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Topic: Moonlight Sonata Recordings (Read 1867 times)

kelly_kelly

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Moonlight Sonata Recordings

on: July 16, 2006, 05:11:50 PM

Whose recording is your favorite and why?

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thalbergmad

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #1 on: July 16, 2006, 06:05:24 PM

Radu Lupu.

Don't know why, I just like it.

Perhaps it was the first one that I listened to and it stuck in my mind.

Thal

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jre58591

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #2 on: July 16, 2006, 07:52:51 PM

even though i despise this sonata, id have to say that its a tie between richard goode and brendel's philips recording.

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pianiststrongbad

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #3 on: July 16, 2006, 08:16:35 PM

I have Kempff's recording, I have always liked the way he played it. Though I don't have much else to compare it to.

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alejo_90

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #4 on: July 17, 2006, 03:29:04 AM

Gilels, Kempff and Rubinstein. Don't know why...

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ivoryplayer_amf

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #5 on: July 17, 2006, 03:31:10 AM

Quote from: jre58591 on July 16, 2006, 07:52:51 PM

even though i despise this sonata, id have to say that its a tie between richard goode and brendel's philips recording.

Why do you despise it?

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jre58591

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #6 on: July 17, 2006, 03:54:57 AM

Quote from: ivoryplayer_amf on July 17, 2006, 03:31:10 AM

Why do you despise it?

besides the fact that its so effing overplayed, i dont really like the piece. my hatred for it intensified when i learn it, which is the case for many pieces i learn that i dont like. dont get me wrong, its a great piece of composition, but i just cant listen to it. much like me and baroque. i respect teh work, but i just cant listen to it.

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alejo_90

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #7 on: July 17, 2006, 05:12:44 AM

Why does people always take out points from a piece because it is overplayed? It makes no sense to me. Then we all should hate Beethoven' 5th and 9th, Bach's Toccata and Fuge, Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, Chopin's Heroic Polonaise, and a lot of other pieces that are very overplayed.

Best
Alex

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zheer

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #8 on: July 17, 2006, 05:54:26 PM

Horowitz plays this sonata very well.

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mike_lang

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #9 on: July 17, 2006, 05:57:28 PM

Moravec - also on the disc are the 32 variations, Op. 90, Op. 81a "Les Adieux", and Pathetique, I believe.

Best,
ML

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da jake

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #10 on: July 17, 2006, 05:58:57 PM

1. Schnabel
2. Hofmann
3. Horowitz

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bella musica

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #11 on: July 17, 2006, 06:02:44 PM

Quote from: thalbergmad on July 16, 2006, 06:05:24 PM

Radu Lupu.

Don't know why, I just like it.

Perhaps it was the first one that I listened to and it stuck in my mind.

Thal

I really like Radu Lupu's recording of the Schubert Impromptus as well. He has incredibly beautiful legato and phrasing...

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A and B the C of D.

anschlag

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #12 on: July 18, 2006, 01:10:03 PM

As a favourite I might well pick Lupu or Gilels.

But for the most remarkable recording I have ever heard of this piece I would pick Gulda's recording for Decca from the 50s. His first movement is astonishing: he plays it with immense control, very slowly, and with the pedal down all the way through ('senza sordini'). The first time I heard this I was both shocked and mesmerised by the effect.

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freakofnature

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #13 on: July 18, 2006, 03:21:24 PM

@anschlag: You mean he doesn't change pedal at the chord changes??? Doesn't sound this like a total mess?

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anschlag

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Re: Moonlight Sonata Recordings

Reply #14 on: July 18, 2006, 05:10:11 PM

Strangely it does not sound too much of a mess, though there are some very strange effects. It sounds extremely ghostly.

This is a literal interpretation of Beethoven's instructions, which indicate that the piece should be played 'senza sordini' - so without dampeners.

Gulda did revise his view in subsequent years and in his famous amadeo reading from the 60s he sounds more conventional.

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