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

asin: B00001SIBN binding: Audio CD list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $16.99 USD

If Hélène Grimaud hasn't yet appeared on your radar screen of today's outstanding artists, do yourself a favor and get to know the amazing work of this young French pianist. As with her previous releases on Teldec, Grimaud hasn't set out to occupy a specialized niche of repertory. Instead, in knockout recordings of Brahms and Rachmaninoff, Grimaud's been staking out the prime territory. Any initial reservations about such works being over-recorded are quickly dispelled by the unique poetry and power her imagination brings to them, above all in this marvelous live performance of what is probably Beethoven's greatest piano concerto. Entire readings of the Fourth collapse due to misjudgment of its brief but microcosmic opening five bars of solo piano; listen to Grimaud's eloquent articulation of the all-important rhythm, given without intrusively subjective fuss. Her balance of lyricism against energetic momentum sets the stage perfectly for what is to follow. Masur--in almost telepathic sympathy with the soloist--brings a grandly expansive sensibility to the first movement that allows for deliciously precise details from the New York Philharmonic, without losing sight of the music's dramatic thrust. The disc also includes two of the late sonatas; Grimaud understands their complex emotional fabric and brings both clarity and intensity to her articulation. Especially beautiful is the variation movement of Opus 109, sensitively shaped and unencumbered with a dubious "mysticism." No matter how well you know this music, Grimaud is the kind of artist who can make you rethink and--most importantly--feel again what is taken for granted. --Thomas May

author: Dr. Charles Rosen Charles Rosen asin: 0300090706 binding: Hardcover list price: $35.00 USD amazon price: $28.00 USD

Beethoven's piano sonatas form one of the most important collections of works in the whole history of music. Spanning several decades of his life as a composer, the sonatas soon came to be seen as the first body of substantial serious works for piano suited to performance in large concert halls seating hundreds of people. In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, Charles Rosen places the works in context and provides an understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and performing this unique repertoire, covering such aspects as sonata form, phrasing, and tempo, as well as the use of pedal and trills. In the second part of his book, he looks at the sonatas individually, from the earliest works of the 1790s through the sonatas of Beethoven's youthful popularity of the early 1800s, the subsequent years of mastery, the years of stress (1812-1817), and the last three sonatas of the 1820s. Composed as much for private music-making as public recital, Beethoven's sonatas have long formed a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall. For today's audience, Rosen has written a guide that brings out the gravity, passion, and humor of these works and will enrich the appreciation of a wide range of readers, whether listeners, amateur musicians, or professional pianists.