 57.  The first two are superb, with a perfectly paced opener for the former, and a superbly judged closer for the latter.  Op 57, though, is the peak of not only the middle sonatas, but of the whole cycle.  Takács adopts tempi suitable to his classical but intense approach, and he takes maximum advantage of the Bösendorfer's lower register.  Climaxes thunder in a most satisfying way.  This is right up there with the best of the best. 

All but one of the remaining middle sonatas are a bit less enthralling; they are merely of the same high level as Op 31.  Except for 81a.  Takács brings forth the bittersweet farewell, sad longing, and joyous reunion with aplomb.  It's a corker, and can withstand comparison to almost any other recording.  Op 90 is very good, too, but not quite in the same league, and I do confess that I like the second movement to be a bit more lyrical.

That leaves the late sonatas, and Takács delivers here, as well, for the most part.  That late LvB transcendental sound that I found missing from Buchbinder's cycle is here basically from note one starting with 101, which pulls off the trick of still possessing some middle period zeal.  Op 106 is suitably large in scale, with the quasi-orchestral opening movement again leveraging the Bösendorfer's lower register heft.  The slow movement is taut and unforgiving at under seventeen minutes, but it's also just contemplative enough.  The final movement offers nice playing and clarity, though others seem more at ease here.  Op 109 and 110 both sound quite fine, with the latter's repeated, ascending chords before the arrival of the second fugue sounding suitably hefty.  Op 111 is a bit less impressive than the rest, lacking the ultimately ethereal sound I crave in the second movement, but make no mistake, the opening is intense and the Arietta lovely and calm. 

The eleventh disc in the set contains all of the WoO sonatas, including the sonata for piano four hands, as well as the Andante Favori.  They are all very well done, but they are also all lesser works that could probably have been excluded.  Come on, how many people really care much about the WoO sonatas? 

So this is a good cycle.  A very good cycle.  An excellent cycle.  But it is not a great cycle.  It does not come close to my top tier, which is no surprise.  Between the Buchbinder cycle and this one, I listened to part of Wilhelm Backhaus' first cycle again and was reminded anew how great the old master's LvB is, and how these new cycles jut don't quite achieve the same thing.  That written, I must say that of the four recent cycles I've listened to – Lortie, Buchbinder, and Jando being the others – Takács' is easily my favorite, and if he does not ascend to the highest heights, he's in good company, being on par with Takahiro Sonoda (Denon), Michaël Levinas, Akiyoshi Sako, and Seymour Lipkin.  Not household names, perhaps, but all of these pianists have a lot to offer.

Sound for the cycle is generally superb.  The earliest recordings, which include Op 2 and the big middle works, are more reverberant than I prefer, but most of the rest of the recordings are spot on in terms of perspective, timbre, and clarity.  That's for the CD layer.  I didn't try the SACD layers, so those may sound better yet.

[Oldnslow]

I'm up to the Pathetique, and like Todd I am mightily impressed with Takacs' playing. I am also adjusting to the recording quality and am enjoying it a lot. Looking forward to the rest of the set, which is defnitely a keeper!

[Clever Hans]

Further opinions on this set?
Any samples for illustration of points would be appreciated as well.

[Clever Hans]

Bump.


How does this cycle compare to other modern cycles?


Thanks again.

[Holden]

I recently joined Classics Online and they have just added the complete Takacs to their collection which I am able to stream directly to my PCs media player. At the moment I am just sampling and will focus later on specific sonatas to see what I think. From what I've heard so far I have to agree with Todd that a mainstream approach has been taken by Takacs and this pays off well in the two early sonatas I've sampled.

Todd uses the Op 31 trio as his litmus test for a cycle. I am a bit different here and op 53 is always one of my determinants of a top cycle so it will be next on my list to hear in full.

As an aside, I mentioned in the LvB PS thread about the Michael Houstoun cycle and low and behold it is here on CoL but (and Todd wouldn't like this) only missing one part - Op 31. If you have access to CoL or NML, give it a try and see what you think?

[Clever Hans]

I recently joined Classics Online and they have just added the complete Takacs to their collection which I am able to stream directly to my PCs media player. At the moment I am just sampling and will focus later on specific sonatas to see what I think. From what I've heard so far I have to agree with Todd that a mainstream approach has been taken by Takacs and this pays off well in the two early sonatas I've sampled.

Todd uses the Op 31 trio as his litmus test for a cycle. I am a bit different here and op 53 is always one of my determinants of a top cycle so it will be next on my list to hear in full.

