Which are the best recordings of:

[oceansoul]

Complete Chopin Nocturnes.
Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas.
Complete Schubert Sonatas.
Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Greetings.

I urgently need to buy some of these. My piano teacher demanded it from me.
I was told Alfred Brendel's Schubert Sonatas are great.
Keith Jarrett's Bach.

About the others, I'd need some advice.

Thanks in advance.

[popdog]

I have Arrau's nocturnes which I would recommend. 

I have Kempff's Schubert Sonata's, and though I haven't listened to them that much, I think he plays them well. 

Every pianist and his dog has done Beethoven sonatas, I'm actually looking for a new recording myself.  There are some amazing sets of sonatas out there, I don't really know them at the moment. 

WTK... Angela Hewitt seems the safest bet to me, depends what your looking for though. 

Wouldn't have a clue about Mozart. 

Good luck,

popdog.

[mike_lang]

I like Moravec for the Chopin and Goode for the Beethoven. :-)

[webern78]

Complete sets are for n00bs. Single recordings are where it's at.

1) Complete Chopin Nocturnes.

Ivan Moravec, Vladimir Feltsman.   

2) Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas.

Robert Casadesus is my favored Mozart interpreter, but he never recorded all of the sonatas. Of course, you don't need all of them, either. Start from k330 and forget the rest.

3) Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas.

Gilels is my favored Beethoven pianist. His set is incomplete but it's really a must have, particularly for the late sonatas. Alas, he died before recording the Opus 111, but there's a version by Vladimir Feltsman which is very close to what Gilels may have sounded like. It's a bit straitlaced, but it's the best substitute i was able to find. However, the greatest Opus 111 of all is in my view the one recorded by Edwin Fischer in the 50s. Hard to find, but worth it in ever way.

Then you have Moravec's recordings, which are also an absolute must have (his Appassionata in particular is peerless). Michelangeli's Opus 7 is pretty much definitive, as is Krystian Zimermann's live recording of the "Waldstein", which gives Gilels's legendary interpretation a run for it's money. Somebody needs to convince Zimermann to do a complete Beethoven set, ASAP. Pollini i generally don't like, but his "Hammerklavier" is something to behold.

An honorable mention goes to Ives Nat, an underrated pianist who recorded the complete sonatas during the 50s. He is not noted for his perfect technique, but he has a natural flow to his playing and an incredible natural touch. It's almost like listening to the composer himself improvising those sonatas on the spot. 

4) Complete Schubert Sonatas.

Willhelm Kempff for it's poetic qualities, Radu Lupu for his delicacy and refined approach to details.

5) Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Vladimir Feltsman > all.  Kenneth Gilbert is pretty good if you need something on harpsichord, better then Leonhardt in my view, but i wouldn't call it definitive. I know that Scott Ross (IMHO, the greatest harpsichordist that ever lived) recorded this, but i wasn't able to put my hands on it and from what i gather it isn't one of his best efforts.

As a word of advice, stay clear of Keith Jarrett, his Jazz included. The man may know his chops, but he's a freaking phony. Really overrated artist.

[Etude]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moment, but while were on the matter of recordings, which are the best Scriabin Sonatas?   Oh, and best Goldbergs (pref. on harpsichord).

[mike_lang]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moment, but while were on the matter of recordings, which are the best Scriabin Sonatas?

Ogdon!

[oceansoul]

You guys can put your questions as well. The name of the topic is generalist. I had my answers just now.

Thanks.

[Etude]

Ogdon!

Thanks!

This thread would make a good sticky, although I was thinking it often would be the case that no recording can be the superior one if they all have very different but equally valid approaches  to offer.

[retrouvailles]

Ogdon!

I would have to disagree wholeheartedly. His playing is very far below his standard in those recordings. There are lots of missed notes and some very odd  phrasings. His playing is also very choppy. I really like Ogdon but that recording is one of his worst. For the Scriabin sonatas I like Hamelin, Glemser, and some other random single recordings like Woodward and some others I don't remember right now.

[jpowell]

Complete Chopin Nocturnes.
Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas.
Complete Schubert Sonatas.
Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Greetings.

I urgently need to buy some of these. My piano teacher demanded it from me.
I was told Alfred Brendel's Schubert Sonatas are great.
Keith Jarrett's Bach.

About the others, I'd need some advice.

Thanks in advance.

I'm afraid I find Brendel's Schubert lousy. Try Richter, Sokolov or Volodos. Or Kempff for and older recording.

Chopin Nocturnes: Samson Francois or Cortot of course!

