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

asin: B0000028NZ binding: Audio CD list price: $11.98 USD amazon price: $11.98 USD

Why this 1968 recording of Sonata No. 24 (Op. 78 in F Sharp) lay dormant until now is a mystery. Gould obviously relishes this little jewel, and plays up the two movement's contrasting qualities with exquisite poise and superb characterization. An unreleased CBC broadcast of the mighty Hammerklavier sonata, on the other hand, is scaled down to drawing-room size. Gould brings out the knotty counterpoint with microscopic clarity, yet ducks from Beethoven's surging dynamism in the outer movements. The Andante Sostenuto is reticent and stark under Gould's introspective hands, touching upon but not yielding to the music's tragic overtones. Not the first choice Hammerklavier for your collection, but Gouldians should hear it. --Jed Distler

author: Ludwig van Beethoven asin: 0486231348 binding: Paperback list price: $16.95 USD amazon price: $11.53 USD

Volume 1 of authoritative Schenker edition includes Op. 2, Nos. 1-3; Op. 7, Op. 10, Nos. 1-3; Op. 13, op. 14, Nos. 1-2; Op. 22; Op. 26; Op. 27, Nos. 1-2; Op. 28.

asin: B00004W9BS binding: DVD list price: $29.98 USD amazon price: $29.98

Fantasy for piano, choir and orchestra in c minor op.80. The Choral Fantasy was the first time Beethoven united instrumental and vocal music into one seamless and masterful work. This production features the pianist Gerhard Oppitz and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti as well as the Sudfunk Choir directed by Joseph Beischer. It was recorded in the magnificent 500-year-old Gothic Amandus church in Bad Urach, Germany. The second part of this program again features Gerhard Oppitz, a leading pianist renowned for his expressive yet forceful touch. Oppitz is captured here at his best, performing Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor BWV 903 and Franz Liszt's Variations on Bach's cantata "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen". This DVD also includes the option of viewing running commentaries on the pieces as they are performed as well as liner notes, a glossary of music terms, historical markers for the pieces, and performer profiles. Audio playback options are 5.1 dolby digital and non-compressed stereo.

author: Beethoven asin: B000LRYPYE binding: Digital list price: $2.95 USD amazon price: $2.95 USD

Downloadable sheet music file

asin: B00000DH4T binding: Audio CD list price: $8.99 USD amazon price: $8.99

Not many people know that Beethoven actually turned his one and only Violin Concerto into a piano concerto. Most critics and musical scholars have had a good time trashing the arrangement (what other opportunities do you get for dumping on Beethoven, after all?), but the fact is that it's no better or worse than any number of similar things that Bach did routinely, and it's fun to hear it once and a while. And one crucial element--the first-movement cadenza--has actually yielded valuable information to violinists regarding what Beethoven himself would have done with this theoretically improvised passage. Coupled with the not-quite-so-unknown Triple Concerto--both works are played with real eloquence by all concerned--here's a Beethoven disc that deserves a place in most collections. And at the Naxos price, this is a bargain in the best sense. --David Hurwitz