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

asin: B0000037B3 binding: Audio CD list price: $33.98 USD amazon price: $65.45 USD

Rather than present the sonatas in chronological order, each disc is refreshingly arranged as a mini-program that juxtaposes contrasting works. While Bernard Roberts doesn't quite command the flexible technique of Sviatoslav Richter or the individual point of view set out in cycles by Schnabel, Arrau, Kempff, or Yves Nat, those wishing a super-bargain Beethoven cycle will not be disappointed. --Jed Distler

asin: B000059RXI binding: Audio CD list price: $30.98 USD amazon price: $30.98 USD

VOX is proud to present an irresistible 6 CD set taken from Alfred Brendel's remarkable 36 album discography with the company. Made during the early years of his unique career, these recordings rightly established him as one of the foremost pianists of the century. The repertoire covered the complete works of Beethoven, most of Schubert's solo pieces, several Mozart concerti, some of the cornerstones of Franz Liszt's output and many other works. This set is fascinating because his early interpretations are different from his current ones and they show a towering artistic maturity shining through a young man's buoyant fiery energy.

asin: B00004LCAQ binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $14.58 USD

The relationship between pianist Martha Argerich and the recording studio has always been an on/off affair. Consequently, many of her discs derive from live concert tapings. EMI is doing a great service to the pianist's legion of fans by issuing excellent-sounding live broadcast recordings, like the two concertos contained on this disc. Mozart's C Major Concerto K. 503 is new to Argerich's discography. Her skittish fluidity in the passagework of the outer movements downplays the music's operatic overtones, stressing instead the music's big-boned virtuosic parameters. Occasional patchy tone and unsettled entrances are a small price to pay for Szymon Goldberg's sensitive, well-balanced support at the helm of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. Why are the cadenzas unaccredited (Mozart left none for this work)? Argerich made a studio recording of Beethoven's joyfully brash First Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Giuseppe Sinopoli for DG in the late 1980s. This 1992 live version, however, finds the mercurial virtuoso in more spontaneous, rabble-rousing fettle. At the same time, she conveys more breadth and breathing room in the slow movement. Heinz Wallberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra turn in an alert, yet firmly rooted orchestral framework that supports the soloist without indulging her headstrong tendencies. One might expect a pianist of Argerich's capabilities to let rip in Beethoven's longer, wilder, first-movement cadenza, but she opts instead for the more frequently played shorter one. --Jed Distler

author: Beethoven asin: B000LRYPSA binding: Digital list price: $2.75 USD amazon price: $2.75 USD

Downloadable sheet music file