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

asin: B000LNHJUK binding: Audio CD

Fur Elise (3:01)
Traumerel (2:50)
Mazurka in Bb major op. 7 no. 1 (1:49)
Nocturne in Eb major op. 9 no. 2 (4:00)
Musical Snuffbox, op. 32 (2:12)
Hut on Hen's LegsGreat Gate of Kiev (8:23)
Arabeske (6:25)
Grand valse brillante, op. 18 (4:45)
Nocturne in B major op. 32 no. 1 ((5:04)
Pavane pour une infante defunte (5:59)
Waltz in Bm op. 69 no. 2 (3:40)
Polonaise in Ab major op. 53 (6:16)
Moonlight Sonate (15:16)

asin: B0000041UF binding: Audio CD list price: $47.98 USD amazon price: $42.99 USD

There are two really famous Beethoven violin sonatas, the Kreutzer and the Spring. The Kreutzer Sonata inspired the story by Leo Tolstoy, which in turn became the subject of Janácek's First String Quartet, so if you're into comparative studies in the arts, there's a thesis topic for you! The Spring Sonata was featured in Woody Allen's Love and Death, among other places. And perhaps most intriguingly of all, the scherzo of the late sonata, Op. 96, turns up quite clearly in the third movement of Mahler's Second Symphony. So you may already know more about this splendid music than you think. Why not take the plunge with these superb performances and get to know the sonatas at first hand? Just as there are two truly famous Mozart sonatas, there are also two sides to Itzhak Perlman's musical career--the flashy virtuoso and the considerate partner. Chamber-music recordings such as this feature Perlman in this second role, one that gets less attention than his other, more sensational, persona, but which for many listeners is even more musically rewarding. Ashkenazy, no mere accompanist, is very much involved in the proceedings, and the two musicians combine to produce one of the finest sets of Beethoven violin sonatas available as well as one of Perlman's very greatest recordings in any genre. --David Hurwitz

author: Ludwig van Beethoven asin: 1596150025 binding: Paperback list price: $34.98 USD amazon price: $34.98 USD

Though published later, the Concerto No. 2 was actually the first of Beethoven's concerti to be written, and displays an almost Mozartian style, with a solo part that is exciting and beautiful but accessible to less advanced players. Technically it is the easiest Beethoven concerto to master. Includes a high-quality printed music score and a compact disc containing a complete version with soloist, in split-channel stereo (soloist on the right channel); then a second version in full stereo of the orchestral accompaniment, minus the soloist. Performed by David Syme, piano. Accompaniment: Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Emil Kahn.