BaL 3.02.18 - Beethoven: Piano Sonata no. 30 in E major, Op.109

[kea]

each individual volume is available for 16/44.1 download on Qobuz at a somewhat reasonable price.... no specially priced collection though. https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/search?q...ven&i=boutique

[kea]

In Op. 109 my clear favourite is Maria Tipo (she recorded it twice but both are currently unavailable for some reason). Lubimov, Badura-Skoda (on a Graf), and Peter Serkin (also on a Graf) are the other recordings I'd consider favourites. (And Annie Fischer's live recording on BBC Radio Classics, also probably unavailable now.)

the Fischer is here:

[Bryn]

.. o how I wish there wd be a re-issue (at a reasonable price... ) of the Badura-Skoda cycle on various pianos of the period!



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I am fortunate in that, over the decades, I have been able to acquire the full survey, some CDs with AAD, some with ADD transfers and others in DDD, with separate recordings of Op. 53 on a c. 1815 Broadwood and Georg Hasska from the same suggested year. His Wiener Konzerthaus Gramola set on a Bösendorfer Imperial (recorded 1969-70) makes an enlightening comparison.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Can't say I really need a new version with the following on shelves:

Barenboim HMV
Annie Fischer HMV
Gilels DG
Gould (1956)
Kempff (DG mono)
Pollini
Schnabel
Inger Sodergren
Solomon (alias Salomon - see above)

but always open to persuasion!

[Bryn]

each individual volume is available for 16/44.1 download on Qobuz at a somewhat reasonable price.... no specially priced collection though. https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/search?q...ven&i=boutique

So around £63 for the set (without the Hasska Op. 53, though that is to be found at QOBUZ too).

[vinteuil]

each individual volume is available for 16/44.1 download on Qobuz at a somewhat reasonable price.... no specially priced collection though. https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/search?q...ven&i=boutique

... thanks for that - but I want the CDs



.

[vinteuil]

In Op. 109 my clear favourite is Maria Tipo (she recorded it twice but both are currently unavailable for some reason).

... who says unavailable?

http://amzn.eu/8DCGcwD

.

http://amzn.eu/f4zFBLY

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[Bryn]

... who says unavailable?

http://amzn.eu/8DCGcwD

.

http://amzn.eu/f4zFBLY

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For those in France:

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/offer-listing/B001KWC2DA

Not available for delivery to the UK at the lowest price, however. I tried.

[Bryn]

... thanks for that - but I want the CDs



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If it's for the booklet notes you particularly want the CD option, I would advise that the notes by Harry Halbreich which accompany the CDs are identical to those he contributed to PB-S's Bösendorfer Imperial set on Gramola. The latter set also has analytical notes by PB-S on each sonata, many with musical examples.

[Beef Oven!]

Wilhelm Kempff, Glenn Gould, Jeno Jando and sundry other, here. I'd be astonished if this BaL caused me to add further.

[Tony Halstead]

If it's for the booklet notes you particularly want the CD option, I would advise that the notes by Harry Halbreich which accompany the CDs are identical to those he contributed to PB-S's Bösendorfer Imperial set on Gramola. The latter set also has analytical notes by PB-S on each sonata, many with musical examples.

Am I missing something here? I seem to be totally 'in the dark' as to why the great pioneering pianist P B-S would choose to record these works on a Bösendorfer Imperial when (presumably) he could have had a field day using authentic pianos.
Is there, indeed, really something 'very special' about modern Bösendorfer pianos?
About 25/30 years ago I 'got egg on my face' when I was accompanying a famous double-bass player in a recital at the Purcell Room in London. On the programme was (an arrangement of) Schubert's 'Arpeggione' sonata. Worrying that their default Steinway would be too loud to accompany a double bass, I asked for the Bösendorfer.... it wasn't exactly 'loud' but it had such a very strong 'octave harmonic' that I had to play as if walking on eggshells! I felt that I was playing an organ with the 8 foot AND the 4 foot stops engaged.

[verismissimo]

Of the too-numerous versions I have on record of this sonata, the ones I return to most frequently are Gulda (Orfeo), Lewis and Binns.

[Bryn]

Am I missing something here? I seem to be totally 'in the dark' as to why the great pioneering pianist P B-S would choose to record these works on a Bösendorfer Imperial when (presumably) he could have had a field day using authentic pianos.
Is there, indeed, really something 'very special' about modern Bösendorfer pianos?
About 25/30 years ago I 'got egg on my face' when I was accompanying a famous double-bass player in a recital at the Purcell Room in London. On the programme was (an arrangement of) Schubert's 'Arpeggione' sonata. Worrying that their default Steinway would be too loud to accompany a double bass, I asked for the Bösendorfer.... it wasn't exactly 'loud' but it had such a very strong 'octave harmonic' that I had to play as if walking on eggshells! I felt that I was playing an organ with the 8 foot AND the 4 foot stops engaged.

As I mentioned, PB-S's Bösendorfer Imperial recordings were made in 1969 and 1970. He made earlier recordings on both Steinway and Bösendorfer instruments. As far as I can see, he did not start recording Beethoven sonatas on historical instruments until 1978, with most being recorded through the 1980s. I think his first recordings using a historical instrument was of Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, the Fantasy Op. 77 (Conrad Graf c. 1820) and the Triple concerto (Broadwood (c. 1816), all three in 1974.

[Thropplenoggin]

the Fischer is here:

I've been listening to Annie Fischer's Beethoven all day (a new discovery for me) - wonderfully limpid playing.

[BBMmk2]

Some good ideas for new versions for me!