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

asin: B00004Y6OG binding: Audio CD list price: $17.98 USD amazon price: $17.98 USD

Sviatoslav Richter was devoted to Beethoven and kept nearly two dozen of the composer's 32 sonatas in his active repertory. But some sonatas--such as No. 3 in C Major (Opus 2, No. 3), No. 7 in D Major (Opus 10, No. 3), and No. 32 in C Minor (Opus 111)--turned up on Richter programs decade after decade, while others appeared for a season or so never to return. Richter's relationship to Sonata No. 29 in B-flat (Hammerklavier) belongs to the latter category. He performed it all over Europe in the spring and summer of 1975 and seems never to have programmed it again. One wonders why. Richter was designed by God to perform the Hammerklavier. He had the huge hands necessary for its reckless leaps, the strength and stamina for its marathon length, and the intellect necessary to make lucid its grinding dissonance and (in the finale) its pounding counterpoint. Perhaps Richter thought that at 60--his age when he began to program it--he was a little too old for the Hammerklavier. Certainly, even a Richter enthusiast can be forgiven for wishing the pianist had turned to the piece 10 years earlier. Still, the pianist's Hammerklavier is heroically grand and fiercely energetic. Of the three performances of the sonata that Richter gave in a two-week period (and that have been preserved on disc) in London, Prague, and Aldeburgh (this disc), this recording is probably best-suited to most listeners. While not as exciting as the risk-taking Prague performance, it is much better recorded and more accurate. It also contains several bonuses: beautifully played versions of Beethoven's Sonata No. 3 and of three bagatelles from the composer's Opus 126. --Stephen Wigler

asin: B000006NKV binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $16.98

Vladimir Feltsman has definite ideas about the Hammerklavier and the ability to carry them out, not something we can take for granted. He plays the first movement with emphasis on rhetoric, occasionally sacrificing forward motion, but certainly making his points. There is no sacrifice of motion in the horrendously difficult finale, though, where the pianist keeps the music going with great power and impressive clarity. Only the slow movement requires the degree of eloquence that we hear throughout No. 28, a treasure of a performance. This is some very impressive Beethoven playing, very well recorded. --Leslie Gerber

asin: B0000041K9 binding: Audio CD list price: $23.98 USD amazon price: $27.97 USD

Each of these performances has its own profile. The orchestra plays incisively in the First Concerto, but Ashkenazy's plush lyricism doesn't make a good match either with the orchestra or with the music, and he makes one weird ritard in the first movement. The Second Concerto is uneventful, rather bland and pleasant. The Third Concerto seems to be the best performance of the lot, with dramatic playing by soloist and orchestra, but it's sabotaged by blurry recorded sound, the only serious problem with sound quality in the entire set. The Fourth Concerto is enlivened, at least intellectually, by Solti's approach, constantly revealing interesting unfamiliar details in the orchestral score. Ashkenazy's detachment makes this a frosty but fascinating experience. The "Emperor" is a good routine performance, nothing special. The Bagatelles aren't much of a bonus, since they're rather dully played. (Why not the "Choral" Fantasy?) There's nothing actively bad about this set, and it's reasonably priced. But Beethoven deserves better, and gets it from many performers, including the fascinating Uchida-Sanderling collaborations. --Leslie Gerber

author: Beethoven asin: B000LRYPUS binding: Digital list price: $2.75 USD amazon price: $2.75 USD

Downloadable sheet music file

asin: 073900526X binding: Paperback list price: $5.95 USD amazon price: $5.95

Complete original "Moonlight" sonata by Beethoven. Excellent background and performance notes.