Schnabel plays Beethoven: The 'Named Sonatas"

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When compact discs first came out, the first thing many longtime collectors wanted to know was, When does Schnabel's Beethoven become available? That the pianist's pioneering recordings of Beethoven's 32 Sonatas for Piano have been in print almost continuously since 1935 testifies to the esteem in which they continue to be held. Schnabel's performances are best heard in Pearl's five full-priced sets (about $180), rather than in EMI's less expensive box set (just under $80). Listeners who cannot afford such an investment owe it to themselves to investigate this two-disc sampler from Pearl, featuring Sonatas Nos. 8 ("Pathétique"), 14 ("Moonlight"), 15 ("Pastoral"), 21 ("Waldstein"), 23 ("Appassionata"), 26 ("Les Adieux"), and 29 ("Hammerklavier"). Schnabel was a founding father of musical modernism, which demanded that music be performed exactly as written, with the performer serving as no more than a transparent medium. Fortunately, Schnabel's ideology was not consistent with his practice. His softening of melodic contours, his free changing of tempos, his imaginative use of tone colors, his mailed-fist-in-a-velvet-glove power, and the unearthly beauty of his singing legato in pianissimo passages were those of a full-blown Romantic pianist. Certainly, no one ever served Beethoven's music better. Whether in the chain-reaction explosions of the "Appassionata," the sustained reveries of the opening movement of the "Moonlight," or the contrapuntal complexities of the finale of the "Hammerklavier," Schnabel never failed to demonstrate a genius for keeping the listener's ears in a state of perpetual expectation. --Stephen Wigler

Tracks:

Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13 - Pathetique: Grave. Allegro di molto e con brio
Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13 - Pathetique: Adagio cantabile
Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13 - Pathetique: Rondo. Allegro
Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 - Moonlight: Adagio sostenuto
Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 - Moonlight: Allegretto
Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 - Moonlight: Presto agitato
Sonata No. 15 In D, Op. 28 - Pastoral: Allegro
Sonata No. 15 In D, Op. 28 - Pastoral: Andante
Sonata No. 15 In D, Op. 28 - Pastoral: Scherzo
Sonata No. 15 In D, Op. 28 - Pastoral: Rondo
Sonata No. 21 In C, Op. 53 - Waldstein: Allegro con brio
Sonata No. 21 In C, Op. 53 - Waldstein: Introduzione. Adagio molto
Sonata No. 21 In C, Op. 53 - Waldstein: Rondo. Allegretto moderato. Prestissimo

Tracks:

Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57 - Appassionata: Allegro assai
Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57 - Appassionata: Andante con moto
Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57 - Appassionata: Allegro ma non troppo
Sonata No. 26 In E Flat, Op. 90 - Les Adieux: Adagio. Allegro
Sonata No. 26 In E Flat, Op. 90 - Les Adieux: Andante espressivo
Sonata No. 26 In E Flat, Op. 90 - Les Adieux: Vivacissimamente
Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 - Hammerklavier: Allegro
Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 - Hammerklavier: Scherzo. Assai vivace
Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 - Hammerklavier: Adagio sostenuto
Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 - Hammerklavier: Largo. Allegro risoluto

