Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata): Three Performances of the Appassionata on Fortepianos and Piano of Viennese Design

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Lambert Orkis (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Lambert Orkis
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (April 26, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bridge
• ASIN: B00081U6T6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,446 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power of the Bosendorfer!!!!!!!!!!!!, August 3, 2005

By 

Michael J. Klementovich "Michael Klementovich" (Bethlehem PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata): Three Performances of the Appassionata on Fortepianos and Piano of Viennese Design (Audio CD)

I purchased this CD after hearing it used as a DEMO for the VC-7 Bosendorfer Loudspeakers at the Bosendorfer Showroom In New York City. As soon as I got home I ordered a couple of copies for myself and friends. My main reason was to be able experience over and over again the wonderful expression demonstrated by Lambert Orkis while playing what I feel is the most incredible instrument in the world the BOSENDORFER IMPERIAL CONCERT GRAND. To hear this instrument is an unforgetable experience, and to hear Lambert play Beethoven on it is unforgetable 10 time over.!!!!!!!BRAVO

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful and fascinating recording, November 24, 2007

By 

Eric Johnson "High End Piano Guy" (Charleston SC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata): Three Performances of the Appassionata on Fortepianos and Piano of Viennese Design (Audio CD)

First, I have to admit a bias...I work for Bosendorfer. That being said, this is a wonderful recording through which to explore the development of the piano as a mechanical device and the impact of that development on composers and performers. The same composition, recorded on 3 different examples of the piano makers craft.

I also have greatly admired Lambert Orkis for many years. He is not really known as a solo player and listening to this controlled, intelligent, dynamic performance, one wonders why!

And yes, it is a great recording of the Imperial (Model 290). Bosendorfer is the last living vestige of the Viennese school of piano building and you really hear that influence in the tenor and treble as well as the clear bass that Bosendorfer, and especially the Imperial is known for. Pianos should have different tone between pp and ff, not just the same tone louder or softer. Most "standard" pianos don't have that characteristic. If they do, and this one does, it still takes a skilled player to bring that out..

5.0 out of 5 stars Canny Performances Make Subtle Points, October 28, 2011

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Peter P. Fuchs (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata): Three Performances of the Appassionata on Fortepianos and Piano of Viennese Design (Audio CD)

This is such an outstanding CD in every way conceivable, from performance to sound, and even to basic conception. This might have been a mere gimmick, but thanks to Orkis' amazingly subtle and empirical performances it is anything but. The recorded sound helps this greatly. Many recordings of fortepianos were somehow made in the control booth, to highlight the odd side of the old instrument. The result was often that it sounded more like a piano in a saloon featured in an old Western. Here they have tried in every way to bring out only the musicality of the instrument, which means principally its lightness and shading. The "clankiness" of it is definitely downplayed. This allows Orkis' great insights to really resonate. It is even a dialogical matter between the three performances, because in fact the sound of the Bosendorfer Imperial Grand is clearly mollified or tweaked a bit so that relates to the others. Bosendorfers are definitely more vast sounding than it is here. But the result is to highlight a thrust of musicality. There seems to be a point to it all, and I don't think Orkis was at all revelatory about it in his comments inside. It seems rather to suggest a much more Apollonian character to the music than we usually think, especially because of the title. After listening to the CD straight through many times, which by the way is not the least bit boring in doing so that way, I am convinced that Apollo is the god to which the works makes obeisance.