Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Imagine!
Paul Lewis started on the cello!

But, lucky for us, at age 14, while attending Chetham's School of Music his pianism blossomed and then at Guildhall School, he was taught by Alfred Brendel, and in 1994 he took second prize in the World Piano Competition in London. In 2000 he became Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music.

Throughout 2005, 2006, and 2007, Lewis toured the USA and Europe, playing through the entire cycle of Beethoven's "32".....surely the cornerstone of the genre of the piano sonata. And, when he was ready, he stepped up to Harmonia Mundi and recorded them in 4 separate boxes, which have now been packaged all together here in this most wonderous set.

All four boxes as they were released became Gramophone Magazine "Editor's Choice" selections, and in 2008 box number 4 was awarded Gramophone's "Best Instrumental" and "Best Recording of the Year".

Bryce Morrison wrote:
"An epic Beethoven journey begins and this strong start promises well" (from review of volume 1)
And Again:
"Mastery and eloquence: this is shaping up to be a great Beethoven cycle" (from review of volume 2)
Further:
"Round three, and Paul Lewis's eloquent and persuasive cycle still enthrals" (from review of volume 3)
And Later:
"GRAMOPHONE RECORD OF THE YEAR 2008! Schnabel, Kempff, Brendel are great but Lewis gives you the best of all worlds" (from review of volume 4)

I am sure just about Everyone has at least one cycle of Beethoven's Sonatas, and many music lovers/collectors have many sets, as I do (Both Kempf sets, Schnabel, Arrau, Ashkenazy, both [Philips] Brendel sets, Goode, and O'Connor, Barenboim, and the Kovacevich), and now added, this wonderful set by Paul Lewis.

If someone were to ask me if I had to pare them down, it would go like this...I certainly would not part with my old mono Kempff set, my Schnabel, Arrau, Brendel #2, nor my Goode or the Kovacevich sets, and NOW, on this "keepers" "must-have" list, sits these fascinating recordings by Lewis. This guy admits that these works "will always be bigger than you are", but he tackles them, and scores repeatedly with new insights, deftness of touch, and staggering boldness and leaps that will surely take your breath away.

You simply MUST hear these recordings for yourself. Read other reviews here and elsewhere, but don't doubt my word that these stupendous recordings of Mr. Lewis' traversal of Beethoven's Magnum Opus's belong in your collection....you will love them, for sure, and treasure them as you do your other great sets of these ceaselessly fascinating works of total wonderment.

~operabruin

The recordings in this set were made when the pianist was in his mid-thirties. He's not yet 40 by now, but, having heard him live recently, I add my testimony to the fact that young Paul Lewis is simply the most exciting pianist of the 'classical' to early romantic composers' works that is performing today.
Lewis has a musical sense and depth of understanding well beyond his 30 odd years. A most natural and unassuming person, his total absorption into the music he plays coupled with supreme musical control set him clearly apart from other young 'virtuosi' that emerge on the pianistic scene this last decade.
He has enough technique to burn, but if you consider his pianism from that perspective, you would risk being in blasphemy of the music. Young Lewis has that uncanny ability, so rarely found in a musician of his age, to strip his music from all extraneous nonsenses and to directly focus his listeners to the music and the music alone.
I saw him live performing Beethoven's No. 5 concerto, and his ability to totally merge the solo with the tutti parts of the different movements of that work leaves his audience in awe.
Nor do I consider Lewis a 'Beethoven expert' only.
Indeed, if he could master Beethoven in such superb manner, that alone would speak for everything else.
This box set of 10 CDs is a REAL bargain and should sit on the head of every music lover's handy shelf. Each piece inside the CDs is a real musical delight. And just to cut long words to the shortest, if you are looking for your favourite Moonlight Sonata, you'd probably find it in Paul Lewis' set.
I did.
It is only a matter of time for the entire musical world to recognise the presence of this wonderful master musician.

No matter how many sets of Ludwig's piano sonatas you have ... buy this set. Prepare to have your ears opened to glorious piano sound and solid, imaginative playing from Paul lewis. This is the set I keep returning to to hear NEW ideas. I love my Gilels, Barenboim, Brendel, Ashkenazi and Kovacevich sets, but if you want great pianism AND GREAT SOUND, this Harmonia Mundi set will leave you ecstatic! I cannot recommend it too highly.