Bach 48: Samuil Feinberg or Richter without question (avoid Gould at all cost)

[mikey6]

I'm not a huge fan of Richter's Schubert - The recording I have at least sounds so brittle!

I'd go Pires for the Nocturnes
Uchida for the Sonatas or I think Perahia has recorded a few.
Possibly Kempff for the Beethoven although there's SOOO many.
Lupu for the Schubert although it's not complete
Not sure about the Bach, again so many, but I wouldn't go Jarret!

[webern78]

if they all have very different but equally valid approaches  to offer.

Except that's not really the case, is it?

[webern78]

Oh, and best Goldbergs (pref. on harpsichord).

I have many recordings of this composition, both on piano or harpsichord, but they are all flawed in one way or another! Nonetheless:

On piano, i prefer Gould (mandatory i guess. He recorded the work three times, and my favored is the live version from 1959, closely followed from the 1981 version), Koriolov and Feltsman (am i promoting this guy or what?). The last two are the foremost Bach interpreters of our age (and in the case of Feltsman of everything contrapuntal whatsoever), the first with his incomparable recording of the Art of Fugue, and the latter with the Well Tempered Clavier. Alas, their account of the Goldberg isn't as strong as those, but they are still quite remarkable. 

On harpsichord, Scott Ross (studio version from 1988. Not one of his best recordings, mainly due the shoddy sound quality, and no where near as incredible as his account of the Partitas, which is just about definitive, but a good effort nonetheless, and better then most), Kenneth Gilbert (my least favored among his Bach's recordings, but still great) and, well, that's it. Landowska and Kirkpatrick are just too primitive. Pinnock is surprisingly good (all considering) but too mechanical. Leonhardt, idiosyncratic, Mortensen, bland. Suzuki, undistinguished. Jarret, flat (just listen to the French Overture, particularly when it goes into the fugato. Totally and utterly flat, with no variation either in energy or intensity). Hantai, too frantic and also idiosyncratic. Dantone, over interpreted.

I still have a lot more to explore, but this is what i gathered so far. All IMHO, of course.

[webern78]

For the Scriabin sonatas I like Hamelin

That's what i have as well, but i think he's playing is a bit monochromatic. I don't care how much of a virtuoso he is, he needs to perk up his palette, a lot.

[akonow]

For Chopin nocturnes, I've always favored Ashkenazy's interpretation. Perfect background music... 

For Beethoven sonatas, I like Gould (although I'm not sure if he recorded all of them) and Barenboim.

[retrouvailles]

That's what i have as well, but i think he's playing is a bit monochromatic. I don't care how much of a virtuoso he is, he needs to perk up his palette, a lot.

Yeah I would agree with that for many of the interpretations on there, but not all. It's the reason why I had others on my list, rather than just his. Complete sets are inherently flawed in some way.

[Nightscape]

I think the world has yet to see a clear, definitive recording of the complete Scriabin sonatas.  The cycles done so far are wonderful, but in every set there are a few not so great eggs.

My favorite recordings of the nocturnes (and mind you I haven't heard them all) are Rubinstein's and Angela Hewitt's.  The Hewitt recording is a newer one and is an excellent complement to the golden age recordings - a more modern take on the pieces that shed some additional light, in my opinion.

[jedi_dad]

Complete Chopin Nocturnes - Rubinstein, Arrau
Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas - Horszowski
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas - Schnabel, Backhaus
Complete Schubert Sonatas - Kempff
Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier - Edwin Fischer, Tureck, Richter

[general disarray]

Maria Tipo's 1986 EMI recording of the Goldberg.  Very pianistic, which, of course, may disqualify her for those with a penchant for "dry" Bach.

[jpowell]

That's what i have as well, but i think he's playing is a bit monochromatic. I don't care how much of a virtuoso he is, he needs to perk up his palette, a lot.

He has now!

[tanman]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moment, but while were on the matter of recordings, which are the best Scriabin Sonatas?

Sofronitsky

[thorn]

second Sofronitsky being the best recording of the Scriabin Sonatas.

Chopin Nocturnes, someone mentioned Pires- she takes a lot of liberties with them but her interpretations are certainly unique and well worth a listen

Beethoven Sonatas, like someone else said there are so many of them and you tend to get someone make amazing recordings of some, or a handful of movements and not so brilliant ones of the rest. for all round decent recordings though i'd pick Arrau

[xxmynameisjohnxx]

Just wondering, what about Idil Biret for chopin? All my recordings are done by her. Are they among the better chopin recordings? Or should I look for better ones?

[ptyrrell]

heres what i reckon

arrau - nocturnes
Uchida/brendel - schubert
Uchida any mozart