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

asin: B0002UNQ8G binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $32.81 USD

The great Martha Argerich here plays Beethoven's Second and Third Piano Concertos. The latter is a work she's performed only twice before (and not for well over 20 years). There are plenty of fireworks in the outer movements, but all is not well between conductor Claudio Abbado and Argerich. In general, his approach seems to be mellower than hers; while she's emoting all over the place, say, in the first movement of the Third, Abbado is moderate and literal, keeping almost all vibrato out of the string section of the orchestra. In addition, the recording invariably favors Argerich and much orchestral detail is obscured. The listener, however, can't deny the excitement, and Argerich plays the middle movements of both concertos rhapsodically. The Second is altogether more successful, with every phrase delivered naturally, as if the piano knows instinctively where to go. This is for Argerich fans--an interesting release. --Robert Levine

asin: B00000IIX1 binding: Audio CD list price: $50.98 USD amazon price: $50.98 USD

Though some musicians rerecord the same repertoire, refining the same concept over time, Alfred Brendel's Beethoven concertos change significantly with every go-around. One of the defining influences in this latest go-around is conductor Simon Rattle. He's one of the stronger minded and truly collaborative conductors that Brendel has ever had, and his bent toward historically informed performance inspires the pianist to a radical reevaluation, resulting in interpretations that achieve a new level of cogency over his previous take. Phrases have an even greater sense of purpose and direction than ever before, forming tiny, mosaic-like entities within the music, often accompanied by something rarely heard from Brendel: rubato. At his considerable best, Brendel's playing has a great sense of inevitability amid the surprises that always come with a great musical mind approaching the music afresh. The only letdown here is the "Emperor" concerto. Although excellent, the reading is just a tad conventional. If you'd like to delve deeper into Beethoven's concertos, you'll enjoy Leon Plantinga's thorough study of all the composer's essays in the genre. --David Patrick Stearns

author: Ludwig van Beethoven asin: 0486406369 binding: Paperback list price: $5.95 USD amazon price: $5.95 USD

Called the "Emperor" for its grandeur, this powerful work was Beethoven's final piano concerto. Widely considered one of the strongest works conceived by the composer, this popular concerto appears here in an inexpensive, high-quality, conveniently sized volume.

asin: B0000041UF binding: Audio CD list price: $47.98 USD amazon price: $42.99 USD

There are two really famous Beethoven violin sonatas, the Kreutzer and the Spring. The Kreutzer Sonata inspired the story by Leo Tolstoy, which in turn became the subject of Janácek's First String Quartet, so if you're into comparative studies in the arts, there's a thesis topic for you! The Spring Sonata was featured in Woody Allen's Love and Death, among other places. And perhaps most intriguingly of all, the scherzo of the late sonata, Op. 96, turns up quite clearly in the third movement of Mahler's Second Symphony. So you may already know more about this splendid music than you think. Why not take the plunge with these superb performances and get to know the sonatas at first hand? Just as there are two truly famous Mozart sonatas, there are also two sides to Itzhak Perlman's musical career--the flashy virtuoso and the considerate partner. Chamber-music recordings such as this feature Perlman in this second role, one that gets less attention than his other, more sensational, persona, but which for many listeners is even more musically rewarding. Ashkenazy, no mere accompanist, is very much involved in the proceedings, and the two musicians combine to produce one of the finest sets of Beethoven violin sonatas available as well as one of Perlman's very greatest recordings in any genre. --David Hurwitz