Having heard Paul Lewis live recently I was very moved by the deeply expressive nature of his playing. I searched all the samples of the complete sonatas that I could find but came back to the Paul Lewis recordings in the end. The quality of the recording is excellent and the playing is superb. My favourite, the Waldstein, is breathtaking. Each note carefully considered and played with great emotional power. Here is someone playing from the heart and not just the fingers. Highly recommended.

I agree with most of the reviews here, which is odd because the conclusions wind up all over the place. The critical reviews are quite right: This is not brash, whiplash, bigger-than-life Beethoven. Lewis' inclinations are indeed lyrical, though I don't hear any of the tinkly, self-consciously non-Romantic Beethoven John O'Connor gave us in his set for Telarc. The supportive reviews here also are correct: this is gorgeously played, handsomely recorded Beethoven that takes the composer off the roller-coaster onto a more level (but still zooming) flight path. Whatever your preferences, the music can take it and, frankly, at age 59, so can I. At 20, 30 and maybe into my 40's,I would have thought Lewis a bit restrained. But my priorities in Beethoven have changed in recent years, to the point where I am moved as much by the grand, juicy sonorities he called for as by the primal energy he unleashed when he, say, split the musical atom in Symphony No. 5. In that symphony, I continue to thrill to Carlos Kleiber's high-wire act; but I like Dohnanyi too (Telarc), when the Cleveland Orchestra takes enough of the edge off to allow my attention to be captured by the tonal allure of a great orchestra playing beautifully. That's how I feel here. Yes, Richard Goode spanks the accents harder, and I wouldn't be without him. But Lewis is remarkable in his way and I learn about the music from him, too. Over the years, Schnabel, Nat, the young Barenboim (EMI), Kovacevich, and Brendel have taken me to school as well. Conquering Everest is an incredible feat, no matter how emphatic or measured the footsteps.

I must admit I approached these recordings very skeptically. The quasi-hysterical raves of the British critics made me very wary. They tend to be so nationalistic. I suppose it's good that they support their own musicians, but so often they go overboard with praise (e.g. with The Lindsays or that honorary Brit, Murray Perahia). Meanwhile they're still slamming a certified musical genius (from the Colonies) like Glenn Gould.

So I was pleasantly surprised by these recordings. The sonatas are beautifully played with a gorgeous tone and real finesse. In that respect, Lewis has a thing or two to teach his teacher, Alfred Brendel. And contrary to a review here, they are also played with a good deal of personality and expressivity. It just may not conform to the standard image of the mighty and heroic Beethoven. There is a great deal of humor in his interpretations of quite a number of the sonatas, for example. And the grace and lovely tone of Lewis's playing contradicts the cliché of Beethoven as angry and even crude.

But getting back to the British critics, one of them stated that the Beethoven playing on these discs is better than Schnabel, Kempff and Arrau. See what I mean?

While Bach made a scientific study of music with Well-Tempered Clavier, Beethoven took it further with his sonatas, exploring the possibilities of the "klavier" 100 years later. It is inconceivable to imagine this music played on a harpsichord - it is written for an instrument that we have today, and arguably reaches its limits.

Overall, I like this recording very much - the professional technique mesmerizes and fascinates me to stupor. As expected, with ALL sonatas some of Paul Lewis playing is closer to my taste than the others, and I admired the way he plays Sonata no. 18 in E flat major op.31 no.3 (CD1, TRACKS 7-10) - it was really done marvelously, with cheerful tempi and pleasant innuendos. In general, whenever he plays a piece that is less known or not performed by titans, he could be considered the best; one can have an idea of how the standards of piano playing raised by comparing Paul Lewis playing with that of Arthur Schnabel - Lewis is certainly not less, and in many instances, much better - more thoughtful, less mechanical.

Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas

Yet one would think - why the most famous pianists did not record the full cycle of Beethoven's sonatas? The answer probably lies in an idea that they wanted to be the absolute best in what they play; and when Horowitz chose only a few, he played them as no one. Plus, not all Beethoven Sonatas are of equal quality and interest. Therefore, the goal of such a project is different - a pianist does not aim to achieve the goal of being the best in every sonata, but he offers to the public a complete reference to the slice of a composer's work. In this respect, the CD set reminds conceptually of another, also of a very good pianist who benefited the world with a complete set of Mozart's Piano Sonatas:

Mozart: The Piano Sonatas

Thus Paul Lewis achieved the goal of his Beethoven's sonatas perfectly. Nevertheless, it is interesting to compare his playing with those of rich and famous in the art of fortepaino.

