Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This surely must be the most inexpensive complete recording of Beethoven's piano sonatas on the market! If money is the prime factor, this is unbeatable value. Even Brendel's first series for VOX and Jando's for NAXOS aren't anywhere near THIS inexpensive. Danish pianist Anne Oland is a highly professional performer, but then, musical charlatans seldom record complete sets of the Beethoven sonatas. She kept me interested most of the time, but I wouldn't want this to be the only set of these works in my collection. Space (and my readers' patience!) prohibit going into great detail, but prospective purchasers may find the following random remarks helpful:

Tempos tend to be leisurely, and steady but flexible. Rubato is subtly employed to heighten points, but is not of Arrau's "romantic" attention-getting sort. All repeats are observed.

Oland uses pedal sparingly, the instrument is miked very closely, and staccati are extremely clipped. The sound becomes a bit dry and hard above mezzo-forte. On the plus side, this promotes great clarity. For example, in finale of the "Moonlight" one really hears the rhythmic patterns "grinding" against each other. Fugal writing is projected very clearly the lines retain their identities. Sometimes this becomes too much of a good thing. Not that Oland doesn't use pedal when appropriate, but she doesn't go all the way when blurred "sfumato" effects are called for. The closing pages of No.32 are a case in point. There her internal trills are not so even as, say, Goode's, and the texture is TOO clear!

Oland seems reluctant to shed classical repose in Beethoven's more wild-eyed moments. The prestissimo coda of the "Appassionata" is not much above the moderate tempo of the rest of the movement, and the excitement fizzles out. A quicker tempo for the first movement of the "Waldstein" would have better conveyed the nervous energy of the piece. On the other hand, the finale of the "Pathetique" is satisfyingly brisk.

The "Hammerklavier" makes no attempt to take into account Beethoven's controversial metronome markings. This is a leisurely although not easygoing account, well within the spectrum of acceptable tempi. Indeed, it's one of the most impressive performances in the set. The fugal writing is presented with admirable clarity.

Sometimes in legato passages (such as the proto-Chopinesque slow movement of No.16), there is a tendency to separate the notes and emphasize them equally, instead of connecting and grading them within a dynamic curve, allowing each to contribute to the shape of the line as a whole. The effect is like a singer giving equal emphasis to every syllable in an earnest effort to "project the words," but merely succeeding in undermining legato and the direction of the phrase. Oland CAN play with legato and line, and often does, so the occasions when she doesn't are all the more disappointing. Nos.2 and 3 are rather choppy throughout.

Her realization of ornaments is consistently convincing. I particularly like the way she plays the grace notes in the menuet of No.1 as long appoggiaturas on the beat, instead of acciaccaturas before the beat, as Goode does.

There are vanishingly few rhythmic eccentricities. Therefore, her sudden drastic increases of tempo in the passages of repeated chords in the finale of the "Moonlight" are all the more disconcerting and unaccountable. It sounds like a throwback to Paderewski's wayward performance.

In total, this is a respectable set, with quite a few good performances. Oland is an interesting and intelligent artist with excellent technique, and she is sometimes quite moving. That notwithstanding, she isn't a consistently "compelling" or "exciting" player. The level of competition in recordings of this repertoire is very high. Oland holds her own rather well, and the low price of her set is certainly an inducement, but it is worth spending more to get better.

As other reviewers have said, this is the only new recording of Beethoven's complete Piano Sonatas one can buy for $20.00 or less. Given the magnificence of Beethoven's compositions, it would have to be an extraordinarily awful recording to not be worth $20.00.

This recording is far from awful, and they are certainly worth $20.00 Although not the best that I have heard, they are good, if unremarkable performances. There are really only two things I would change about the recording:

The first would be the tempi. Oland tends to take some passages slower than appropriate. This is not a major issue, nothing has ever seemed to be dreadfully slow. In general though, the pace could have been increased slightly.

The other thing I would change would be to increase the bass. These recordings have more emphasis on the higher notes than on the lower, this was especially evident in the first movement of the very last sonata. Again, not a major issue, but something that would have made the set better.

Other than those two issues, this is an exceptionally good set for one to start out with. If you already own all (or most) of Beethoven's sonatas, you will not likely find anything of interest here. If you are just starting you collection of Beethoven' sonatas, start here. Listen to them and learn them. Then buy better versions of the individual sonatas to suit your tastes

Update 10/14/2008 - After living with this recording for a while, I have increasingly found myself to be dissatisified with it. Oland's playing comes accross as cold and unemotional, not a good thing in these works. Combined with the weak sound quality as noted above, the value of these works has dropped dramatically. On top of that, the price has nearly doubled to now being close to $40.00. At this price, there is no way you should buy this set. The best value in a similar price range is probably Gulda's 1967 recordings now available on Brilliant Classics, or Barenboims first recording on EMI. They are both slightly more expensive, but significantly better than this.

Gulda: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (Complete) [Box Set]
Barenboim: Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas / Daniel Barenboim

As Dace from Houston wrote, I totally agree with his technical assessment of the CDs and her music. However, I'd like to add that they are, by far, the best set of new CDs you will find that contain all of the sonatas in one package for under 20 bucks!! For the student of music, you will find the recordings are "good enough." They are not of gold or ECM quality but they are a lot better than other recordings I've heard for 3x the price. Also, while the site is still available, Google for Andras Schiff's lectures. He outlines every nuance that must be followed for students (and pros) for all 32 sonatas in MP3 format. All in all, this collection is a must have for students and average listeners - especially for such a low price. It gets 5 stars taking into account the price range and target audience I've mentioned. If you have large budgets and unrelenting rigidity for Beethoven's exact manuscripts, I'd wait for the ECM recordings from Schiff.

I'd buy this again and again if someone did the exact same quality and price for Mozart, Bach, et al.

Dear Ms Oland: Please accept this simple thank-you for your so very thoughtful and insightful recording of the Beethoven sonatas. Your performances rebuke a world blighted by the false values produced by instant communication, cheap celebrity, and shallow judgment. Tom B.

This product has a very good quality vs. price ratio.

The Beethoven Sonatas are played honestly and competently, without any eccess. the result is like clear water flowing.

The music is absolutely beautiful. The playing is superb! The recording is also excellent. I am very happy with this purchase. There is only one "yes but" with my boxed set-when I play the cds using Windows media player, the menu says I am listening to Wilheim Kemphff? Checking the sleeve menus the time coincides with the time given for the selection on the sleeve of the cd. Still, this is irritating. It's the only reason I could not give the set a 5. Perhaps, this is only a problem with my set(I hope so for other's sake). That being said, I am keeping the box set even with the flaw. Truth be told once you start listening, it's hard to complain or sweat the small stuff.