Thanks very much for the tip, I've been sampling. My impressions are very positive. The soundstage is great (and would be better at quality above lower streaming bitrate) with the rich-hued piano recorded at a natural distance, unlike with Kovacevich and Annie Fischer or Kempff II.
There are some things that are immediately obvious. One is that he is an essentialist style player, not one who fusses over highlighting too many details, disrupting the line in order to point out appreciated features, something that Brendel III, Schiff, and Paul Lewis--to a lesser extent and sometimes mimicking Brendel--tend to do.

He is virtuosic, not on the titanic level of Gilels or Pollini, but excellent--and that type of perfectly even execution is itself an interpretive choice.
Takacs is classical in style but dynamic and with highly balanced voices. Not academic, or taming expression like Richard Goode sometimes does, and not holding back at climaxes. He has clearly studied the scores endlessly, but he has experience playing all the sonatas in concert and he doesn't sound studied at all. And he doesn't fetishize sound and create poeticisms like Paul Lewis in particular, which can seem overly Romantic.
Nothing eccentric about his tempo and dynamic choices, just tastefully following the score, and nothing overwrought (Kovacevich, Annie Fischer).

Also worth nothing is that all the most esteemed cycles have flaws besides sound quality.
So I think there is plenty room for a new cycle in great sound by a conservatory teacher with beautifully dynamic but balanced playing and deep interpretations faithful to scores.

Not that flaws from past cycles should be dwelled upon so we don't enjoy anything but they should be noted with the virtues to guard against familiarity, prejudice, and nostalgia.


For example (I appreciate the decision to ignore this):

Backhaus mono and carnegie hall recordings - gruff and direct, almost the opposite of late Brendel. On the other hand he can be very dry, indelicate in phrasing and he plainly ignores dynamic changes, namely ppp and ff (and repeats randomly if it matters).
Kempff DG mono - beautiful tone and characterization, but can be a little underpowered and grandfatherly in contrasts, particularly in late sonatas.
Schnabel - spontaneous and has incomparable "schwung," but mistakes, rushing, hectic.
Gilels - some broad tempi and maybe too monumental at times. although this can be very charismatic and awesome, it's not quite classical either.
Brendel, Lewis, Schiff - can be fussy with details and sometimes precious, with witty and poetical but idiosyncratic highlights and discontinuous in line. in unique ways and degrees, not always direct, big-picture, and powerful enough
Goode - a little plain or reserved in expression. perhaps too tasteful for Beethoven
Gulda - sometimes a little too straightforward and lacking in expression, e.g. perhaps not introspective or metaphysical enough in late sonatas.
Kovacevich - lots of crude aggression, controversial tempi and lack of lyricism.
Annie Fischer - obvious edits and countless takes that affect overall structure, and sometimes melodramatic and uneven in execution
Arrau - lots of depth, but can be thick and ponderous, and needs to cut his fingernails
Brautigam - not everyone likes fortepiano, and he can be aggressive and not poetic enough depending on taste
yada yada, I'll stop there

[Oldnslow]

I agree that the Takacs set is well worth having, and certainly in my top tier overall for cycles. One set I like more and more is the one by Claude Frank, who succeeds in just about every sonata (his recent double CD set on Dorian of containing the Schubert D.960,  and Beethoven Op 109-111 is also very fine, and was recorded when he was in his early 80s!). I also think Robert Greenberg's choice of Claude Frank as the demonstration pianist in his series of lectures from The Teaching Company  on the Beethoven sonatas was fully warranted.  By the way, there is a hard to find, out of print CD on Sine Qua Non of Beethoven's Archduke Trio with Frank as pianist that is just wonderful and well worth trying to find.

[Holden]

I agree that the Takacs set is well worth having, and certainly in my top tier overall for cycles. One set I like more and more is the one by Claude Frank, who succeeds in just about every sonata (his recent double CD set on Dorian of containing the Schubert D.960,  and Beethoven Op 109-111 is also very fine, and was recorded when he was in his early 80s!). I also think Robert Greenberg's choice of Claude Frank as the demonstration pianist in his series of lectures from The Teaching Company  on the Beethoven sonatas was fully warranted.  By the way, there is a hard to find, out of print CD on Sine Qua Non of Beethoven's Archduke Trio with Frank as pianist that is just wonderful and well worth trying to find.

Claude Frank is also available on CoL but I've only had a brief listen so far.

