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

asin: B00030B9DE binding: Audio CD list price: $8.99 USD amazon price: $8.99 USD

Franz Liszt was one of Beethoven's greatest champions and admirers, and his acclaimed transcriptions of the master's nine symphonies stand as testament to the greatness of both men. Through many revisions, Liszt's intrinsic attention to detail and intimate understanding of Beethoven's compositions resulted in these transcriptions, which are considered some of Liszt's greatest musical achievements. The transcription recorded here is perhaps Beethoven's most well-known work, his Symphony No. 9. The performance is by none other than the legendary Konstantin Scherbakov, who has been hailed as the modern Rachmaninov since he won the first Rachmaninov competition in Moscow in 1983.

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: B00004YA0S binding: Audio CD list price: $62.98 USD amazon price: $55.50 USD

Otto Klemperer's Beethoven is one of the towering achievements in the history of recordings. By today's standards, these performances are hopelessly old-fashioned: dark, heavy, and frequently very slow. But they are also the grandest, most unsentimental, most purposeful versions in the catalog. In addition, the relatively slow tempos (only in the fast movements--the slow ones are pretty swift) and forward wind balance permit more detail to be heard than in most original-instrument performances. At budget price and with the entire piano concerto cycle thrown in for good measure, this is greatness incarnate. --David Hurwitz