I start with what every Russian would probably start - the three sonatas that are perennial favorites in Russia - "Pathetique" (Sonata no. 8, Op. 13), "Moonlight" (Sonata no. 14, Op. 27 no.2) and "Apassionata" (Sonata no. 23, Op. 57); and every child taking piano lessons will inevitably play the first movement from the "Moonlight" (I was pleased to learn from the booklet that it was supposed to be the moonlight over the lake of Lucerne; the term was coined by Ludwig Rellstab; Germans seem to have their own fixations, and one can easily see Lohengrin in the boat). These three sonatas I know by heart and play some movements of them; it was exciting to listen to the modern interpretation of Paul Lewis.

I found his approach quite innovative - for example, "Pathetique" starts so slow - just as I play it (but my reason is, alas, that I don't have the technique) - and of course, the pianist did it on purpose; certainly he has a command of the instrument no less than even Horowitz whose playing of this sonata leaves me breathless:

Vladimir Horowitz Favorite Beethoven Sonatas

But one asks herself - how can a modern musician distinguish himself in our times, playing this music after it was played by phenomenon like Horowitz, Arrau and a few others? In a way, I liked how he played, his attempts to make it sound different. Definitely the amazing indescribable delicacy of the second movement is not on par with Horowitz, but who can play like him? Perhaps we can say that Paul Lewis is far superior to some other famous like Gilels, who played with clearly audible mistakes...

Next, I wanted to hear an early Sonata no.4 in E flat major, Op. 7 played by Lewis and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (available on Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli II, vol. 69 - cannot find it here on Amazon!). This made even a bigger divide, and it would have portrayed Lewis as somewhat flat interpreter if his rival were not Michelangeli! One can hear once more the fruits of the fables perfectionism of Arturo Benedetti - each note, each phrase is accentuated, thought through, each tempo and volume is just what it can possibly be - the best, simply perfect. Luckily for Paul Lewis and his teacher Alfred Brendel, Michelangeli played only a handful of Beethoven's sonatas...

"Waldstein" (Sonata no. 21, Op. 53) is to me a pure show of the pianist's virtuosity, and Lewis does it well, but...Is he yielding to Claudio Arrau on that? I think not, yet again even in such a piece that sounds to me more like an etude, some subtleties that you hear in Arrau are not accentuated; Lewis glides over impossible passages in tremendous tempo - very few can play like that without a single mistake - but I think if the idea was to hear a sunrise, then ... it sounds rather as a very clamorous and hasty ride of Helios in a rattling chariot. Yet listen to Maurizio Pollini playing this sonata ((see the CD - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 17, 21, 25 & 26, Opp. 31:2, 53, 79, 81a)- and one wonders if Lewis should have undertaken a project of a complete sonatas, he could play pieces of lesser value, such as Op. 49 (Sonatas no. 19 & 20) whom no one plays; but Pollini simply kills his tepid, formless attempt to "Waldstein" - there is no brilliance, no astonishment in his delivery of the "Waldstein"...

Let's focus on the two sonatas which were dedicated to Beethoven's lifelong patron Archduke Rudolph.

"Hammerklavier", op. 106, Sonata no. 29 - There aren't too many celebrities who ventured into this sonata; neither Horowitz nor Michelangeli played it, perhaps due to its notorious demands at all fronts - imagining that the aforementioned giants would not have a technical problem, it must have been its extremely complex texture and its length as well, demanding a lot from the audience and being a less fitting showpiece. Maurizio Pollini plays it with a ferociousness of a tiger, and his imprint on this sonata is so deep in my mind that it is difficult to imagine another pianist toppling him.

Beethoven: The Late Piano Sonatas

He is exceptional in the third and fourth movements, the way he lavishes a mind-blowing counterpoint on the listener is captivating, and reminds again that Beethoven was a studious pupil of Bach, so masterly his composition is. However what positively surprised me is that Paul Lewis found his own way to play the third movement (Adagio sostenuto. Appasionato e con molto sentimento) - his playing heralds Chopin's Ballades; it is truly more sentimental than Pollini's playing, which sounds rather as a deep and morose contemplation of a titan and funnily enough for Pollini is as far from the tenderness of Chopin as possible. Pollini's interpretation is probably closer to what Beethoven wished to express, considering the overall heroic inclination of his art and ideals; besides, he keeps an unbreakable structure of "Hammerklavier", never letting the listener's attention wander.

