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

asin: B000006O34 binding: Audio CD list price: $33.98 USD amazon price: $33.98 USD

Much of the repertoire here is new to Richter's ever-growing discography, notably 53 minutes worth of transcendent Liszt Années de Pelerinage excerpts, and a haunting Ravel Le Gibet. A live Beethoven Pathetique sonata proves more individual and arresting than Richter's excellent studio recording, as does this 1954 Weber 3rd Sonata to the better- recorded 1966 Philips version. Richter fans, however, will truly be floored by a whirling Ravel Alborado del gracioso and Rachmaninoff's Études- tableaux in E-flat, played better than humanly possible. Don't pass this set up! --Jed Distler

asin: 1569221324 binding: Paperback list price: $9.95 USD amazon price: $9.95 USD

26 easier Beethoven pieces, including: Allegro Con Brio, 1st movement * Andante (from Symphony No. 7) * Eroica (Theme from Symphony No. 3 in E Flat) * Fur Elise * Minuet in G * Moonlight Sonata * Ode to Joy * The Pastoral Theme * Symphony No. 5 Theme * Symphony No. 7 Theme * and many more.

asin: B00000IKJR binding: Audio CD list price: $10.98 USD amazon price: $11.31 USD

Classical music for children has become a genre unto itself, founded on the premise of brain-power building and all too often steering parental buyers away from the full-blown versions of particular compositions toward reorchestrated renditions. It's frequently the case that a brain-tickling classical set will be played on digital keyboards, with softened tonal colors and shapes. Not so with this excellent Beethoven set. Recognized ensembles take up the music, from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to the New York Chamber Symphony to the Oxford String Quartet and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. The emphasis is on Beethoven's gentler side, from the poetic "Für Elise" for solo piano to the bucolic settings portrayed in the two selections from Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. This is neither a synapse-popping set of virtuoso performances nor an altered look at Beethoven, but it is a well-selected, well-programmed set of works that will ease a child's brain into the works at hand. --Andrew Bartlett

asin: B0000041MN binding: Audio CD list price: $32.98 USD amazon price: $63.08 USD

Recorded live in 1983, Alfred Brendel's third go-round with these works drastically improves on his previous Beethoven concerto cycles. He finds a calmer, more direct route to the Emperor Concerto, although the Fourth's first movement is still pock-marked with finicky phrase adjustments that pull focus from the music's poetic arcs. Levine provides sympathetic and alert support, yet is much more than a mere deferential accompanist. --Jed Distler

asin: B0000012YO binding: Audio CD list price: $68.98 USD amazon price: $101.57 USD

Nine CD Box Set, Including the Complete Recording of Beethoven's Sonatas.