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

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: B000002RUP binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $16.98 USD

Here's a disc that really throws down the gauntlet! Beethoven's late piano sonatas have an almost mythical reputation for sublime obscurity. That doesn't mean they don't get played, but rather that performers (and critics) tend to treat them with a seriousness not always supported by the music itself, which is frequently intimate, playful, and charming. In coupling two late sonatas with two earlier ones, Pratt demonstrates both the consistency of Beethoven's musical thought, and also makes a strong case for the late sonatas being far more approachable than most people think. He plays these two late works with the same sort of robust freshness and unaffected musicality that he lavishes on the two earlier ones, and the result is highly engaging. --David Hurwitz