Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Goode - Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas
|
Our Price: $99.98 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $56.95 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas
Free Music Review: Goode loses interest, and so did I.
Hit: 3 Stars
This was the first classical CD set that I ever sold on Amazon. Years ago, when the set was first released, there was all this breathless reverence for Mr. Goode's genius, and I started to get excited, too. I had many individual recordings of Beethoven sonatas, from Rosen, Pollini, Gilels, Solomon, Kempff, and so on, but no complete set at that point. When I took home the set and unwrapped it, I started from Sonata #1 and was duly impressed--Goode plays the early sonatas as great compositions in their own right. The problem is that as Beethoven matures and becomes ever more interesting as a composer, Goode becomes progressively less interesting. Somehow the eccentricity, grandeur, and mysticism of Beethoven's late sontatas elude him. The box set became a musical albatross around my neck, so I had to dump it.
If you're going to buy a complete set of Beethoven's sonatas, I recommend you fork over the extra money to get Alfred Brendel's 1996 cycle on Philips. It has fine modern sound, no shortage of wit and passion despite what some critics say, a full grasp of Beethoven's artistic development across his career, and a live concert recording of the Hammerklavier that towers over anything else I have heard. The Adagio Sostenuto movement of that sonata is one of the most profoundly moving pieces that Beethoven ever composed, and Brendel fully plumbs its depths without making it glacially slow--a common miscalculation made by other pianists, even great ones.
If you don't mind mono sound, the Schnabel set is also a must. Ultimately, you'll want to get MULTIPLE recordings of the individual sonatas by different performers. I swear you'll never get tired of hearing even the most popular warhorse sonatas. But when there's such a wealth of GREAT recordings out there, why settle for merely Goode?
Free Music Review: A monument of western civilization and great performances
Hit: 5 Stars
The 32 Beethoven sonatas are a peak of western civilization. They contain an entire universe. There are so many treasures here: of course the well-known Pathetique, Moonlight, Appassionata and the only slightly less familiar Waldstein, Les Adiex etc.
But I also love the little-known sonatas, some of which are rarely heard. Before writing this review, I listened to Nos. 24 and 25. No. 24 is one of the more obscure of the set -- a short two-movement work. The first movement rambles through a few themes with some typical Beethoven rumbles. The second is a short, fast movement with some strange sonorities in the bass. No. 25 is one of the easy sonatas to play -- but so difficult to play well. It is sunny and good-humored and witty.
That's one of the things one gets from this music: Beethoven was of course profound and tragic and grandiose but he could also be witty and elegant -- he's almost the only great composer whose sense of humor comes through in his works.
I love the Opus 10 set -- early Beethoven, muscular, compact, tightly wound, temptestuous. I love the final movement of the first sonata which is an incredible statement of intent -- dark and virtuosic. I love the Tempest sonata and No. 27 -- another two movement work which is a bridge between middle and late Beethoven. And of course the final five are incredible.
I have no idea if this set by Richard Goode is the best available. I haven't the means or the time to do a comparison. But you can't go wrong with these intelligent, unflashy performances. There's no weirdness here or displays of ego. Goode allows us to hear Beethoven, not his view of Beethoven. His technique seems to be solid and the interpretations are always sensitive and understated.
One little peeve: I wish there was a set of the sonatas that presented them in order. I understand they have to be grouped somewhat out of order to fit comfortably on the CDs but I wish it were possible just to listen to them straight through from one to thirty two.
That having been said, there are hours and hours of enjoyment here.
Free Music Review: A powerful performance of Beethoven's great music
Hit: 5 Stars
I had been searching for a good complete set of Beethoven's piano sonatas for quite a while, and believe I have found a brilliant one in this set. It is great for those wishing to survey Beethoven's music in the most complete way possible, and for studying how the form of his sonatas changed and developed in a way only a genius like Beethoven could have achieved.
Richard Goode's playing throughout is flawless, giving a very accurate and great-to-listen-to set of some of the most amazing works ever. His sound is very pleasant, and his interpretation very precise and not overdone. The sound quality is also quite excellent; with a good stereo you can make it sound like you are sitting right there watching and listening to him play.
All of his interpretations are very accurate. After reading along with the music as he played I found that his interpretive choices and his phrasing authentically reflect Beethoven's original score.
To sum it all up: this is an excellent set of Beethoven's piano sonatas. The playing is perfect, the sound quality pristine, and the interpretation very exact and fitting. This is a great set that I would recommend to any serious classical music lover.
Free Music Review: A good Beethoven of Goode
Hit: 5 Stars
It's very special Beethoven. I agree that it is not a very dramatic Beethoven. but compared to Brendel's 90th Sonatas, It is very beautiful. Brendel is Dramatic, poised but his sound is like crashing glass. Goode is more round, elegant such as Ashkenazy and he is full too! Ashkenazy is elegant, poised but his sound is like stinging wet tissue.Free Music Review: among the best available
Hit: 5 Stars
i don't adhere to the idea of a single best performance or "reference set" of the complete sonatas: there are too many good pianists and too many sonatas, and the sonata span several distinct musical styles. but goode is very good. he does not come across as an "artist" using the sonatas as the speculum to his divine sensibility. he is a *performer* who puts the sonatas on best display -- well lit, properly framed, delightfully detailed, but more in the spirit of brendel than pollini. the quality and attentiveness of the playing is uniformly very high and the sound is beautifully recorded. he successfully negotiates the few textual cruxes that i am familiar with, and brings out the delightful variety in beethoven's early sonata left hand textures. all the manuscript repeats are observed. his performance of the last sonata (in c minor), which requires an unusual humility and stamina, is very much in the same transcendental spirit as schnabel's glorious account, but without the finger flubs and sound limitations. his moonlight is mysterious and haunting. his waldenstein is feisty and untrammeled. hearing one sonata makes you want to hear them all.
as a meta-commentary, i observed with amusement the brief "vile", "psychotic" reviews flung at this set by the vituperative visitor who has signed in under different names. without delving the personal motives of this single point of view, in general i've found that appreciation of goode's set goes up with the musical sophistication of the listener. goode is very good.