Customer Reviews

Artur Schnabel: Beethoven (Great Pianists of the 20th Century)

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4 star:		(1)
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This pair of CDs is most important for bringing back to general circulation Schnabel's 1942 US recordings of Beethoven's 30th and 32d sonatas. Though not dramatically different from those recorded 10 years earlier, the sound is marginally clearer, and Phillips has done a good job in remastering without imposing excessive filtering or noise reduction. The same is true of the famous recording of the Diabelli variations, never reissued by EMI on CD, but available on Pearl in a slightly noiser (though perhaps minimally more present) transfer. The concerto performance is transcendent, and should be heard by all who love this music. I call on EMI (perhaps on their Testament label) to reissue Beethoven's bagatelles and Mozart piano concertos #s 20 & 24.

Jeffrey F. Lipton

Schnabels Beethoven Opus 111 is one of the greatest examples of the recorded piano repertoire of the 20th Century. I am so glad Phillips reintroduced this 1942 recording in the catalog. The recording wasn't immediately released in 1942 due to the shortage of shellac due to wartime constraints. As a result, RCA had lost the plates for many years in their vaults. It appeared briefly on RCA's budget "Victrola" series on vinal back in the '70's.

I have both Schnabels, both Serkin, Solomon, Richter, Horszowski, Kempff, Brendel, and probably one that I'm forgetting. No one plays with as much of a feeling of the sublime as did Schnabel. This is a truly great recording.

For those who like their Mr.B. intelligent, sensitive, and phrased to perfection this the man, and what a fine recording it is, great sound.

Artur Schnabel, to me, is one of those legendary music figures from days gone by who I have been afraid to listen to for fear that less than acceptable recorded sound would diminish my ability to appreciate the music. On this collection, my fears was mostly alleviated: the sound is acceptable in all but the fastest passages. In those passages, I found the music to sound cluttered and indistinct. On the quieter passages of the late sonatas and the Diabelli Variations, the music is heavenly. Anyone who thinks that Beethoven is merely loud, anguished playing is in for a real education here. I can see why Schnabel felt that this was Beethoven the way he was meant to be played.

Quite disappointing. To start, the 2 CD's in this collection are labeled white on gold with microscopic characters so you cannot read under normal circumstances. But actually there is nothing to read because other than the pianist name and copy rights, the discs are not labeled (you can label them after listening). But these are the minor problems. I guess I have a problem with Schnabel: he makes everything extreme; piano is too quiet, forte is too loud, fast is to fast, slow is too slow. It is so "Hot or Cold" I could get the flu. You would think that sonata No 21 is fool proof, but when Schnabel plays it, the first movement goes so fast, it turns into a blur of sounds. The second movement so slow, you get bored. Then the 33 variations... I could not master the discipline to finish them more than once. If you were after sonatas No. 30 and 32, I would opt for Brendel's recording anyhow. Brendel's 1995 recording (Philips) is as close as you could ever get to absolute perfection!