Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Radio 3

[amateur51]

I'm so pleased to read other posters' positive reaction to Shai Wosner's playing. I was beginning to wonder if I was losing it big-style.

He's made a couple of recordings which are well-played and interesting as recitals as well as individual performances. A former BBC New Generation Artist I feel that he is the real deal and I look forward to hearing more from him greatly.

[amateur51]

Slightly off track but I finally bought the icon set of Artur schnabel . I have to admit never having heard the recordings of this legend before .

I have only listened to the CD of the Pathetique,Moonlight,Appassionata and Waldstein - it made my ears stand on end ! Stunning performances utterly unvarnished .

Andrew Rose has been doing some sterling work on Schnabel's wonderful but sometimes noisy Beethoven sonata cycle over on Pristine Classical.

http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/indexes/ArtistS.html#schnabel

They're not cheap but they do sound ... marvellous

[austin]

I feel that he is the real deal and I look forward to hearing more from him greatly.

I have just listened to yesterday's Lunchtime Concert having downloaded it and it is one to keep for repeated listening. A real joy to hear such musical performances!

[vinteuil]

This whole series is proving to be a revelation. For me, Wosner and Angelich have been the most amazing discoveries - "the real thing", as has been said: Llyr Williams lyrical and lovely but not the Beethoven for me; Buniatishvili extraordinary but so self indulgent as to make me not wish to have to listen to her too often...

[Pianorak]

Andrew Rose has been doing some sterling work on Schnabel's wonderful but sometimes noisy Beethoven sonata cycle over on Pristine Classical.

http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/indexes/ArtistS.html#schnabel

They're not cheap but they do sound ... marvellous

Thanks for the link. Indeed much, much better than the EMI I have and find unsatisfactory. Re Angelich and Wosner Beethoven recitals: unalloyed joy!

[aeolium]

I'm not sure on what basis you decide that Buniatshvili's playing is 'self-indulgent', vinteuil - why shouldn't it be simply her reading of the sonata (I presume you're thinking particularly of the Appassionata)? The first movement is marked 'allegro assai' and the finale has a marked increase of tempo to 'presto' in the last section. Beethoven's metronome markings in other works suggest that these sections are to be played very quickly. I think Bunitashivili is following a more Russian pianistic tradition where there can be more extreme contrasts of tempo (Richter in Schubert, or Gilels in Beethoven) than in the Austro-German tradition (e.g. Brendel). It was an impassioned performance of the 'Appassionata', certainly with quite a few wrong notes, but it seems a bit harsh to describe it as self-indulgent. I would give her the benefit of the doubt and say that it was a performance that tried to convey the thrilling power of the work. I don't think this work, at least the finale, can be played without creating the impression that the pianist is right on the edge, which means risks have to be taken. It didn't quite come off completely in this performance, but I applaud the ambition.

[vinteuil]

aeolium -

but surely we're all allowed our own subjective likes too!

When I say that I find her playing too 'self indulgent' - well, I accept that my default setting in most things is pretty austere and restrained - I don't relish wallow and extreme... That's my own personal starting point.

I certainly appreciated what she was doing - and it was exciting - but I wdn't want to have her reading of Beethoven too often!

[aeolium]

but surely we're all allowed our own subjective likes too!

But of course, vinteuil! I was only trying to suggest that to allege self-indulgence is a rather harsh criticism, as if the pianist was simply having a good time at the expense of the music, rather than doing her best to perform the music as she interpreted it (and, at times, failing technically).

[clive heath]

...............and you can also hear some of Schnabel's Beethoven together with a marvellous Hammerklavier from Louis Kentner on my site

https://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk

[rodney_h_d]

I realise that I shall sound like a party-pooper but I do find Buniatishvili's performances to be frequently chaotic. She is clearly not short of practice (which might explain the extended passages of wrongs notes) she just sets an initial pace that she can't maintain with clarity and so she delivers a right old jumble. I think there was also a memory lapse somewhere but those things happen to the best - it's her need to set a crazy tempo, rather than one that is fast but which she can sustain and then take even faster as in the final page of the Appassionata, that really bothers me. .....

I couldn't agree more! If only she would calm down just a little, her performances of Beethoven could be outstanding. Unlike some, I don't care much about the tempo in Beethoven - it's sustaining the momentum that counts - but I do want to hear all the notes clearly articulated. As you say, she sets herself a tempo that she simply can't maintain while playing all the notes. I hope she gets the message from somebody!

[rauschwerk]

I don't think this work, at least the finale, can be played without creating the impression that the pianist is right on the edge, which means risks have to be taken. It didn't quite come off completely in this performance, but I applaud the ambition.

I'm with Tovey here:-

"This movement is often taken too fast. Beethoven is rather sparing of the warning ma non troppo, and it occurs oftener in later than in earlier works. It is therefore not a warning that should be neglected."