Paul Lewis found a new way of delivering the score, emphasizing the sentimental as written, and in a way he is more true to the written instruction, but somehow the sonata overall sounds more amorphous under his fingers.

Lewis played "Les Adieux" convincingly - the vanishing carriage taking the beloved Archduke Rudolf away is easily conjured up; but here the distance between him and Maurizio Pollini is infinitely increasing - Lewis just does not display the same attention to detail, coloring, phrasing; his sound is so narrow and monotonous compared to Pollini (see the CD - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 17, 21, 25 & 26, Opp. 31:2, 53, 79, 81a); the same goes for his interpretation of "The Tempest" sonata - while you HEAR the tempest with Pollini, Lewis' is a strong shower...But again, perhaps it is unfair to an exceptionally gifted musician to be constantly compared to a rare genius. I love this sonata - it is not very long; very well structured and its exceptional melodism is very appealing to me. Its history is quite fascinating, best illustrating the artistic patronage of Archduke Rudolph, who, like Medici before him and King Ludwig II after, immortalized his name by supporting a genius. A sublime "Archduke" trio is also dedicated to him; but here is a story around and behind the "Les Adieux":

Among the most important and durable of Beethoven's many aristocratic Viennese patrons was the Archduke Rudolph, the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II and the brother of Emperor Franz. Rudolph first appeared in the composer's life around 1803 as a piano student, an indication of the high regard that Beethoven had "on among Austrian music lovers by even that early date in his career. Rudolph received instruction in both performance and composition from Beethoven, and he displayed a genuine if limited talent for music. (Questioned once whether Rudolph played really well, the diplomatic teacher answered with a hoarse chuckle, "When he is feeling just right.") It was for his noble pupil that Beethoven created the "Triple" Concerto for piano, violin, and cello, in whose premiere Rudolph participated sometime in 1805 or 1806. When Beethoven was considering abandoning Vienna in 1808 to accept the offer of a position in Kassel from Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Westphalia, Rudolph joined with the Princes Lobkowitz and Kinsky in establishing an annual stipend for the composer to encourage him to remain in the city. Beethoven accepted their proposal and made Vienna his home for the rest of his life, though the financial reverses and difficulties inflicted by Napoleon's invasions forced Kinsky and Lobkowitz to suspend their payments after a short time--Rudolph fulfilled his part of the bargain until Beethoven died. In appreciation for Rudolph's unflagging support, Beethoven dedicated some fifteen of his most important works to him--including the fourth and fifth piano concertos, the "Les Adieux" and "Hammerklavier" Sonatas, the Opus 96 Violin Sonata, the Opus 97 Piano Trio and the Grosse Fuge--and wrote the Missa Solemnis to celebrate his election as Archbishop of Olmutz in 1819.

The year 1809 was a difficult one for Vienna, and for Beethoven. In May, Napoleon invaded the city with enough firepower to send the residents scurrying and Beethoven into the basement of his brother's house--the bombardment was close enough that he covered his sensitive ears with pillows to protect them from the concussion of the blasts. On July 29th, he wrote to the publisher Breitkopf und Hartel, "We have passed through a great deal of misery. I tell you that since May 4th, I have brought into the world little that is connected; only here and there a fragment. The whole course of events has affected me body and soul.... What a disturbing, wild life around me; nothing but drums, cannons, men, misery of all sorts." He bellowed his frustration at a French officer he chanced to meet: "If I were a general and knew as much about strategy as I do about counterpoint, I'd give you fellows something to think about."

