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Epicurus.com - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas , vol. 2
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List Price: $45.98
Our Price: $31.97
Your Save: $ 14.01 ( 30% )
Availability: Usually ships in 11 to 14 days
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0794881804924
Format: Import
Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
Number Of Discs: 3
Publisher: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
Release Date: 2007-01-16
Studio: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Paul Lewis's traversal of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas may just become one of the indispensable recorded versions of these unique works. He tackles the Hammerklavier without attacking it; his interest is textual clarity, and he never fails in that approach. If you listen to the last movement of No. 25, "Alla tedesco," you'll be amazed by the formality and forward propulsion which underpins the seeming merriment in the piece, the abrupt ending suddenly quite a puzzle. Similarly, the first movement of the Waldstein is imbued with a darkness that makes you think you're hearing much of it for the first time. Lewis's is a serious--some might say grave--approach to these works, but it is not heavy; indeed, his touch remains light when it ought to be, without making the music seem trivial. Each movement lets us in on another one of Beethoven's secrets, and the lyrical moments have never seemed lovelier. This is a very special set, highly recommended. --Robert Levine
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Una maravilla
Comment: despues de haber escuchado practicamente todas las versiones de las sonatas de Beethoven, esta puede ser mi favorita, ademas de completa, de calidad de sonido perfecto. tengo las versiones de Barenboim: penosas. las de Kovacevich me gustan mucho pero son sosas y violentas. las de Gould son maravillosamente sensuales pero su sonido flojo. las de schnabel las mejores pero tan antiguas y con ese sonido. luego las de Perahia pero solo tiene 10 sonatas grabadas , una pena, pero es mi pianista favorito.
Estas son magnificas, pero el precio caro.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful pianism, somewhat restrained
Comment: I think I will have to live with these recordings for a little longer before I can render final judgment. One thing is for sure - Paul Lewis plays the piano beautifully and he has been recorded beautifully. He plays these sonatas at often relaxed tempi that allow him to fully articulate each phrase and let them unfold naturally. This is surely some of the loveliest and most lyrical Beethoven playing on records and it feels almost churlish to lodge complaints. But one does have to wonder whether it all sounds a bit too elegant and refined and whether the edges of Beethoven have been sanded off a bit. After listening for a while, a sense perhaps of blandless and bloodlessness sets in, to my ears, and it may be that these records will not wear well. But one has to be really cranky not to appreciate such gorgeous pianism and Lewis's more inward and thoughtful approach certainly has its deep rewards.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beethoven at its best!!
Comment: If you are a Beehoven fanatic, as I am, this CD is for you. Paul Lewis projects a sensitive yet bold interpretation of the sonates which is strikingly beautiful. Not to be missed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A bit of a letdown
Comment: I've been immersing myself in the Beethoven piano sonatas for close to a year. I'm not a pianist, or even a musician, but I revere these works. In summer 2007 I listened to complete recordings by Artur Schnabel while reading analyses of the individual works by Donald Francis Tovey and Charles Rosen. More recently, I listened to traversals of all 32 sonatas by Claudio Arrau and by Richard Goode, the musician who, for me, plays Beethoven better than anyone else I know. I've also gone through a lot of recordings of individual sonatas by other artists.
I picked up Paul Lewis's first volume of the Beethoven sonatas -- the three sonatas in opus 31 -- after hearing him play the 4th piano concerto with the London Symphony last winter, and being knocked out by his performance. I liked that first volume a lot: stylish, elegant, and beautifully recorded. (I don't know what piano this guy was playing but it sounds rich and resonant. Harmonia Mundi has done a superb job.)
So I went on to Lewis's volume 2, which has a range of early, middle and late works ... and it seemed fussy, brittle, and a bit slow. Careful. Not terribly so, just comparatively so. Listen for example to the Waldstein, then compare it to Schnabel's or Horowitz's -- you'll be panting at the end. Listen to the Hammerklavier: That's a piece that should grab your attention, make you laugh, melt your heart and then batter you severely. What we get from Lewis is note-perfect, but kinda wussy.
I will listen to these again, if for no other reason than the sound is so gorgeous; and I look forward to hearing Lewis's recordings of the final sonatas, which I guess are coming in some yet-to-be-released-in-the-United-States volume 4. But if you're looking for one set of the Beethoven 32, go for the Goode.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quotidian
Comment: This is a disappointment, especially in the light of its enthusiastic critical reception on both sides of the pond. It is cautious, careful, circumspect, earnest, responsible and dull. There is no sign here that Beethoven is dealing out bold strokes. Instead the composer comes off as plain and palatable. And that we know he was not. Fine sound of an exceptional instrument: wasted. Increasingly I find myself turning to pianists of the past for Beethoven, though Kuerti and Goode are still with us and are well worth our attention.
-Frank W. Barham
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