Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Bogey]

Do you mean VS the DG? If so, every Regis CD I have compared to the original (a half dozen or so) had the same sound.

So, by the cheapest of the two?

[George]

So, by the cheapest of the two?

I say get the DG, you can still get it pretty cheap and the packaging is nice, classy even. There are 3rd party sellers at amazon who still have it for pretty cheap.

[Bogey]

I say get the DG, you can still get it pretty cheap and the packaging is nice, classy even.

Good afternoon, buddy!  Glad to reconnect and hope all is well.  DG it is.  Let me go digging.

[George]

Good afternoon, buddy!  Glad to reconnect and hope all is well.  DG it is.  Let me go digging.

Amazon has it (see above edit)

Afternoon! I am in princeton on my way to the Princeton Record Exchange. It's 70, sunny and low humidity over here!

[Bogey]

Amazon has it (see above edit)

Afternoon! I am in princeton on my way to the Princeton Record Exchange. It's 70, sunny and low humidity over here!

BOOM! 

That's the sound of George starting a perfect day!

[SonicMan46]

Amazon has it (see above edit)

Afternoon! I am in princeton on my way to the Princeton Record Exchange. It's 70, sunny and low humidity over here!

Hi George - good hunting!     I sold well over a 150 CDs to PREX a few months ago (all in perfect shape, BTW!) - culling my collection for well over a year - SO, you might buy some of mine?  Dave 

[Holden]

Any reviews on the Regis Kempff mono set....I would love to hear which is the preferred.

I have no quibbles about the Regis performances which I am enjoying but have some major caveats about the sound. I am wondering if this was remastered, and what from, because the dynamic range is variable from recording to recording. Sometimes it is so low I have to turn up the volume on my PC audio set up to hear it properly and this is particularly noticeable on headphones where my amp alone controls the volume. Some of recordings are a bit clangorous as well and yet there are no mentions of sound deficiencies in any of the reviews I've read.

To test this out I went on to Spotify to see if I could hear the same differences but they seemed to be fine. The Spotify version is the DG (well according to the album art anyway). Could anyone who has the DGG mono like to comment on this.

[George]

The DG does not have that issue, so regis muct have remastered it. Sorry to hear that Holden!

[Coopmv]

The DG does not have that issue, so regis muct have remastered it. Sorry to hear that Holden!

I only have a small handful of CD's by Regis.  I understand that many Sviatoslav Richter's recordings have been released on Regis over the years.  How is the SQ of those recordings overall?

[George]

I only have a small handful of CD's by Regis.  I understand that many Sviatoslav Richter's recordings have been released on Regis over the years.  How is the SQ of those recordings overall?

Perfectly fine.

[Coopmv]

Perfectly fine.

Thanks George.  I will do a big sweep at BRO since it has these Regis for $3-4 a piece.

[Brian]

Okay, I'm caving in and sampling HJ Lim on Naxos Music Library.



Wow, this girl is nuts, and in an enjoyably perverse way. I started with a couple individual movements whose timings seemed bizarre - Moonlight i, Op 79/ii - and now I'm listening all the way through to Op 31 No 3. This is really weird indeed, aggressively fast but not aggressively loud or overemotive. There are a few moments of aural slapstick. It's not Nicolas Cage; it's John Candy.

EDIT: Wait. She skipped Op 49? Why does the cover say "complete"? What kind of pianist would want to skip Op 49? Okay, I need to get back to enjoying the bananas playing or else I'll get angry.

[Todd]

What kind of pianist would want to skip Op 49?

She plays the sonatas unlike anyone else, so why on earth should she record all of the sonatas like anyone else?  Besides, Op 49 are sonatinas if you think about, right?

I got my set and made it through the second volume.  I must find the strength to make it through the third.

[George]

She plays the sonatas unlike anyone else, so why on earth should she record all of the sonatas like anyone else?  Besides, Op 49 are sonatinas if you think about, right?

I got my set and made it through the second volume.  I must find the strength to make it through the third.

[kishnevi]

She plays the sonatas unlike anyone else, so why on earth should she record all of the sonatas like anyone else?  Besides, Op 49 are sonatinas if you think about, right?

I got my set and made it through the second volume.  I must find the strength to make it through the third.

[pushes HJ Lim out of the shopping cart.  Hopefully she'll land safely.]


I received Vols. 1 and 2 of the F-F Guy Sonatas yesterday.  While I have yet to listen to a note of it, and probably won't for a while(Mount To-Be-Listened-To is mighty big),  I can say that Vol. 2 was recorded at the same series of concerts (spread out over two years or so) as Vol. 1, so the quality of Vol. 2 should be the same as Vol. 1.

[Coopmv]

[pushes HJ Lim out of the shopping cart.  Hopefully she'll land safely.]


I received Vols. 1 and 2 of the F-F Guy Sonatas yesterday.  While I have yet to listen to a note of it, and probably won't for a while(Mount To-Be-Listened-To is mighty big),  I can say that Vol. 2 was recorded at the same series of concerts (spread out over two years or so) as Vol. 1, so the quality of Vol. 2 should be the same as Vol. 1.

I need to find time to get started on this Arrau's set, which arrived from ArkivMusic a few weeks ago ...

[Todd]

I can say that Vol. 2 was recorded at the same series of concerts (spread out over two years or so) as Vol. 1, so the quality of Vol. 2 should be the same as Vol. 1.

FFG should act as a soothing balm after listening to Lim.  I got through her Op 10 today.  That was plenty.  I certainly do not want to dissuade anyone from listening to Lim; for those who want to hear crappy Beethoven, she's just the ticket.

[Leon]

I certainly do not want to dissuade anyone from listening to Lim; for those who want to hear crappy Beethoven, she's just the ticket.

While I wouldn't go this far, I can't imagine recommending her set.  That said, I am not sorry to have spent under $10 for it.

[Beale]

Hi, newbie question.

The OP posted this in 2007:
29. "Hammerklavier"   Pollini – Gulda, Fischer, Solomon, Serkin, Yudina, Barenboim, Nat, Backhaus, Kempff(m), Gilels

Does this list for op106 still hold today? Are there any newcomers worth considering, e.g. Paul Lewis?

I have this in a Schnabel box set, but I desire a better sound.

[George]

Welcome! 

Hi, newbie question.

The OP posted this in 2007:
29. "Hammerklavier"   Pollini – Gulda, Fischer, Solomon, Serkin, Yudina, Barenboim, Nat, Backhaus, Kempff(m), Gilels

Does this list for op106 still hold today?

Yes.

Are there any newcomers worth considering, e.g. Paul Lewis?

No newcomers, and I am not a not a fan of Lewis's Beethoven.

I have this in a Schnabel box set, but I desire a better sound

Pollini should fit the bill nicely. You can get his late sonatas cheap on DG.