Amazon.com

When compact discs first came out, the first thing many longtime collectors wanted to know was, When does Schnabel's Beethoven become available? That the pianist's pioneering recordings of Beethoven's 32 Sonatas for Piano have been in print almost continuously since 1935 testifies to the esteem in which they continue to be held. Schnabel's performances are best heard in Pearl's five full-priced sets (about $180), rather than in EMI's less expensive box set (just under $80). Listeners who cannot afford such an investment owe it to themselves to investigate this two-disc sampler from Pearl, featuring Sonatas Nos. 8 ("Pathétique"), 14 ("Moonlight"), 15 ("Pastoral"), 21 ("Waldstein"), 23 ("Appassionata"), 26 ("Les Adieux"), and 29 ("Hammerklavier"). Schnabel was a founding father of musical modernism, which demanded that music be performed exactly as written, with the performer serving as no more than a transparent medium. Fortunately, Schnabel's ideology was not consistent with his practice. His softening of melodic contours, his free changing of tempos, his imaginative use of tone colors, his mailed-fist-in-a-velvet-glove power, and the unearthly beauty of his singing legato in pianissimo passages were those of a full-blown Romantic pianist. Certainly, no one ever served Beethoven's music better. Whether in the chain-reaction explosions of the "Appassionata," the sustained reveries of the opening movement of the "Moonlight," or the contrapuntal complexities of the finale of the "Hammerklavier," Schnabel never failed to demonstrate a genius for keeping the listener's ears in a state of perpetual expectation. --Stephen Wigler

Customer Reviews:

Definitive reissue of these definitive performances.......2005-12-19

I've heard many reissues of these performances --- the Seraphim LPs, the EMI and Naxos CDs. Without question the Pearl series far exceeds the others in its fresh sound. The Pearl series sounds unfiltered --- it has the greatest surface noise, but for the first time you can actually hear the sparkle and vibrancy of Schnabel's piano --- almost like a modern recording with a lot of noise. That sparkle gives the music a psychoacoustic aliveness that is profoundly important to the emotional impact. The engineering of the new Naxos series puts the musician behind a veil of 70 years. The Pearl series brings Schanbel into your room now. The mind can filter out the surface noise and hear the vibrancy present. Perhaps someday computers will be able to do this for us (perhaps they already can---listen to the Sony reissue of Louis Armstrong's Hot 5 and 7s). As to the performances --- I've focus on the sound, because the performances are simply essential to any lover of Beethoven; when I sit down and close my eyes and listen, Schnabel more than any interpreter evokes a stream of images, moments, characters, feelings, and indescribable stories that inhabit Beethoven's musical world. It's not simply that I like Schnabel's performances. I like many other pianists' performances. But Schnabel opens the gates of the imagination.

Striking Performances - Excellent Sound.......2002-02-08

Schnabel's performances are quite amazing. I could not disagree more with the reviewer who found the performance of the 29th Sonata to be a 'disaster' - it's true that Schnabel drops a few notes here and there, but the performance is so fiery and energetic that it doesn't matter. I spent months listening to the Kempff recording (which I quite respect and do not mean to insult) trying to understand what I'd been told was a great masterpiece - it just didn't grab me. With that preparation, however, when I first heard the Schnabel recording it was like being struck by lightning - I was riveted, transfixed. It spoke directly to me. You can't beat that.

I don't normally consider myself an audiophile - I'm usually happy to sacrifice a little sound quality for price (and certainly for performance) considerations, but although I've not heard the EMI box, I have heard CD reissues of this material that sound AWFUL. The Pearl editions are worth the extra money. The 'hiss' that was complained of in another review has been removed from other editions at the expense of the music. Besides, you can always turn down the treble a notch if you need to.

This is a fine sampler, but save up and get all 5 volumes of the Pearl set.

Make this your starting point.......2002-01-24

I think this compilation serves as an excellent sampler of the entire Pearl series of Schnabel's Beethoven recordings. The first item, the "Pathetique" Sonata, sets the stage for Schnabel's unique music-making: a fierce, driving First Movement (with liberal accelerandi applied to the Coda); a meditative, rapt Slow Movement; and again, a charged Finale. Schnabel makes no attempt to smooth over or prettify the music; all the raw emotion is here. For those who have heard the "Moonlight" Sonata too often, Schnabel's deeply felt and yet totally unsentimental approach will be a revelation. The "Hammerklavier" Sonata will come as a shock at first, with a First Movement tempo so furious that the pianist's fingers occasionally derail. And yet, repeated hearings have convinced me that this is the way the music must go, hectic, frantic, manic. After hearing this sampler, begin saving up for all 5 of the Pearl volumes.

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