Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Opp. 81a & 106

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

 

 

This particular CD has received a coveted Penguin Guide "Rosette" award, even if two critics at Gramophone magazine are more equivocal. Perhaps it is a matter of taste, but this tough and committed reading can stand proudly next to the other great recordings of Op. 106, such as Gilels on Deutsche Grammophon and Arrau on Philips.

The piano (a Steinway) sounds magnificent in this recording, closely miked and set in an intimate and warm acoustic, not too reverberant. There are moments when the piano may sound too clangorous to some ears, but this underlines the intensity of the interpretation. At times Kovacevich adds some extracurricular vocalisations and grunts, especially in the final fugue, a la Serkin and Gould, but this is not too distracting.

Kovacevich also provides an equally impressive reading of Op. 81a and the Bagatelles Op. 119 on this generous disc.

Perhaps it would be a better economy for Beethoven fanatics (like me) to buy the whole 9 disc set, rather than getting the series one by one.

An earlier reviewer stated that this was the final recording in the series, but it is not. The disc containing the Opus 2 sonatas was the final release in the series.

Other than that, I echo everything said in that earlier review - great performances of great works.

I just want to add one thing that may be a selling point to many of you:

In the first movement of the "Hammerklavier" Sonata op.106, there is a passage in measure 225 in which the original manuscript(or perhaps the first printed edition, I'm unsure off the top of my head) shows A# instead of A natural. There is much debate as to which notes to play, and in this recording Kovacevich does play the A#.

Personally, I love the recording(which also includes remarkable performances of the "Les Adieux" sonata and the Bagatelles op.119), but that said, it still does not measure up to Pollini's incredible performance of the work circa 1977, available on Deutsche Grammophon in their "Originals" series, along with Beethoven's sonatas op.101, 109, 110, and 111.