Best Beethoven Sonatas Recording

[mmro]

Who has the best recording for all of the sonatas?

[ksnmohan]

Hi mmro,

I am a great admirer of Aarau, but forget my views - the following review of his complete Beethoven Sonata recording on the Philips label will give you my answer:

Quote:

Arrau's 1960's Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle is amongst the best and most enduring recordings projects ever undertaken by Arrau, alongside his Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Urtext Edition, based on the original manuscripts, published in Frankfurt by C.F. Peters in the 1970s.

Arrau's entire 1960s cycle of Beethoven sonata recordings not only compete superbly with the very best interpretations, but has simply become indispensable.

Unquote

[zheer]

Who has the best recording for all of the sonatas?

  Well to answer that, one should have heard the recordings of these sonatas by all those who have recorded the full cycle, i imagin not many have. Anyway since i only have the complete beethoven Sonatas by Wilhelm Kempff and Artur Schnabel ,i can only comment on them. Well they are both very good, but for a student of the piano i guess Kempff would make a better refernce, Schnabels interpretation is very personal.
   I would love to listen to Alfred brendel's collection, and am sure Daniel Barenboim
is also very good.

  Others to consider, would be Surkin, Aarau.
 

[stormx]

Brendel
Kempff

[kempff1234]

here is my list

-Kempff (Mono and the Stereo)
-Schnabel
-Backhaus
-Brendel
-The incomplete Gilels
-Whatever Richter recorded
-Rubinstein (again whatever he recroded)

[robertp]

Depends on whether you're planning on eventually having more than one!

I have Kempff on vinyl, and it never did a whole lot for me, although his is well-liked by many. I read around and listened around and got Gilels -- it's missing five of them but for me, it has been very satisfying. If I were getting another set, I'd probably get the first Barenboim, and then Schnabel.  It's worth keeping an eye on Schiff -- the first two installments of his series are very promising.

[steve jones]

I do like Arrau's set very much. Although I sometimes think he is just a tiny bit restrained. When Richter's are good, they are better... but then again they are sometimes horrible! I cant think of any of Arrau's that dont fit the bill.

So yeah, they are a good reference set imo.

SJ

[lazlo]

Im not up on who has done "complete recordings". But I love:

-Fazil Say
-Vladimir Horowitz
-Seymour Lipkin
-Wilhelm Kempff (though not as much as the others)
-Maurizio Pollini (for the early sonatas)
-Vladimir Ashkenazy (though not as much as the others)
-Some of Alfred Brendal... he has really unique interpretations, which I respect, but don't always agree with. but who am I to disagree with him.

just some ideas i hope.

[persona]

I have Arrau's recordings and I'm pretty satisfied with most of them. But: I'm I the only one who thinks his tempo got a little out of hand in Sonata Nº 30, second movement? I mean, it's just too slow, I think it almost looses it's meaning (it supposed to be more violent the way I see it). Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "the faster the better" guys. As a matter of fact, I belive Arrau's version of Appasionata captures it's significance much better than faster versions. But I think what he did in number 30 is just too much. It's supposed to be prestissimo.

[burstroman]

Arrau's is my number 1 choice, and Bernard Roberts' is a close second.