Robert Casadesus performs Beethoven: Moonlight / Les Adieux / Appassionata / A Thérèse

Beethoven (Artist), Casadesus (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002777
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,872 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Allegro sostenuto

2. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 'Moonlight': Allegretto

3. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 'Moonlight': Presto agitato

4. Piano Sonata No. 26 In E - Flat Major, Op. 81a 'Les Adieux': Das Lebewohl (Les Adieux): Adagio; Allegro

5. Piano Sonata No. 26 In E - Flat Major, Op. 81a 'Les Adieux': Abwesenheit (L'Absence): Adante esrpessivo

6. Piano Sonata No. 26 In E - Flat Major, Op. 81a 'Les Adieux': Das Wiedersehn (Le Retour): Vivacissimamente

7. Piano Sonata No. 24 In F - Sharp Major, Op. 78 'A Therese': Adagio cantabile; Allegro, ma non troppo

8. Piano Sonata No. 24 In F - Sharp Major, Op. 78 'A Therese': Allegro vivace

9. Piano Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57 'Appassionata': Allegro assai

10. Piano Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57 'Appassionata': Andante con moto

11. Piano Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57: Allegro, ma non troppo; Presto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Performance With Rather Poor Sound, December 18, 2004

By 

BLee "bpslee" (HK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Casadesus performs Beethoven: Moonlight / Les Adieux / Appassionata / A Thérèse (Audio CD)

The reading of these pieces are quite different from Backhaus or Kempff. If you want to have a change from these German pianists (or even from the Russians), this might be the one for you. Casadesus in these pieces will for sure give you boundless inspirations and insights.

But personally, and as a fan of both Casadesus & Horszowski, and oddly enough, I would prefer the former's Mozart & the latter's Beethoven at times. However, also note that the inlay gives no information on recorded time/place and the sleeve says "mono" and the recorded sound simply leaves much too be desired, much worse than what we get from Kempff's 50's Beethoven cycle or even Horszowski's Mozart cycle.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Divine Simplicity, March 12, 2010

By 

Scriabinmahler (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Casadesus performs Beethoven: Moonlight / Les Adieux / Appassionata / A Thérèse (Audio CD)

This classic stereo recording of Beethoven's named sonatas played by Robert Casadesus has got the timeless quality and the hallmark of great performance. His touch is very light and his interpretation is straightforward, but there is a kind of divine simplicity, in his playing, which captures the transcendental quality inherent in Beethoven's music. Most of pianists achieves it by hard labour and extreme concentration, but Casadesus' account of Appassionata Sonata, for example, never sounds heavy or laboured, and yet it has the intensity and the depth this Sonata demands.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars why this is so poignant, October 20, 2011

By 

William Andrew Pencak "grumpy old man" (Coburn, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Robert Casadesus performs Beethoven: Moonlight / Les Adieux / Appassionata / A Thérèse (Audio CD)

I lived for a year in the house in Princeton NJ where the Casadesus family had lived.
His daughter, Therese, was crippled and there was a hot bath in the basement
for her. Thus, the inclusion of this sonata had a special meaning for this wonderful
pianist, who in my opinion was the equal of Schnabel and Kempff in playing Mozart and
Beethoven with such beauty.