[prémont]

Backhaus mono and carnegie hall recordings - gruff and direct, almost the opposite of late Brendel. On the other hand he can be very dry, indelicate in phrasing and he plainly ignores dynamic changes, namely ppp and ff (and repeats randomly if it matters).
Kempff DG mono - beautiful tone and characterization, but can be a little underpowered and grandfatherly in contrasts, particularly in late sonatas.
Schnabel - spontaneous and has incomparable "schwung," but mistakes, rushing, hectic.
Gilels - some broad tempi and maybe too monumental at times. although this can be very charismatic and awesome, it's not quite classical either.
Brendel, Lewis, Schiff - can be fussy with details and sometimes precious, with witty and poetical but idiosyncratic highlights and discontinuous in line. in unique ways and degrees, not always direct, big-picture, and powerful enough
Goode - a little plain or reserved in expression. perhaps too tasteful for Beethoven
Gulda - sometimes a little too straightforward and lacking in expression, e.g. perhaps not introspective or metaphysical enough in late sonatas.
Kovacevich - lots of crude aggression, controversial tempi and lack of lyricism.
Annie Fischer - obvious edits and countless takes that affect overall structure, and sometimes melodramatic and uneven in execution
Arrau - lots of depth, but can be thick and ponderous, and needs to cut his fingernails
Brautigam - not everyone likes fortepiano, and he can be aggressive and not poetic enough depending on taste
yada yada, I'll stop there

Very well put, - some are better than others, but no one is perfect.
Still I appreciate the rich variety of the interpretations.
As to Takacs, his box is waiting at the post office for me to pick it up to morrow.

[Clever Hans]

Very well put, - some are better than others, but no one is perfect.
Still I appreciate the rich variety of the interpretations.
As to Takacs, his box is waiting at the post office for me to pick it up to morrow.

I look forward to hearing your impressions, including of the instrument (and how he balances voices)!
His philosophy and artistry seem suitable for your tastes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq44iu0_7PQ

[George]

For example (I appreciate the decision to ignore this):

Backhaus mono and carnegie hall recordings - gruff and direct, almost the opposite of late Brendel. On the other hand he can be very dry, indelicate in phrasing and he plainly ignores dynamic changes, namely ppp and ff (and repeats randomly if it matters).
Kempff DG mono - beautiful tone and characterization, but can be a little underpowered and grandfatherly in contrasts, particularly in late sonatas.
Schnabel - spontaneous and has incomparable "schwung," but mistakes, rushing, hectic.
Gilels - some broad tempi and maybe too monumental at times. although this can be very charismatic and awesome, it's not quite classical either.
Brendel, Lewis, Schiff - can be fussy with details and sometimes precious, with witty and poetical but idiosyncratic highlights and discontinuous in line. in unique ways and degrees, not always direct, big-picture, and powerful enough
Goode - a little plain or reserved in expression. perhaps too tasteful for Beethoven
Gulda - sometimes a little too straightforward and lacking in expression, e.g. perhaps not introspective or metaphysical enough in late sonatas.
Kovacevich - lots of crude aggression, controversial tempi and lack of lyricism.
Annie Fischer - obvious edits and countless takes that affect overall structure, and sometimes melodramatic and uneven in execution
Arrau - lots of depth, but can be thick and ponderous, and needs to cut his fingernails
Brautigam - not everyone likes fortepiano, and he can be aggressive and not poetic enough depending on taste
yada yada, I'll stop there

Impressive, succinct appraisal. (even if you were too tough on ol' Annie) 

[George]

Further opinions on this set?
Any samples for illustration of points would be appreciated as well.

Here's Jed's impression: http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=13468

I found the opening paragraph very interesting:

Unlike other Beethoven piano sonata cycles on the market, the present release is truly complete in that it includes the rarely performed early C major sonata and F major sonatina without opus numbers, the three "Elector" sonatas Wo47, the Andante favori in F (originally intended as the Op. 53 "Waldstein" sonata's slow movement), and the D major Op. 6 sonata for piano duet.

However, I have had a chance to sample his playing and find it rather tame. He reminds me of Goode, only tamer. I won't be buying this set.

[Clever Hans]

However, I have had a chance to sample his playing and find it rather tame. He reminds me of Goode, only tamer. I won't be buying this set.

I now have the cds and while I will hold off for a while from a long assessment I am sure his style differs quite noticeably from Goode's, who is nevertheless an ultra-refined pianist.

Here are some brief comparisons so far:
tempi not always as quick as Goode's, but more varied, involved articulation of voices, especially in left hand
more layered dynamics, and complex and subtle sense of rhythm and effects
Overall, I find Goode more objective and elegant, while Takacs conveys greater ambiguity, tension and restlessness

e.g.
11 rondo allegretto, edgier, articulation in left hand
9 allegro, goode very straight but takacs again more urgency and voices building on each other
allegretto, darker more intensity
22 allegretto, takacs does not hold back in initial bass thunderings like goode, and in general darker, more choral and less emphasis on elegance
23
andante - goode - triumphant languor then elation [my oversimplified description] but takacs really walks, such characterful rhythm and upswells
allegro ma non troppo - more menacing and with robust climaxes, with complex articulation emphasizing polyphonic effects
25 also has similarly interesting andante

