Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas Complete Edition

I have to confess to being a piano skeptic - so much piano music is more about the player and the piano, and less about music. But Beethoven is always something special, the one who at his best saw further behind the veil than anyone other than perhaps Bach and Bruckner, and he comes from the perspective of someone struggling to see, while Bach and Bruckner "knew." In addition to that transcendence, Beethoven also had at times an earthy humor in the same vein as Shakespeare (Mahler came close to this at times, but took his humor more seriously and less joyfully, and his struggle virtually never saw past the struggle to arrival, except in the 9th). I was reminded of this element of humor in Beethoven a few nights ago at a live concert by the Miro Quartet, which had me chuckling at passages in the "Harp" quartet.It seems to me that Schiff captures both these elements: he is a serious musician (and not just someone who, to paraphrase Menuhin's acute observation, "operates a piano"), who is so secure in his seriousness that he can afford sometimes to wear it lightly, not didactically, while at the same time he is wonderful at bringing out the humor at times inherent in the early sonatas. These recordings are also infused with the wonderful, Vienna Philharmonic-like sound of his Bosendorfer.There are many fine traversals of the sonatas. Igor Levit is capturing praise, though I find him ever so slightly rigid, and without the welcoming sound of Schiff's piano; Arrau remains recommendable, especially in the later sonatas but in sound somewhat out of date; Alfred Brendel appeals to many, though I find him lacking in imagination (Beethoven must give a sense of imagination, or we miss the point); Kempff fades and is in DG's edgy early-stereo sound; Schnabel remains a goldmine if you can hear through the elderly sound; and for sheer thrills, Gilels' Waldstein is a blockbuster. But for this listener, Schiff combines all the best qualities of the best, and is caught in superlative sound, playing a great instrument. This will remain my go-to set, though it does not displace specific sonatas by many of the above - in Beethoven, as in Shakespeare, there is plenty of room for those with the requisite skill and largeness of soul.(I look forward to the release of Joanthan Biss' series when complete - the two or three I have heard are very good indeed.)

I've received this item today, far earlier than I expected. I feel very lucky to be able to obtain this precious recording, because it's been sold out by all the online malls in my country. The quality of the performance is overwhelmingly good. My recommendation to all Beethoven-Piano-Sonatas-fans!

i have greatly enjoyed this set of the sonatas. there are frequent moments where i hear beethoven played in a completely new and interesting way, with a dynamic range, choice of tempo or phrasing that is less typically "classical" (looking back to haydn) than "romantic." even in the early sonatas, we get a beethoven that looks ahead to chopin and schumann (if not quite to the unforeseen liszt). if you play these beethoven interpretations along with schiff's 3 disc selection of late haydn sonatas, the contrast in musical landscapes and interpretive lighting is quite striking. i especially enjoyed the fugal movements where schiff (who has recorded bach twice) uncorks counterpoint the beethoven way.every movement is clearly thought out from the melodic span downward; there's no pedanticism or "authenticity" per se in the performances, and while there is a fair amount of romantic cadence lingering and a colorful spectrum of touch from legato through staccato -- and passages where (note to self) i intend to check whether the score justifies the interpretation -- there is an immediacy, impulsion and singing quality that is very enjoyable and wholly convincing. movements are genuinely colored by the tempo: the allegrettos are stylistically different from the allegros and the adagios from the largos; it's not a metronome distinction.the instrument and sound stage are beautifully recorded, neither close nor far, and we get the full range of schiff's variations in touch and dynamics without the side effects of grunting, nasal chuffing, keyboard thumping, pedal stomping and other intrusive production mannerisms. (and given that these are live performances, the lack of audience noise is astonishing.) extreme kudos to the sound engineers and sound editors, who must have done quite a lot of splicing.

Another complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas box set? Yep, but these are recorded live (except the last three works) and a re recent recordings. Live recordings tend to be a bit hit-and-miss because while being live means the artist is usually performing to a higher level than studio recordings, there's less chances of correcting mistakes cleanly (if they deserve to be corrected; I like to leave them in!). There's usually also a much nicer ambience to live recordings, as concert halls sound different when occupied instead of empty.Andras Schiff has been around a while, and although I have heard quite a few of his recordings he's never been a stand-out favorite in my listening habits. Exactly why that's the case is a difficult question to answer, as his technique is solid. I just found I was never as engaged in Schiff's recordings as in some other artists', although I never made a conscious effort to avoid that feeling. Here, playing two impressive sounding pianos in a lively hall with an eager audience, the dynamic changed for me: Schiff engaged me on many of these works, ones I'm very familiar with, to the point I listened to some of the CDs multiple times the first week instead of the usual one-play-then-shelve approach I take to many CDs that arrive.I have a niggle with the packaging: the way this arrives there's a bunch of CD sleeves inside a larger open-ended box, with no way to cover the open end. Unfortunately, every time I go to pick up or move the box, CDs slide out of the open end. A proper box top or flap would have been a great addition to this box, packaging it like most other box sets do.As for the music presented here: why the difference in this set? Hard to say, but I get the feeling there's a special connection between Schiff and these works, and it comes across in some of these recordings. He brings a slightly different and perhaps more serious approach to these sonatas, and I genuinely like that tack. While I will always have some favorite sonatas from other artists, this Schiff box set may well become my standard reference for the entire series, and that's saying a lot as I have over a dozen complete sets on LP and CD! Very pleased with the set!

Anche se questa interpretazione dell'integrale delle sonate per pianoforte è stata premiata, al sottoscritto non ha convinto. Credo che non si possa suonare Beethoven come se fosse Schubert, siamo molto distanti da certe esecuzioni storiche , vedi ad esempio quelle di Kempff, che per il sottoscritto rappresentano un riferimento. Ci sono, ovviamente, molte altre interpretazioni che meritano di essere ascoltate e, forse, rappresentano meglio lo stile e la musica di Beethoven .

ottima la registrazione ma soprattutto meravigliosamente eccezionale Andràs Schiff

Sehr schöne Live-Aufnahme der Beethoven-Sonaten von Andras Schiff. Ein genialer Pianist

Un toucher magique ... une interprétation construite et mûrie .... mais l’intellectuel laisse place à l’emotion lorsqu’on écouteC’est tout l’art de Schiff ... on sent toute la profondeur du jeu et à la fois on entend à quel point il est lui même touché et ému par cette musique ...Un bijou!!!!!!!!!La prise de son est excellente malgré le live ... pas de parasite et beaucoup de douceur et de rondeur sonore . Une ambiance chaleureuse pour une intégrale de légende !!!!