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| | Piano Sonatas 1-32 (Box) | | | Music Artist : | | Beethoven | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Dg Imports | | Release Date : | | 2008-11-18 | | Store Price : | | $40.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $40.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Why compare, why not admire this for that, that for this?
Submitted on: 2009-11-23 |
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I wonder why most reviewer feel obliged to compare the "historical" and the newer records saying one is representing the true heritage of Beethoven the other less or not at all. Especially so in the case of Kempff and András Schiff. To be honest for one helps just to understand and enjoy the other. And many yet.
Compare was not meant in the meaning of distinguish, of course. |
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 Kempff's playing is simply superb!
Submitted on: 2009-11-21 |
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| I totally agree with the other reviews regarding this steller set of cds. Kempff captures the passion, beauty, and grace that are inherent to Beethoven's piano sonatas. I am really not sure anything else needs to be said - this is the set to own! |
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Outstanding Collection of Piano Sonatas
Submitted on: 2009-09-12 |
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| This is a collection of absolutely outstanding performances of beautiful piano sonatas! The compositions are played with superb skill by pianist Kempff. If you like Beethoven Sonatas you definitely will love listening over and over to these renditions. |
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Kempff's Beethoven Sonatas at a Budget Price
Submitted on: 2009-06-16 |
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Wilhelf Kempff's Beethoven cycle, dating from the 1960s, has recently been reissued at a budget price. There have been many recordings of the 32 Beethoven sonatas, including an ongoing series by Idil Biret, a student of Kempff's. Much as I am enjoying listening to Biret, Kempff's cycle remains a grand achievement. There is no better way to explore the Beethoven sonatas. Listeners coming to the sonatas for the first time or listeners who have heard many readings of the sonatas will have their appreciation of this music enhanced by these performances. The remainder of this review is taken from my review of an earlier, more expensive, issue of Kempff's sonatas.
Beethoven's "Tagebuch" includes the following famous entry: "The starry heavens above, the moral law within -- Kant!" Beethoven was alluding to Kant's statement in the "Critique of Practical Reason" of the two things that filled him with awe. But, in a simple way, Beethoven's statement could be read to show two related ways of understanding his music: the first as heroic, heaven-storming, and outwardly directed, and the second as inward, reflective, and meditative. Some of Beethoven's music can be seen as occupying on or the other end of the polarity. Much of the music somehow occupies both ends.
The same holds true as a rough approach to the performance of Beethoven's music -- including the 32 piano sonatas. Some artists emphasize the dramatic, rugged and virtuosic characteristics of the sonatas while others focus upon the music's inward and introspective qualities. The great German pianist Wilhelm Kempff's classic recording of the complete piano sonatas is clearly within the latter approach. Kempff (1895 -- 1991) recorded the complete Beethoven sonata-cycle twice, the first time in the 1950s and the second time in the 1960s. I had the original version on LP and purchased the CD set when LPs became obsolete. I recently had the opportunity to relisten to Kempff's renditions of the sonatas in their entirety.
Kempff's readings of the sonatas are highly personal and introspective. His tempos tend to be slow and fluid, the pedal is used a great deal, phrasing is highly legato, and volume is, for the most part, subdued and restrained. He offers a metaphysical, thoughtful reading of Beethoven which probes within. It is a moving and convincing way of rendering the sonatas, and I came away from my experience with the set over the past several days with a renewed devotion to this music. I have attempted about half of the sonatas myself over the years on the piano.
Beethoven's sonatas date from his youthful years in Bonn before his 1792 move to Vienna (the two sonatas of opus 49) to about 1822 (opus 111), five years before the composer's death. Thus, they occupied Beethoven for almost the entirety of his creative life. In listening to this complete set, the listener can follow Beethoven's development essentially chronologically and learn more first-hand about the sonatas and about the changes in Beethoven's styles of composition than can be gained from reading many studies.
Listeners interested in a complete set of the Beethoven sonatas will probably have some familiarity with some of the better-known
named sonatas, such as the "Pathetique", opus 13, the "Moonlight" opus 27 no. 2, the "Waldstein", opus 53, or the "Appassionata", opus 57. After falling in love with some of these works, it will be time for the listener to explore the entire series.
Kempff brings his own personal and introspective readings to each of these familar works. I think he does best with the rondo finale of the "Waldstein," with the "Moonlight" sonata, and with the two final movements of the "Tempest", opus 31 no. 2. His readings of these familiar works on the whole will offer fresh insight into these great sonatas.
But the greatest attraction of this set is the opportunity it provides to explore some of Beethoven's less frequently performed works. Again, Kempff is at his best in works of an introspective character. Thus, those coming to the sonata-cycle for the first time will enjoy his performances of the opus 26 sonata, with the opening variations and the celebrated funeral march, of opus 78, 79, and 81a ("Les Adieux"), of opus 90, and of opus 101, 109, 110, and the great end to the series, opus 111. Opus 90, 101, and 109 are particular favorites of mine, and Kempff plays them beautifully.
There is yet another group of sonatas that also receive excellent readings on the set. This group includes two excellent ambitious early works, opus 2 no. 3 and opus 7 (another favorite), the three sonatas of opus 10, the under-appreciated opus 22, the companion to the more famous "Moonlight" sonata, opus 27 no. 1, opus 31 no. 3 and the enigmatic opus 54, sandwiched between the "Waldstein" and the "Appassionata". The magisterial and heroic "Hammerklavier" sonata, opus 106, is in a class by itself. Each listeners's choices and fovorites among the 32 will vary and change with time and repeated hearings. This collection is an excellent introduction to all of them.
There are many recordings of the set of 32 sonatas and many approaches to the interpretation of Beethoven. His music is broader and deeper than any single reading. I have lived with my set of Kempff for a long time and am still moved and inspired by his playing of this inexhaustible music. Listeners wanting to get to know this great body of work will find much to cherish in these performances by Wilhelm Kempff.
Robin Friedman |
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A superior value, musically and financially...
Submitted on: 2009-06-09 |
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Beethoven's piano sonatas were one of humanity's great achievements. They have been recorded by many pianists including Artur Schnabel, Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, and John O'Connor--and nearly every pianist of note has recorded at least a few of the most popular sonatas.
What makes the Kempff set work best for me is the lack of a dogmatic, cookie-cutter approach to the music. Kempff approaches each piece as a masterwork in its own right. The tempos are more sensible than those adopted by most other pianists, particularly in the slower movements. For example, in the Hammerklavier Sonata, most pianists cannot resist the urge to play the Adagio almost as a Largo--ignoring the fact that such a tempo would have made the movement incomprehensible on a piano of Beethoven's time--which had a quick tonal decay.
Speaking of tone, Kempff has an especially beautiful sound--a product of his training by the 19th century master Henrich Barth. The phrasing is more flexible than today's "red light, green light" stop and go approach, and Kempff, unlike so many of today's pianists (notably Andras Schiff), never lets musical point making get in the way of the big picture, structually.
Although Kempff was getting along in years when these recordings were made--the 1960s--he is fully up to the technical hurdles these sonatas contain. The only disappointment on this set is in the "Appassionata" Sonata, where Kempff's clear headed approach does not suit the rage filled final movement. For that particular piece, it's best to go with Richter's RCA recording.
Offered at bargain price, this is one of the best values in Beethoven's music available. |
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