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

asin: B00000AE72 binding: Audio CD list price: $7.99 USD amazon price: $7.98 USD

Hundreds of compilation recordings have been thrust on the market in recent years on the theory that classical music makes a nice, non-threatening accompaniment to everything from working out to making love. And here we have one compilation promising to make your baby smarter. It's offensive enough that the music featured on these compilations is spliced up so that the most you hear of any work is a single movement; what's really annoying is the poor quality of so many of the featured performances. So it is some consolation that the artists here include such 20th-century legends as the Cleveland Orchestra under Szell and the Budapest String Quartet with Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Of course if these folks were alive, one can imagine their violent objection to this presentation of their work. --Gwendolyn Freed

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

author: Beethoven asin: B000LRYPTY binding: Digital list price: $2.75 USD amazon price: $2.75 USD

Downloadable sheet music file

asin: B000005J2D binding: Audio CD list price: $99.98 USD amazon price: $97.21 USD

It's interesting that the great Beethoven sonata cycles are seldom the ones by the big-name virtuosos. Horowitz never attempted one. Neither did Rubinstein. Ashkenazy recorded them all, but with only partial success. Richter never managed all 32 works at one time, and Gilels died before completing his cycle. The most successful complete recordings--Schnabel, Kempff, Arrau, and Backhaus--are all by pianists with a solidly intellectual mindset, however powerful their technique. Goode joins this select company, turning in performances of uncompromising integrity and musical strength. Of course, his reputation as a musician's musician precedes him: here is a player sensitive to Beethoven's every nuance, presenting the composers thoughts with exemplary clarity and taste. This is the the Beethoven cycle for the '90s. --David Hurwitz

author: Beethoven asin: B000LRYPZ8 binding: Digital list price: $3.49 USD amazon price: $3.49 USD

Downloadable sheet music file