Beethoven: Piano Sonatas

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Claudio Arrau (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Claudio Arrau
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (March 29, 1990)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B00000411Z
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,650 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #91 in Music > Classical > Chamber Music > By Period > Romantic (c.1820-1910)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite, elegant, measured, and great., November 17, 2003

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (Audio CD)

It's wonderful to return to these works after an absence of 30 years. Familiar, but ... consider the andante con moto of No 23 in F Minor, Op 57... it begins quietly, measured pace, the low notes of the keyboard,
certain in its course, building slowly, then it moves into the middle range, so beautiful, so much beauty, bell like tone of the notes, exquisite touch of the pianist, as if reasoning with us, listen to me, listen to me, a sense of urgency, sensual urgency builds, playfulness, but the inexorable drive to climax, back to the beginning for the resolution, a pause, then ....
If there is anything more beautiful in the piano repertoire, show it to me.
Played by a musicians artist. A bargain.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-have if you like Beethoven, December 8, 2003

By 

hjonkers (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

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

These are some of the finest Beethoven sonata recordings available. Arrau gives truly superb renditions of these three sonatas: the Pathetique is stormy and dramatic in its outer movements and intensely peaceful at the center, his Moonlight sheds a new light on this too often played sonata, but the real prize of the disc is the Appassionata, where Arrau plays with more angriness and drama than anyone I've yet heard. Hear how he assaults the chords of the third movement! These three sonatas, especially the last, are Arrau's territory and it shows in all aspects. You'd best get the whole set but for a good introduction this single disc is indispensable.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not Arrau, this is Beethoven himself, July 19, 2006

By 

H. Ruiz "har_dick" (Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (Audio CD)

First of all I would like to say, I have to disagree with a reviewer that says Arrau plays "too slow" this I can handle although I consider his speed is fine... but mostly when he says something like "he gives a romantic touch to these sonatas that were dedicated to men".

That is a huge blasphemy and here's why: Beethoven was a passionate man, I guess every Beethoven fan and student knows that, and if you still don't believe it just listen to his piano, violin and cello trios to see how much passion and romance there is involved. So it doesn't matter if he dedicated these sonatar (or any of his works) to a woman, a man or an alien, it is quite clear that whoever it was intended to, Beethoven would have probably execute it with passion and romance.

The execution of the Appassionata sonata is the ultimate execution. I need more words from other universe to describe how you can easly breeze into the composer's mind and actually feel what he felt and thought when he composed this piece. The 3rd movement is to me the best around and the best I've heard (from dozens of dozens), especially the last two minutes when it's clear the composer went drive mad. With other performers you will see that in these two minutes (when the piece reachis its climax) they will normally slow down which obviously a clear mistake and not what Beethoven intended). The last two minutes are to be played with madness, more madness, anger, more anger and all the passion you can put into those 88 keys. You can't slow down the climax of the piece ! That's why it is called Appassionata ! Such a beautiful piece.

The moonlight execution is the best I've heard too (with the exception of the 1st movement). Each one of the three movements take you to a mind state where you can feel how and what Beethoven felt about countess Giuletta Giucardi: love, joy and then hate, respectively. Just like the appasionata, the 3rd movement's performance is stunning. By the time you reach half of it, your mind will think you're listening to Beethoven.

Patetique is a good execution. I haven't really heard a notable performance, probably due to the fact of being one of Beethoven's earlier -more Mozartian/classisist- works. Still it is very good, and the movement that impresses me the most is the second.

Do your self a favor and get this CD. You will trash any other Beethoven Piano sonatas CD, and you will eventually look forward to buy the 32 piano sonata box set by Claudio Arrau -to listen to the man himself playing all his works-, which I proudly own and just like this disc, it is worth every single penny.