Beethoven's last piano sonata. Op.111

[pastoralguy]

For WEEKS now I've been intrigued by a cd that the Stockbridge Oxfam, Edinburgh had in stock selling for £15.99. It's an original Philips cd of Frederich Gulda playing Beethoven's op.111 piano sonata. Week after week I fondled this cd in its original heavy plastic box which reminded me of the days when buying a cd was a big deal. Well, after much deliberation, I splurged and bought it. The original Gramophone review is pretty good and feels it's a very 'severe' reading.

Having paid so much, I've listened over and over to this work until it's developed into something of an obsession which has led me to compare different versions. My favourite, apart from the Gulda, is now Robert Taub on a 1987 Harmonia Mundi cd bought from the same Oxfam shop.

What an amazing piece this is. For me to try to describe it in words would be futile and an insult. It's like I've found a new friend.

[Bryn]

For WEEKS now I've been intrigued by a cd that the Stockbridge Oxfam, Edinburgh had in stock selling for £15.99. It's an original Philips cd of Frederich Gulda playing Beethoven's op.111 piano sonata. Week after week I fondled this cd in its original heavy plastic box which reminded me of the days when buying a cd was a big deal. Well, after much deliberation, I splurged and bought it. The original Gramophone review is pretty good and feels it's a very 'severe' reading.

Having paid so much, I've listened over and over to this work until it's developed into something of an obsession which has led me to compare different versions. My favourite, apart from the Gulda, is now Robert Taub on a 1987 Harmonia Mundi cd bought from the same Oxfam shop.

What an amazing piece this is. For me to try to describe it in words would be futile and an insult. It's like I've found a new friend.

Do you have recording information re. this disc, e.g. date(s)? I have three Gulda Beethoven piano sonata surveys (radio recordings from the early '50s, the Deccas from the mid-50s to the early '60s, and the later '60s Amadeo set first issued in the U.K., IIRC, on the Philips label). All are very precious to me. A pianist I hold in the highest regard.

Wow! I have just checked these out on amazon,co.uk. When I bought them, each set was at relatively bargain price. Today they command crazily high sums.

[ahinton]

The work is indeed utterly extraordinary even by the exalted standards that Beethoven had already set himself by the time that he wrote it.

Of the many fantastic performances - Pollini and Michelangeli included - here's one that might intrigue, its rather silly cartoon appearance notwithstanding: http://www.hbdirect.com/album/229327...en-savage.html ...

[EdgeleyRob]

My favourite is Arrau (1985)
The beginnings of Jazz or Boogie-Woogie are to be found in the 3rd variation,2nd movement according to a famous pianist,can't remember who.

[ahinton]

My favourite is Arrau (1985)
The beginnings of Jazz or Boogie-Woogie are to be found in the 3rd variation,2nd movement according to a famous pianist,can't remember who.

I can't remember who either but it cannot be denied - and yes, Arrau is indeed remarkable in this work; how interesting it would have been to hear the accounts of Schönberg, Webern, Stockhausen even, from a pianist famed for his renditions of the "classics" of the repertoire yet who regarded Die Soldaten as the greatest opera since Salome and whose excursions into repertoire for which he is not at all known cannot be less than fascinating...

[richardfinegold]

My favorite is Gary Graffman but I love this work and several excellent versions. Array and Annie Fischer are both pretty exalted. Pollini strikes me as a tad to glib in II

[Zucchini]

A few years ago we sat on the platform of the RFH little more than 2 metres from Daniel Barenboim's left hand, when he concluded his hugely lauded Sonata Cycle.

The memory is indelible, he seemed to be creating the 2nd movt as he went along, listening intently to himself, weighting every note with immense care, occasionally smiing at something that pleased him. And he demanded (and got) a long, long silence at the end

Overwhelming. to say the least.

[pastoralguy]

Do you have recording information re. this disc, e.g. date(s)? I have three Gulda Beethoven piano sonata surveys (radio recordings from the early '50s, the Deccas from the mid-50s to the early '60s, and the later '60s Amadeo set first issued in the U.K., IIRC, on the Philips label). All are very precious to me. A pianist I hold in the highest regard.

Wow! I have just checked these out on amazon,co.uk. When I bought them, each set was at relatively bargain price. Today they command crazily high sums.

Many thanks for the responses.

The Gulda is a Philips cd that was recorded in The Mozarteum, Salzburg in February 1984. The CDs number is 412 114-2.

I think it was Mitsuko Uchida who made the 'boogie woogie' comment.

[pastoralguy]

A few years ago we sat on the platform of the RFH little more than 2 metres from Daniel Barenboim's left hand, when he concluded his hugely lauded Sonata Cycle.

The memory is indelible, he seemed to be creating the 2nd movt as he went along, listening intently to himself, weighting every note with immense care, occasionally smiing at something that pleased him. And he demanded (and got) a long, long silence at the end

Overwhelming. to say the least.

The biggest problem with this piece, for me, is getting absolute silence to hear it in. No beeps and whistles from 'phones or traffic noise from outside.

[Thropplenoggin]

It is a remarkable work. My introduction to it was by Pollini - he gives a great account of the second moment. I remember listening in the dark with headphones on the first time I heard it and feeling there was a cosmic quality to it. Impossible to put into words but there was a feeling of the sublime, the infinite, in one of the trill variations, where the whole piece seems to hang on one note floated out there...I suppose I linked it with the weighlessness of space or something. Anyway, other accounts offer something different: Michelangeli, Arrau, Kempff...That moment is here in the Arrau version from 4'10 - 4'36 (that top note in the right hand), but of course, it is only meaningful bc of all that's come before it. Anyway, x 1000000.

You may be interested in this resource on YouTube: I think I worked my way through most of them at one point: Great Pianists Play Beethoven Opus 111

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

My favourite is Arrau (1985)
The beginnings of Jazz or Boogie-Woogie are to be found in the 3rd variation,2nd movement according to a famous pianist,can't remember who.

I can't remember who either but it cannot be denied

I think it was Mitsuko Uchida who made the 'boogie woogie' comment.

I can't find my copy of the last Stravinsky/Craft conversation book Themes & Conclusions - but I think the "boogie-woogie" comment originates there. It has been repeated oft-since.

[BBMmk2]

I have that DG cycle of LvB Piano Sonatas and Daniel Barenboim's first cycle with EMI. I am open to those other ones that have been mentioned!

[gradus]

I was fumbling through the first page of the Arietta only this week -all I can manage of it. The first recording I heard was of a live performance by Pletnev and the music has never left me, for some reason it's a favourite whistle, it just happens.

[Pulcinella]

Not my period ( and run for cover), so the only recording on my shelves is on an early BBC MM CD, Volume 2, number 7, played by Edith Vogel (St John's, Smith Square, 15 April 1985).
Any good, or should I be seeking another?

[Bryn]

... The Gulda is a Philips cd that was recorded in The Mozarteum, Salzburg in February 1984. The CDs number is 412 114-2. ...

Thanks, I see it is available for download from QOBUZ. I will investigate further. What did yo think of Gulda's Wintermeditation?