BEETHOVEN:COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS+COMPLETE 5 PIANO

	£		48
	$		64

 

Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas & Concertos

 Arrau

Release Date: 11/09/1999 
Label:  Philips   Catalog #: 462358   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau,  János Starker,  Henryk Szeryng
Conductor:  Bernard Haitink,  Eliahu Inbal
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,  New Philharmonia Orchestra

Number of Discs: 14 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 17 Hours 3 Mins. 

CONDITION: NEW AND SEALED

 

One of many Beethoven 32+ you could call "The Best"

Reviewer: R. Lane
  "Great Music!" can sound equally stunning and magnificent in the hands of many diverse interpreters. Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas certainly make a good case to be classified as "Great Music!", and the variety of recordings of the entire 32 is more than ample evidence for such a classification.

This set features recordings made in the 1960s by the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau, and supplements the sonatas with the complete concertos and some variations. Arrau is very thought provoking and exploratory in his readings. This is not Beethoven for the light hearted. The readings feature a wide dynamic range and emotional expressiveness. You are ever aware that it is not just Beethoven's thoughts that are being expressed in the playing; Arrau's own feelings are as ever present as the composer's. I agree with one reviewer who finds Arrau a little lacking in the scherzos. But, I can easily dismiss the shortage of "playfulness" in some moments when I get interpretations that fathom some of the great depths this music has to it.
No one cycle of the 32, in my opinion, can lay claim to be superior over all others, even in any one of the sonatas. I would not want to be without this set. But then, I also would not want to be without Kempff, Brendel, Schnabel, or Gilels either. All have equal strong merit.

So if you could only choose one, why might you choose this set? If you are a great fan of Schumann, Brahms, and perhaps Schubert, then you will likely find these performaces more fitting. They look forward to the future that Beethoven certainly paved the way for, a future that was more expressive and expansive. If you are a fan more of Mozart and Haydn, you may find the readings a bit heavy and introspective.

Also, consider this set if you want one stop for the sonatas, concertos, and variations.

The concertos, another genre of Beethoven's works deserving of the "Great Music!" designation, are given similarly unforgettable Arrau performances with Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

I find myself listening to the Eroica variations in this box more than anything else. The audio recording is not of the demonstration-quality that the Gilels has, but Arrau plays with more herioc feeling and captures the sense of occasion in the work in a way Gilels seems to miss entirely.

Philips has pulled off one of their best remastering jobs with this compliation. The boxed set was released shortly before Philips started their award-winning "Philips 50" series of reissues. The care taken with these Arrau remasterings makes me suspect they were a sort of "tune up" for the bigger and more publicized project that was to follow.

The documentation is decent but not exhaustive.

 Individual Track Details: 1.  Sonata for Piano no 1 in F minor, Op. 2 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1793-1795; Vienna, Austria 
2.  Sonata for Piano no 3 in C major, Op. 2 no 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1794-1795; Vienna, Austria 
3.  Sonata for Piano no 4 in E flat major, Op. 7 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
4.  Sonata for Piano no 5 in C minor, Op. 10 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
5.  Sonata for Piano no 6 in F major, Op. 10 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
6.  Sonata for Piano no 7 in D major, Op. 10 no 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
7.  Sonata for Piano no 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
8.  Sonata for Piano no 9 in E major, Op. 14 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1798; Vienna, Austria 
9.  Sonata for Piano no 10 in G major, Op. 14 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1799; Vienna, Austria 
10.  Sonata for Piano no 11 in B flat major, Op. 22 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1800; Vienna, Austria 
11.  Sonata for Piano no 12 in A flat major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1800-1801; Vienna, Austria 
12.  Sonata for Piano no 13 in E flat major, Op. 27 no 1 "Quasi una fantasia" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1800-1801; Vienna, Austria 
13.  Sonata for Piano no 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 no 2 "Moonlight" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1801; Vienna, Austria 
14.  Sonata for Piano no 15 in D major, Op. 28 "Pastoral" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1801; Vienna, Austria 
15.  Sonata for Piano no 16 in G major, Op. 31 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1802; Vienna, Austria 
16.  Sonata for Piano no 17 in D minor, Op. 31 no 2 "Tempest" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1802; Vienna, Austria 
17.  Sonata for Piano no 18 in E flat major, Op. 31 no 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
18.  Sonata for Piano no 19 in G minor, Op. 49 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
19.  Sonata for Piano no 20 in G major, Op. 49 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
20.  Sonata for Piano no 21 in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1803-1804; Vienna, Austria 
21.  Sonata for Piano no 22 in F major, Op. 54 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1804; Vienna, Austria 
22.  Sonata for Piano no 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1804-1805; Vienna, Austria 
23.  Sonata for Piano no 24 in F sharp major, Op. 78 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria 
24.  Sonata for Piano no 25 in G major, Op. 79 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria 
25.  Sonata for Piano no 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a "Les Adieux" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
26.  Sonata for Piano no 27 in E minor, Op. 90 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1814; Vienna, Austria 
27.  Sonata for Piano no 28 in A major, Op. 101 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1816; Vienna, Austria 
28.  Sonata for Piano no 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1817-1818; Vienna, Austria 
29.  Sonata for Piano no 30 in E major, Op. 109 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
30.  Sonata for Piano no 31 in A flat major, Op. 110 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1821-1822; Vienna, Austria 
31.  Sonata for Piano no 32 in C minor, Op. 111 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1821-1822; Vienna, Austria 
32.  Concerto for Piano no 1 in C major, Op. 15 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Conductor:  Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Period: Classical 
Written: 1795; Vienna, Austria 
33.  Concerto for Piano no 2 in B flat major, Op. 19 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Conductor:  Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Period: Classical 
Written: 1793/1798; Vienna, Austria 
34.  Concerto for Piano no 3 in C minor, Op. 37 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Conductor:  Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Period: Classical 
Written: 1800; Vienna, Austria 
35.  Concerto for Piano no 4 in G major, Op. 58 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Conductor:  Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Period: Romantic 
36.  Concerto for Piano no 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Conductor:  Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Period: Classical 
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria 
37.  Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello in C major, Op. 56 "Triple Concerto" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  János Starker (Cello), Henryk Szeryng (Violin), Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Conductor:  Eliahu Inbal
Orchestra/Ensemble:  New Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Classical 
Written: 1804; Vienna, Austria 
38.  Variations (33) for Piano on a Waltz by Diabelli in C major, Op. 120 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
39.  Variations (6) for Piano in F major on an Original Theme, Op. 34 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
40.  Variations (15) and Fugue for Piano in E flat major, Op. 35 "Eroica" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1802; Vienna, Austria 
41.  Variations (32) for Piano in C minor on an Original Theme, WoO 80 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
42.  Rondo for Piano in G major, Op. 51 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: ?1798; Vienna, Austria 
43.  Sonata for Piano no 2 in A major, Op. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Claudio Arrau (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1794-1795; Vienna, Austria