Beethoven: Appassionata; Waldstein; The Tempest

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Fazil Say (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Fazil Say
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (October 18, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Valois
• ASIN: B000B6N6I6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,720 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Allegro Assai

2. Andante Con Moto

3. Allegro Ma Non Troppo

4. Allegro Con Brio

5. Adagio Molto

6. Allegretto Moderato. Prestissimo

7. Largo. Allegro

8. Adagio

9. Allegretto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Young Man's Beethoven, October 28, 2005

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Appassionata; Waldstein; The Tempest (Audio CD)

Talk about flash! Pizzazz! Day-Glo colors! ... And talk about tempi in the outer movements that are generally way too fast for me.

There is no doubt that Fazil Say, a young Turkish pianist who trained in Ankara, Düsseldorf and Berlin, has the technique of a real virtuoso. And it occurs to me that these three of Beethoven's most familiar sonatas -- all of them among the 'named' sonatas: 'Appassionata,' 'Waldstein,' 'Stürm' ('Tempest') -- can lend themselves to this sort of performance. Say's playing seems more determined to surprise us, excite us, make our jaws drop, than to plumb the depths of the music. This is not to say that he doesn't manage that at times -- in the delectable variation movement of the 'Appassionata', for instance, or even in the little Adagio of the 'Waldstein'-- but mainly one comes away with an impression of the pianist's technique than of the music's meaning.

I suspect there are those for whom these performances will be marvelous introductions to the music. But I also suspect that most of us who have long acquaintance with the works will be a bit disappointed, or irritated even.

I hope my description of the playing will help prospective buyers know what they are in for: stunning virtuosity, startling tempi (my goodness, I've never heard such a fast third movement of the 'Appassionata' and I frankly don't know how he managed it without breaking down!), absolutely clean articulation and wide dynamic range.

But I'm not likely to play this CD often.

Scott Morrison

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's "Music" To My Ears, January 1, 2008

By 

BAHAR "Jersey Girl" (NEW JERSEY,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Appassionata; Waldstein; The Tempest (Audio CD)

I bought Say's Bach and this one as well. The music is divine and the way he plays is heavenly. He plays with such passion and energy conveying each emotion just the right way: no more no less. As to his humming (as one reviewer had mentioned), it is very low and it is not bothersome at all, on the contrary I tend to look at it as the artist's signature, a reflection of his state of mind, "spontaneous overflow of feelings" as Wordsworth would have it and a minute glimpse of the artist's passion for the work of art.
I will be ordering all of his other CDs as well.
(May be Chopin is on the way?)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Agree with all previous reviews except for the 5-star one, December 5, 2010

By 

D. Altschuler (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Appassionata; Waldstein; The Tempest (Audio CD)

Yes, he's too fast, but the phrasing is not always insensitive as one would guess from the timings. Recorded sound is very good, and at least 2 of the sonatas here call for gut-level excitement; which Say delivers. As 4-star reviewer Dr. Morrison indicated, the deserved admiration might not pull most listeners to repeated listening.
What made me gag was the teeny-bopper images of Say posing as some faux "Joe Cool" upper-middle class freshman posing as a friend of the unwashed, wearing a "working class" T-shirt mocking the "bourgeois" sports coat. The booklet listing the designer and source of every item of clothing he is wearing except his underwear (which is all you care about anyway, right?). This one vies with "Sensual Classics" covers for a new low in classical CD marketing. If this CD came in a brown paper bag I might have given it 4 stars also.