Beethoven Piano Your resource for the piano music of Ludwig van Beethoven

author: Franz Liszt asin: 0486401146 binding: Paperback list price: $18.95 USD amazon price: $14.78 USD

Memorable tribute from one musical genius to another, reproduced from authoritative editions, reveals Liszt's remarkable capacity for translating orchestral effects into pianistic terms. An astonishing, brilliant and sensitive tribute to the master by the 19th-century's greatest piano virtuoso.

asin: B000001G79 binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $16.98 USD

Emil Gilels unfailingly conveys a manly strength in his performances of Beethoven's music, with a feeling of power held in reserve. The technique is stunning, but what is truly extraordinary is the lively, leonine quality of the playing. Gilels's account of the Waldstein has the quintessential energy and gruffness one associates with the work, and his rendition of Les Adieux is among the most imaginative ever captured. --Ted Libbey

asin: B000EAV6BS binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $30.71 USD

Beethoven's last three piano sonatas have long been regarded as the Mt. Everest of the form, heights that can be scaled only by pianists who possess the keyboard technique to realize the depth of the composer's vision. By those standards, if Uchida isn't the equal of such giants as Arrau, Kempff, and Schnabel, she certainly comes close enough to make this an outstanding release. Her pianissimos are feathery-light; her fortes are as powerful as one might wish, and her trills are analogues of Beethoven's spiritual ideas. She renders Beethoven's full dynamic palette with nuances that make every shading register. Uchida never makes an ugly sound. Her tone remains warm, colorful, and full-bodied. More important, her interpretation encompasses the inward, contemplative slow sections as well as the energetic ones, and she plays Beethoven's contrapuntal passages with a clarity that makes every musical strand count. She's helped by outstanding engineering, too. Not all of the transcendental Beethoven is captured here, but Uchida comes a lot closer than most pianists can aspire to. That alone makes this disc a must-have. -- Dan Davis