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

asin: B0000037B3 binding: Audio CD list price: $33.98 USD amazon price: $65.45 USD

Rather than present the sonatas in chronological order, each disc is refreshingly arranged as a mini-program that juxtaposes contrasting works. While Bernard Roberts doesn't quite command the flexible technique of Sviatoslav Richter or the individual point of view set out in cycles by Schnabel, Arrau, Kempff, or Yves Nat, those wishing a super-bargain Beethoven cycle will not be disappointed. --Jed Distler

author: Ludwig van Beethoven asin: 0634069497 binding: Paperback list price: $19.95 USD amazon price: $13.57 USD

Contents: Sonata, Op. 49, No. 1 * Sonata, Op. 53 * Sonata, Op. 57 * Sonata, Op. 31, No. 3 * Sonata, Op. 49, No. 2 * Sonata, Op. 79 * Sonata in A Flat, Op. 110 * Sonata in C Minor, Op. 111 * Sonata in A, Op. 101 * Sonata in B flat, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) * Sonata in E flat, Op. 81a * Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 * Sonata in E, Op. 109 * Sonata in F, Op. 54 * Sonata in F#, Op. 78.

asin: B0001AW052 binding: DVD list price: $24.98 USD amazon price: $22.49 USD

This disc presents one of the 20th century's greatest and most distinctive pianists in music of two pianist-composers, Schumann and Beethoven, who were among his most treasured specialties. The playing is fluent, brilliant without ever being flashy, and phrased and accented with a totally unique flavor. Kempff has power to spare, but he uses it with a restraint that heightens its impact. Kempff's style is an attractive blend of intelligence and lyric grace; he is, like Alfred Brendel. a thinking man's pianist, but his joyful plunge into the lighter moments is as significant as his subtle explorations of the music's depths. In this collection, taken from television broadcasts in the 1960s and 1970, Schumann is presented essentially as a brilliant miniaturist, Beethoven as a devotee of larger and deeper forms. Kempff takes the measure of both styles. A bonus presents a less-known but fine pianist, Dino Ciani, in Schumann's Novelette, Op. 21, No. 1 and two numbers from Bartok's "Out of Doors" Suite. --Joe McLellan