Fortepiano recordings.

[teamsaint]

The question of fortepiano recordings cropped up on another thread.
I have to say that any fortepiano recordings I have are by accident rather than design,and I know that for the real enthusiasts of keyboard music (we know who you are !) that the instrument is terribly important.
So I wondered if those with expertise in these matters might like to recommend some particularly good examples of discs of recordings of music played on these instruments.

Other examples of keyboard music played on appropriate period instruments might be good also.

Thanks.


TS

[Dave2002]

I had (or maybe still have, somewhere) at least one LP of Malcolm Binns playing Beethoven sonatas - including I think the Appassionata. I recall that as being particularly good, and after a short while one does get used to the different sound.

Incidentally, did anyone hear Wellington's piano this morning on Radio 4, Today, with David Owen Norris? That was apparently the first of its kind - and perhaps the last too! An English square piano.

I have heard fortepianos played live in places such as Hatchlands - definitely worth hearing, as also some of the harpsichords.

[David-G]

Incidentally, did anyone hear Wellington's piano this morning on Radio 4, Today, with David Owen Norris? That was apparently the first of its kind - and perhaps the last too! An English square piano.

Sorry to nitpick! This piano is actually a grand, not a square. English Heritage claim it to be "the oldest surviving English grand piano". But they also claim it to be "the earliest example of a piano with the now-familiar loud and soft pedals", which is not quite the same thing.

[Dave2002]

Happy to be nit picked. Now I wonder if it was my ears and brain that failed, or did R4 get it wrong? It was a bit early in the morning for me!

[Pianoman]

Ronald Brautigam's BIS recordings are some of the best I've heard, using Paul Mcnulty's Walther and Graf copies - wonderful sonority and no 'plink-plonk' pub piano sound at all. Also check out Alexei Lubimov playing Beethoven's last 3 sonatas on an original, well worth hearing.

[mercia]

Happy to be nit picked. Now I wonder if it was my ears and brain that failed, or did R4 get it wrong? It was a bit early in the morning for me!

you could always listen again :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22507415

[Bryn]

I had (or maybe still have, somewhere) at least one LP of Malcolm Binns playing Beethoven sonatas - including I think the Appassionata. I recall that as being particularly good, and after a short while one does get used to the different sound. ...

Regrettably, only the last 5 sonatas of the Binns Beethoven sonatas survey have so far made it to CD. However, they are well worth getting (search for beethoven binns on amazon.co.uk). A variety of instruments from the Colt Collection are used. The 2 CD set is very reasonably priced via the amazon marketplace.

The original LP issue, in 4 boxed sets, came with detailed information on each instrument, plus extracts from contemporary reviews of the sonatas (contemporary with their original publication, that is).

[MickyD]

Yes, I still have those 4 boxes of Malcolm Binns, but long for Decca to re-release the whole lot on CD.

I have dozens, if not hundreds of fortepiano recordings, the sound of the various instruments is truly fascinating for me. I would recommend any discs by Andreas Staier, he really seems to know how to make those pianos sing. Another old favourite is Jos van Immerseel playing Beethoven sonatas (including the "Moonlight") on a wonderful Graf instrument. The recording has a really ethereal quality about it. Available on the Accent label.

Going back even further, I have long clamoured for the old DHM recordings of Jorg Demus playing Schumann on early pianos to be re-released, but sadly, like the Binns recordings, they seem to remain firmy locked in the vaults.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

English Heritage claim it to be "the oldest surviving English grand piano". But they also claim it to be "the earliest example of a piano with the now-familiar loud and soft pedals",

It's funny. I've yet to find a piano with a loud pedal.

[Bryn]

It's funny. I've yet to find a piano with a loud pedal.

Mozart was one of many pianists who sometimes used an instrument with a pedal 'keyboard'. That surely offered 'loud pedals' if they were played with the requisite force?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedal_piano

[doversoul1]

I think you’ll find a lot of interesting comments and useful information on these threads.

Period piano

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?6502-Period-Piano

CoW: Clementi

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?6292-Clementi-and-fortepiano-17th-–-21-September

[verismissimo]

It's worth noting that fortepianos (and their smaller brother the square piano) produce a wide variety of sounds, depending on maker, date etc. But basically there were two main schools in the late 1700s - Vienna (eg Walter) and London (eg Broadwood).

Lots of good advice here (Staier, Binns etc), but if you'd like to take the plunge with a largish box encompassing several different instruments, you could do worse than invest in Christine Schornsheim's cycle of Haydn piano sonatas.

She plays very well, selecting appropriate instruments to match the different stages of Haydn's long career (harpsichords, clavichord, fortepianos from Munich, London).

[amateur51]

Ronald Brautigam's BIS recordings are some of the best I've heard, using Paul Mcnulty's Walther and Graf copies - wonderful sonority and no 'plink-plonk' pub piano sound at all. Also check out Alexei Lubimov playing Beethoven's last 3 sonatas on an original, well worth hearing.

I'm by no means an expert but I agree with you totally, Pianoman

[MickyD]

I agree with you, Verismissimo...the Schornsheim set is well played, recorded and scholarly...it is fascinating to hear the progression of Haydn's sonatas over the years on appropriate contemporary instruments. I was also lucky enough to get the set for under 20 euros when it first appeared!

[DublinJimbo]

Ronald Brautigam's Beethoven is indeed special. I recently got Sonatas 16-18 and was thrilled with what I heard.

A bit of a rising star in the fortepiano world has to be Kristian Bezuidenhout. His recent recordings of Concertos by Mendelssohn and Mozart (both with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) are wonderful.