Beethoven Piano Sonatas

[vinteuil]

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... and certainly to be considered - very much flavour of the month -

http://amzn.eu/26NLVNt

[BBMmk2]

Alas, a pity that Emil Gilels did not record a complete cycle. But what he did do, was more or less complete. Be worth getting. Otherwise Martin Rosco, Paul Lewis, Daniel Barenboim his EMI one, what Jayne mentioned, Alfred Brendel these are the ones I know .

[Barbirollians]

Can't agree late Brendel is boring his last Op 109-111 for example are marvellous .

Agree about the merits of Gilels, Schnabel , Paul Lewis is superb in the early sonatas ,Solomon in everything he recorded almost makes a complete set .

[kea]

... I should coco!

http://amzn.eu/d4rtdNc

The period-instrument Badura-Skoda cycle seems hard to come by.

There are other good period-instrument sets - Paul Komen, Ronald Brautigam ...
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Individual volumes are €8 apiece on Qobuz for 16/44.1, which is slightly less steep but still hardly competitive.

The other complete PI sets (Brautigam, Binns, Bilson et al.) are.... to be honest, not really as good. The incomplete set (Komen) and various individual recordings are generally better. Hopefully Olga Pashchenko will complete a cycle, she is quite promising so far.

Not mentioned yet is Friedrich Gulda, in the 1967 Amadeo recording, a favourite of mine which I originally got via Brilliant Classics. Now available from German Decca with Piano Concertos. Cheaper than Amazon UK from jpc.

His earlier mono set, on Decca & now Orfeo, arguably outclasses the 1967 stereo set in some respects, but both are worth hearing, I think.

[makropulos]

His earlier mono set, on Decca & now Orfeo, arguably outclasses the 1967 stereo set in some respects, but both are worth hearing, I think.

Re Gulda, I agree, but it's "sets": the Orfeo set was made for Austrian Radio and is different from the Decca one made at about the same time. Both are exceptional. Otherwise, I listen most often to Brautigam.

[Bryn]

Individual volumes are €8 apiece on Qobuz for 16/44.1, which is slightly less steep but still hardly competitive.

The other complete PI sets (Brautigam, Binns, Bilson et al.) are.... to be honest, not really as good [read "to kea's particular taste"]. The incomplete set (Komen) and various individual recordings are generally better. Hopefully Olga Pashchenko will complete a cycle, she is quite promising so far.



[Gulda's] earlier mono set, on Decca & now Orfeo, arguably outclasses the 1967 stereo set in some respects, but both are worth hearing, I think.

The Decca and Orfeo sets are quite different. The former from Decca studio recordings, the latter from even earlier Austrian Radio recordings. Have you actually listened to them?

[Oops. I was making a cup of coffee while makropulos wrote and posted his.]

[Bryn]

Re Gulda, I agree, but it's "sets": the Orfeo set was made for Austrian Radio and is different from the Decca one made at about the same time. Both are exceptional. Otherwise, I listen most often to Brautigam.

While the Brautigam survey used a range of instruments, that employed by Binns was rather greater, and used genuine historic instruments. I return to both quite frequently, along with the three Gulda sets.

[Richard Tarleton]

Can't agree late Brendel is boring his last Op 109-111 for example are marvellous .

- and the 1995 Op. 106, recorded live in the Musikverein, from the complete set on Philips.... Op 109 was one of the last things I heard him play, in the Barbican on 22.06.2004.

[vinteuil]

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... o, just awe and wonder.

Pondering all the choices above - and looking at the many B'ven piano works on the CD shelves here - we are just cuffin lucky to be livin' in the times we do....


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[pastoralguy]

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... o, just awe and wonder.

Pondering all the choices above - and looking at the many B'ven piano works on the CD shelves here - we are just cuffin lucky to be livin' in the times we do....


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[Bryn]

Getting back to Paul Badura-Skoda, it's worth mentioning that in addition to the recordings of historical instruments, he also recorded a survey on a Bösendorfer from 1969 to 1970. It can be found on the Gramola label.



I have an earlier manifestation without the bonus CD of two extra Hammerklaviers.

[pastoralguy]

Was Annie Fischer's Hungaraton set complete? I remember buying it for a friend when we were in Budapest due to the release date being different.

[vinteuil]

Getting back to Paul Badura-Skoda, it's worth mentioning that in addition to the recordings of historical instruments, he also recorded a survey on a Bösendorfer from 1969 to 1970. It can be found on the Gramola label.
I have an earlier manifestation without the bonus CD of two extra Hammerklaviers.

... I have this - but o how I envy you, with the period-instrument cycle on Astree...


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[Conchis]

Good to hear the Kempff mono set getting such golden opinions:I picked up the Japanese HDCD remaster earlier this year for £8.99.

Other than that, I have Barneboim's first set and that's it.

I suppose I ought to get around to listening to Schnabel one of these days.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I too wish Gilels had completed his cycle.

But this shows up a fundamental problem. Going for a full cycle ensures no duplication and it's clean and economical. But it rules out any performances that are not part of a complete cycle.

But I would recommend going for mix-and-match, choosing the best recordings of individual works.