[prémont]

I have now listened to three of Takacs CD´s (op.2, op.27 & 28 and op.109,110 & 111). In the book(let) he writes about imitation of orchestral colours in the sonatas,  and I think his playing actually is very suggestive in that respect. It is not a completely new angle to the music, but he carries it  rather consequently through, in between creating other tonal balances that we are used to hear. Other than that he strikes me as being a very intellectual performer, and I do not consider his style (judged from the above mentioned three CDs) that emotionally involving. In other words, he does not touch me, and LvB was after all a romantic composer, or what? Maybe the other eight CDs changes my view, who knows.

[Clever Hans]

I have now listened to three of Takacs CD´s (op.2, op.27 & 28 and op.109,110 & 111). In the book(let) he writes about imitation of orchestral colours in the sonatas,  and I think his playing actually is very suggestive in that respect. It is not a completely new angle to the music, but he carries it  rather consequently through, in between creating other tonal balances that we are used to hear. Other than that he strikes me as being a very intellectual performer, and I do not consider his style (judged from the above mentioned three CDs) that emotionally involving. In other words, he does not touch me, and LvB was after all a romantic composer, or what? Maybe the other eight CDs changes my view, who knows.

I agree about his bringing out orchestral colors and voices, and look forward to hearing your opinions again after further listening.

But I go with "or what?"-- I dunno about Beethoven as a Romantic composer.
Beethoven was an idealist, humanist, essentialist, eccentric, but he explored harmonic and stylistic conventions, rather than reject them and create new forms. And he never makes me want to poke fun at his music, like later 19th century composers sometimes do.

He's not a Romantic composer in the way Weber, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner are.

I'm honestly not sure what kind of expressivity and introversion works best in the late sonatas, for example.

Players often overdo the brooding, angry Beethoven, while others do the opposite, and consciously hold back, to make him seem more "classical." (I don't find that Takacs does either of these things, e.g. in the Appassionata.)

Given these two kinds of pretense, two sides of the same coin, one sees the appeal of Schnabel's élan and the simple lyricism of Kempff and the frankness of Backhaus. (Actually a person on SA-CD.net said Takacs most reminded him of Backhaus). 

Takacs is intellectual and no-nonsense, maybe, but I think he brings a lot out of the music, its balance, depth, and structure, and like Todd I find many of his interpretations intense, and dark and humorous too.

Anyway, I still like my Beethoven dark and intense for sure, like Harnoncourt's.

[Clever Hans]

Kovacevich - lots of crude aggression, controversial tempi and lack of lyricism.

Listening to his cycle more, I have decided that my assessment was pretty off--"crude" is not accurate and he does not lack lyricism at all.

[Clever Hans]

Interesting interview, apart from the recording process he spends much time discussing a bunch interpretative issues, including importance of original manuscripts and sketches, e.g. for understanding triplets in tempest sonata.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rV0VhrNUkWI#t=1775s

[Kontrapunctus]

Ahhh...my set arrived today--love it! The sound is just perfect--not too close, not too far, not too wet, not too dry--just a very realistic rendering of a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand in a hall. I like his playing very much, too. On the surface, he might not be as viscerally thrilling as Michael Korstick (just using other SACD artists as a reference), but in the long run, I think he'll be much more satisfying. Korstick tends to pound too hard (I can only image how hard he will hammer out the "Hammerklavier"!), and the metallic tone of his piano is fatiguing after a while. Takacs plays with plenty of force yet remains musical--and his playing is so clear, too. I only wish that he had recorded the Diabelli Variations as a bonus instead of the juvenile works, but one can't have everything.

The packaging is just amazing--I really don't see how the label can afford such lavish packaging and SACD audio for such an incredibly low price.

[PaulSC]

I don't agree that Korstick's tone production is unmusical. But I suspect if you hear his Hammerklavier the main thing that will strike you is the EXTREMELY slow tempo of the Adagio, which stretches out for nearly 30 min.!

Returning to the central topic, I do look forward to hearing Takács' sonatas, which I've spotted in full at NML.

[Kontrapunctus]

I don't agree that Korstick's tone production is unmusical. But I suspect if you hear his Hammerklavier the main thing that will strike you is the EXTREMELY slow tempo of the Adagio, which stretches out for nearly 30 min.!

Good grief--that sounds like something Pogorelich would do these days! I wouldn't mind if Takacs played it a little slower (his is 16:44--18-20:00 seems perfect to me), but it's still beautifully played.

(I'm selling my Korstick discs on Amazon if anyone is interested..seller name is Classic CDs.)