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

asin: B000RBHJ42 binding: Audio CD

CD 1
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Variations Bagatelles
15 Variations on a Theme from "Prometheus", Op. 35 in E flat major
1. "Eroica" 22:40
Sonata No. 20 in G major Op. 49/2
2. Allegro non troppo 4:31
3. Tempo di Menuetto 3:32
4. 5 Variations on "Rule Brittannia"in D major WoO 79 4:28
5. 7 Variations on "God Save The King" in C major WoO 78 8:42
6. 12 Variations on a Russian Dance from Wranitsky"s Ballet "Das Waldmädchen" in A major WoO 71 11:35
7. 6 Variations on an Original Theme in F major Op. 34 12:41
8. 6 Variations on a Theme from"Ruins of Athens"in D major Op. 76 5:49

Total: 74:58

CD 2
Variations
1. 32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor WoO 80 11:04
2. 7 Variations from Winter"s Opera "Das unterbrochene Opferfest" in F major WoO 75 10:49
3. 24 Variations on Righini"s Air "Venni amore" in D major WoO 65 15:57
4. 6 Variations on the Duet from Paisello"s "La Molinara" in G major WoO 70 4:38
5. 8 Variations on Süssmayr"s Theme "Tändeln und Scherzen" in F major WoO 76 8:09
6. 13 Variations on Dittersdorf"s Air " Es war einmal ein alter Mann" in A major WoO 66 11:58
7. 10 Variations on Salieri"s Air "La stessa, la stessissima" in B flat major WoO 73 9:43

Total: 73:11

CD 3
Variations
1. 6 Easy Variations on a Swiss Air in F major WoO 64 2:48
2. 9 Variations on Paisello"s Air "Quant"è più bello" in A major WoO 69 5:27
3. 6 Variations on an Original Theme in G major WoO 77 4:50
4. 8 Variations on Grétry"s Air "Un fièvre brûlante" in C major WoO 72
5. Rondo in G major Op. 51 No. 2 9:46
6. Allegretto in C minor WoO 53 3:49
7. 6 Ecossaises WoO 83 1:55
8. Bagatelle in A minor WoO 59 "Für Elise" 2:44
9. Polonaise in C major Op. 89 5:31

Total: 44:58

CD 4
Variations Bagatelles
33 VARIATIONS ON A WALTZ BY DIABELLI in C major Op. 120
1. Theme 0:52
2. Alla Marcia 1:53
3. Poco allegro 0:47
4. L"istesso tempo 1:21
5. Un poco piu vivace 0:55
etc...

author: BEETHOVEN L asin: 063409906X binding: Paperback list price: $9.95 USD amazon price: $9.95 USD

Schirmer Performance Editions are designed for piano students and their teachers as well as for professional pianists. Pedagogical in nature, these editions offer insightful interpretive suggestions, pertinent fingering, and historical and stylistic commentary. Prepared by renowned artists/teachers, these publications provide an accurate, well-informed score resource for pianists. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is renowned for his large-scale, innovative piano sonatas and concertos, and these works hold a prominent and lasting place in the concert repertoire. Yet nestled beneath the larger works for which he is most often lauded lies a vast collection of short piano solos that he crafted throughout his career. These miniatures often display the same careful writing and attention to detail as his longer works. Some were actually intended as pedagogical studies; many derive their style from the popular dance music of the period and reflect Beethoven's love of simple, everyday pleasures. Editor and recording artist: Matthew Edwards

asin: B000AMPZNU binding: Audio CD list price: $6.98 USD amazon price: $6.98 USD

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1958, Yefim Bronfman emigrated to Israel at the age of 13 and later to the U.S., where he pursued his training at the Juilliard School and the Marlboro and Curtis Institutes under Rudolf Serkin, Rudolf Firkusny and Leon Fleisher. Bronfman celebrated his international début in 1975, accompanied by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. He soon acquired an excellent reputation as a pianist on the stages of the world's major concert halls. Highlights of recent years include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Vienna Philharmonic. Yefim Bronfman also gives regular piano recitals in the leading concert halls of the United States, Europe and the Far East. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Emerson, Cleveland, Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets. Other! long-term musical partners include Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Shlomo Mintz and Pinchas Zukerman. Yefim Bronfman became an American citizen in 1989. Born in 1936, American conductor David Zinman has risen to the pinnacle of his career in the last decade. After bringing the Baltimore Symphony to major status, he became musical director of the Aspen Music Festival and then took the helm of Zurich's beloved Tonhalle Orchestra. Zinman's discography of some 100 recordings have won five Grammys and two Grands Prix du Disque. Founded in 1868, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra is Switzerland's oldest symphony orchestra. Today it gives over 90 concerts each season featuring more than 50 different programs with the world's leading conductors and solo artists. David Zinman sees Piano Concerto No. 3 - the only one in a minor key - as a kind of "Eroica" for piano and orchestra. Just as Beethoven opened the door to an entirely new symphonic world with his third symphony, the Eroica, he also broke new ground with his third piano concerto. For Yefim Bronfman, the Fourth is the concerto "with the broadest emotional spectrum, and at the same time possibly the most dramati."