Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas [Box set]

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Artur Schnabel (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Artur Schnabel
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (March 15, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 8
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002S29
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,205 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 19-MAR-1991

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seek out the Dante set, May 1, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Lipscomb (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas (Audio CD)

I first bought Schnabel's complete Beethoven Sonatas in a big Angel LP box set back in 1963 - paying for it with the proceeds from many a high school lawn mowing allowance. Later on I got the mono Kempff set from the 1950's on DG - which I still have. Then came the Phillips set by Arrau - these three sets gave me many hours of fascinating comparisons, with the Schnabel my over-all favorite.

When I decided to get the Schnabel set on CD, I first did a few comparisons. I was frankly appalled when I heard this EMI set - it is distinctly inferior even to my Angel LP's (which in turn I suspect were inferior to the earlier RCA LPs). Then I had an opportunity to hear the Pearl set. In the main I found the Pearls to be "plain Jane," unfiltered transfers from pretty noisy 78's. Then I chanced to come across the 14-disc Dante set, which also includes all the miscellaneous Beethoven piano music recorded by Schnabel (bagatelles, variations, etc.) PLUS the 5 concertoes with Malcolm Sargent AND the later Emperor with Galliera. I was lucky: the 14-disc set was selling as a discontinued remainder item for just $28. The sound is superb - vastly superior to anything else I have heard.

Schnabel's interpretations are inspired, even when his fingers are hitting a few wrong notes (most notably in the Hammerklavier Sonata - and even there, his Adagio is simply unequalled in my experience). I also treasure a CD box set of the complete sonatas recorded in the 1950's for EMI by French pianist Yves Nat, some of whose performances I even prefer to Schnabel's. These two box sets are the cornerstone of my Beethoven piano collection - they are supplemented by many individual sonatas from the likes of Richter, Levy, Renard, Hungerford, and Gieseking.

My advice: Schnabel's Beethoven Sonata recordings belong in any serious piano collection. However, I would definitely avoid this EMI set and explore the alternatives. My choice is the Dante set.

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best but..., October 10, 2003

By 

Ryan Kouroukis "In 1882 Richard Wagner said: ... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas (Audio CD)

I had this set and was completely satisfied with it for the longest time, until I wanted more Schanbel playing Beethoven. I did some research on the net and found a set on ebay that not only contained the complete Sonatas but had all the Concertos, Variations and Bagatells that Schnabel did! Let me tell you again. THE COMPLETE SOLO PIANO AND CONCERTO RECORDINGS OF BEETHOVEN BY SCHNABEL!!! This was too good to be true, so I went out on a limb and ordered it. When I got it, I was holding gold my friend! 14 CD's in a slim case boxed set! Okay, so I'm happy eh, but now for the transfer test...I compared the EMI tranfers to the transfers this French label called DANTE did. Absolutely unbelievable! I'm listening to the Dante versions and I hear clarity, volume and depth, and hardly any hiss! I put on the EMI versions and I hear large hiss, muffled clarity and hardly any piano depth from the recordings. I was astounded! I immediatly sold the EMI. Now, I also noticed that in the EMI, they don't always give each movement its own track, they sometimes link 2 movements together in 1 track (weird). But in the Dante they give each movement its own track and present the sonatas in complete chronological order, whereas in the EMI the order of the sonatas are mixed up a bit (which doesnt matter anyway). But I'm just letting you know. The Pearl transfers are better than EMI, and the Naxos are not bad too, except for the full hiss. but these are all available as singles pretty much right now. If you invested in all of these, you'd wind up with no more room in your collection!

If you want "the" Schnabel set, spend the time to look for the DANTE 14 CD slim box set, remember I found it on ebay. I paid full price though, but it's been the best purchase I ever made in my life! (I would still recommend the EMI set to anybody, just because it's Schnabel playing Beethoven).

GOOD LUCK and ENJOY!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Skip this set for the Pearl reissue, February 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas (Audio CD)

First off, the EMI release of these recordings has very dull, lifeless, muffled sound when compared with the 5 volume reissue on Pearl Records, under the title "Schnabel Plays Beethoven". The engineers on the Pearl series give you all the sound that was captured on the records, while the EMI engineers amputate the color of the piano along with the surface noise. In regards to the music contained herein, Schnabel's performances are simply magical. I like to lie down and close my eyes while listening to them, and Schnabel evokes a myriad of images and un-nameable essences that dance through my subconscious. I have to be careful when I sometimes want to hear just a sample of a piece, because Schnabel draws me in and I end up stopping whatever I was doing, and listen to the whole piece. My one irritation with Schnabel is that he habitually rushes his runs, and I am a fanatic about rhythm. But Schnabel playing Beethoven shows why, among all the composers who have ever lived, it is Beethoven who reaches deepest into inner reaches of the imagination.