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

asin: B000003XTU binding: Audio CD list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $16.99

Glenn Gould's playing is so treasured that CD publishers have been looking for anything of his they can find. These treasures, dredged from the CBC archives and Gould's own collection, offer some fresh material. The Beethoven trios, broadcast in 1954, don't sound great, but they are fine performances and show Gould as a fine chamber music collaborator. The piano pieces, from 1952, sound somewhat better and are played straightforwardly, without the eccentric ideas that crept into Gould's playing later in his career. This disc is probably for Gould fans only, but it should delight them. --Leslie Gerber

author: Bergerac asin: 0486410927 binding: Paperback list price: $4.95 USD amazon price: $4.95 USD

Fun-to-play, pedagogically sound piano arrangements include themes from Beethoven's "Pathétique" Sonata and Haydn's Surprise Symphony, along with such favorites as Schumann's "Träumerei," Brahms's "Lullaby," Chopin's "Prelude," Tchaikovsky's "Marche Slave," Moussorgsky's "Promenade" (from Pictures at an Exhibition), and many more. Includes 20 piano arrangements.

asin: B000001GXB binding: Audio CD list price: $23.98 USD amazon price: $23.98 USD

Pollini's performances of Beethoven's last five piano sonatas have assumed almost legendary status, and this reissue at midprice in improved sound ought to win them many new friends. Sometimes considered a cold interpreter, Pollini here pays scrupulous attention to Beethoven's instructions, an attention that never gets in the way of sincere expression. There's a lot to be said for approaching this music with a maximum of clarity and simplicity, and a minimum of Romantic panting and heaving. In fact, Beethoven's instructions are so detailed, and the music itself is often so elaborately developed, that it's all most pianists can do to play it as he wrote it. Pollini does that, and much more. --David Hurwitz

asin: B0001IXTU4 binding: Audio CD list price: $6.98 USD amazon price: $6.98 USD

The Lullaby Classics A Concert for Little Ears music CD is a 17-track, 35-minute concert featuring a collection of soothing classical melodies perfect to calm little ones as they wind down for nap time, bedtime or a bit of quiet time. Each piece, re-orchestrated for little ears by the Baby Einstein Music Box Orchestra, was specially selected to lull babies into sweet, blissful dreams. Lullaby Classics opens with ?ǣTwinkle, Twinkle?ǥ variations by Mozart and includes calming and delightful melodies from composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Dvorak and Debussy. It ends with Brahms' ?ǣLullaby?ǥ tucking baby in for a cozy, restful sleep.Musical Selections:1. Variations (Twinkle, Twinkle), K265/300e, Mozart2. Minuet In G From Anna Magdalena, Bach3. Piano Sonata In C, K 545, 2nd Movement, Mozart4. Spring Song, Mendelssohn5. Piano Sonata In D, K 576, 3rd Movement, Mozart6. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring, BWV 147, Bach7. Canon, Pachelbel8. The Moldau, Smetana9. Preludes Book II, Clair De Lune, Debussy10. Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight), 2nd Movement, Op. 27, Beethoven11. Symphony No. 9, New World , Dvorak12. Fur Elise, WoO 59, Beethoven13. The Four Seasons, Winter, RV297, 2nd Movement, Vivaldi14. Orchestral Suite No. 3 In D, Air, BWV 1068, Bach15. Sonata No. 8 (Pathetique), 2nd Movement, Op. 13, Beethoven16. Kinderscene Op.15, Schumann17. Waltz No 15, Lullaby, Brahms Age: birth +Awards:* Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award (2005)* National Parenting Center Seal of Approval (2004)* National Parenting Publications Awards (2004)

asin: B000003LIU binding: Audio CD list price: $16.98 USD amazon price: $16.98 USD

The Concerto is one of the recordings that made Ivan Moravec's reputation as a great pianist. It's just as impressive-sounding today. Moravec and the excellent Martin Turnovsky seem to have given this great music an intense reexamination. They play it with attention to every detail, making it sound as though it were a new piece. Frequently you will hear details pointed out in illuminating ways, but never at the expense of musical continuity. This performance is a revelation. Although Moravec's conception of the Variations is a bit outsize, his playing of the solo works is equally convincing. The mid-60s recordings sound excellent. --Leslie Gerber