Why May 4? On that day, in 1809 again, as the French forces swept inexorably toward Vienna (so ill prepared to defend itself that some soldiers had to be armed with muskets and swords commandeered from the prop rooms of the city's theaters and opera houses), the imperial family, including the 20-year-old Rudolph, was evacuated to safety in the distant countryside. That very day, Beethoven began a piano sonata "written from the heart on the occasion at the departure of His Imperial Highness, Archduke Rudolph," as he recorded the title page: he headed the first movement "Des Lebewohl"--"The Farewell". ( When Breitkopf und Hartel published the score in July 1811, they changed Beethoven's preferred German titles to more easily marketable French. The Sonata is still most widely known with its French sobriquets, though Beethoven did not like them.) The slow movement "Abwesenheit"-- L'Absence) was written before the French withdrew from Vienna on November 20th; the finale (Das Wiedersehen--Le Retour) was begun when Rudolf and his royal clan returned to the city on January 30, 1810.

That concludes the story of Les Adieux, and on this review as well; my last remark is that booklet is repeatedly referring to the opinions of Romain Rolland, who understood in music as much as Stendhal - close to nothing, as befits a French writer (these references prompted me to discover that the booklet author is written by another French!). Well, in an opinion of somebody else presumably more qualified, Prokofiev highly esteemed Sonata no. 32, Op. 111 as Beethoven's greatest and he was proud to link his own last work, Symphony No. 6 as Op. 111 to this Sonata. Paul Lewis too makes a splendid conclusion to the cycle, playing this Sonata with the sober mood of wisdom.

This CD set is an excellent addition to the classical music collection if you want to have a complete set of sonatas for full reference. However, on an individual basis there are better, more exquisite interpretations, as outlined above.

Having lived with this set for more than a year, I am baffled at the paens of praise I read for this set. While it is very well-recorded, and not indifferently played, I find little exceptional here. Lewis does seem to communicate Beethoven's quieter moments with a sense of spaciousness and depth, but his playing seems somehow muted when any emphasis is needed. It doesn't surprise to hear he studied with Brendel, another pianist who seems better with the quiet, hushed Beethoven. The opening of the "Appassionata" (No. 23) is a case in point. It's almost as if he's afraid to "scare" his audience with Beethoven's frequent sforzandos and dynamic contrasts. Good but not great. If you can find a way to lay hands on it, get Kovacevich's cycle on EMI. It's out-of-print right now, but I can't believe EMI will let this continue forever. I think there's a "highlights" favorite CD. Listen to this and you will pray that EMI gets their act straight and re-releases that great set.

Please allow me to add my own 1 star rating to the growing number of reviewers who were thoroughly dissatisfied with these recordings.

As was the case with so many other people, I purchased these recordings with extremely high expectations; when it comes to Beethoven's miraculous piano sonatas, performance and interpretation standards are simply sky high!

Kempff, Brendel, Arrau and even Barenboim's two complete recordings of these endlessly fascinating and satisfying works literally blow away ANYTHING presented here by Paul Lewis. Yes, the middle sonatas are admittedly above average, but there can be no half-measures in this arena! There is just no involvement, no passion and awareness of the wonderful "Beethoven" genre that can be so full of life and hope and infinite JOY...

...if you're looking for even the slightest spark of joyful enthusiasm from this pianist, you are in for a round of perfectly painful disappointment!

To conclude, I think the reason these recordings have been awarded so many plaudits and 5-star ratings can be found in basic human nature: The 5-star reviewers represented here could not bring themselves to admit (to themselves or anyone else!) that they had blown sixty dollars on recordings that were not worth a quarter of that ridiculous asking price!

The truth can cause the most painful anxiety, but it is the truth nonetheless.

I made a huge mistake - and don't I know it - please don't make the same mistake!

Go ahead, hit the "NO" button on the "Was this review helpful to you?" line as many times as you like; your conscience will still bother you... and the truth will still be heard!

Those who criticise this pianist are wrong; he's a worthy successor to Brendel. Thing is, it's about time: none of us can go back to when there was no Beethoven, or understand the musical ground from which he sprang. Hell, people, we've heard of, or even been at the John Cage concert where he walks to the piano in concert garb, sits before the keyboard motionless, and after a while gets up without playing a note and walks off: an elegant epitaph on classical music; but merely elegant. We fall back on various historical traditions of who Beethoven was, and what he did, and similar cartoons We've maybe actually heard Sonny Rollins (great!), and Aaron Copland (not so great); but classical music before us completed its magnificent arc; and we're spoiled by what we think is our understanding of it. But it's ETERNAL! Deal with that. It can be reinterpreted forever, both with and without knowing how Schnabel did it. Mr Lewis is one in a noble line that will outlast any and all of us. But he is of our era.