Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

[Todd]

Stewart Goodyear's set is packaged almost exactly the same way.

Did it change?  My copy is in a cheap clamshell box.  The Scherbakov package is flimsy, but since I rip and box physical media it doesn't matter.  Eco-friendly downloads are the best solution that also eliminate pesky delivery times - provided downloads cost less.

I'm thinking a Scherbakov-Sohn shootout offers a good way to hear what two sort of new pianists to me can do.

[JBS]

Did it change?  My copy is in a cheap clamshell box.  The Scherbakov package is flimsy, but since I rip and box physical media it doesn't matter.  Eco-friendly downloads are the best solution that also eliminate pesky delivery times - provided downloads cost less.

I'm thinking a Scherbakov-Sohn shootout offers a good way to hear what two sort of new pianists to me can do.

They must have decided cheap clamshell boxes were too expensive.  But it's still not as cheap and flimsy as the EMI France Beethoven Masterworks box (the one with Heisdeck), which was 50 CDs in 50 paper sleeves in a thin paper cube open at the top.

ETA: Scherbakov isn't exactly new. His DSCH Preludes and Fugues were among my first purchases when I got serious about buying music 25 years ago or so. I'm surprised you haven't gotten to him before this year.

[Todd]

I knew there'd be at least one more (pretty much a) surprise cycle, and here one is: Irina Mejoueva's second cycle. 

[JBS]

They must have decided cheap clamshell boxes were too expensive.  But it's still not as cheap and flimsy as the EMI France Beethoven Masterworks box (the one with Heisdeck), which was 50 CDs in 50 paper sleeves in a thin paper cube open at the top.

ETA: Scherbakov isn't exactly new. His DSCH Preludes and Fugues were among my first purchases when I got serious about buying music 25 years ago or so. I'm surprised you haven't gotten to him before this year.

My copy of Scherbakov landed today. The  packaging for the set is somewhat better than that of Goodyear's cycle: cardboard sleeves instead of paper envelopes, and the sleeves have track listings and recording details on the back.

[Karl Henning]

My copy of Scherbakov landed today. The  packaging for the set is somewhat better than that of Goodyear's cycle: cardboard sleeves instead of paper envelopes, and the sleeves have track listings and recording details on the back.

Nice.

[Todd]

My copy arrived today.  The first batch of liner notes are by Anne-Sophie Mutter.  The second batch are by Julia Spinola, who writes that this is the fifth complete recorded cycle from Barenboim.  That is news to me.  Jed Distler states in his review that Barenboim does use his straight-string custom piano.  I guess I should start listening.

Anyone who does not have Barenboim's Westminster recordings gets them as a bonus in this set.

[Mookalafalas]

I stumbled onto this...I don't recall seeing it anywhere here. Perhaps it is old news, or, more likely, a re-issue.

[Todd]

I stumbled onto this...I don't recall seeing it anywhere here. Perhaps it is old news, or, more likely, a re-issue.

A mediocre set from the 90s.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

The second batch are by Julia Spinola, who writes that this is the fifth complete recorded cycle from Barenboim.  That is news to me. 

Anyone who does not have Barenboim's Westminster recordings gets them as a bonus in this set.

You probably assume, as do I, that she got confused by the two DVD/CD cycles, which have been released on different labels in the different media forms...

I knew there'd be at least one more (pretty much a) surprise cycle, and here one is: Irina Mejoueva's second cycle.

Wow!

Have you any more information on that, by chance?

[Todd]

You probably assume, as do I, that she got confused by the two DVD/CD cycles, which have been released on different labels in the different media forms...

I did, but she mentions a cycle from the 90s, which I had not seen mentioned before.  If there is another cycle, I'll take it.  Plus I would have thought DG and/or Barenboim would have corrected her.

[Todd]

Have you any more information on that, by chance?

Just that it was recorded in the summer and is available only in Japan, like all of her post-Denon recordings.  I originally thought that the recordings she made in 2019 would be included, but this is a fresh batch for all thirty-two.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

I did, but she mentions a cycle from the 90s, which I had not seen mentioned before.  If there is another cycle, I'll take it.  Plus I would have thought DG and/or Barenboim would have corrected her.

I don't think that anyone at DG knows. Certainly no proofreader. And maybe Barenboim doesn't remember, at this point, either.

However, I am fairly positive that there is no 90s cycle. However, this suggests that maybe she's thinking of the EuroArts cycles (identical to DG I), not the EMI-DVD cycle (identical to Decca)... because I think that EuroArts cycle was distributed in the late 90s. But I'm a little hazy on that. Anyway, I still think that's much more likely than him having snuck another cycle by the both of us. 

[Todd]

Anyway, I still think that's much more likely than him having snuck another cycle by the both of us.

It seems unlikely, but I'm hoping it's real and not just one of those mythical unreleased cycles, like Cortot's or one of several Pollini was supposed to have recorded but never approved for release.

[Holden]

I may or may not have solved this. The EuroArts recordings are DVDs and were made in 1983/1984. The DGG are CD recordings and also made in 1983/84. Is it possible that:

The DVDs were recorded separately technically creating a 5th cycle. This is them.

https://www.medici.tv/en/collections/the-complete-beethoven-sonatas-by-daniel-barenboim-1983-1984/

The tracks from the DVDs were transferred from the EuroArts, leading the reviewer to think that they are different and hence a 5th cycle.

To throw a spanner in the works, a separate reviewer also calls this a 5th cycle.

https://www.ft.com/content/5d17e7dc-6c4d-495a-801d-f84c604f3e1b


A comparison by someone who owns the DG cycle with the Medici videos posted above might clear this up. Track timing might give this away. Also, the CD booklet could also help as Medici lists the venues as "Austrian Palaces".  You'll need a Medici subscription to hear the complete recordings.

[/list][/list]

[Todd]

Eventually, I will get to the bottom of the Barenboim mystery. 

Meanwhile, I do hope that Kun-Woo Paik's recital series gets issued: Pianist Kun-Woo Paik to play rearranged Beethoven sonata cycle

[Mookalafalas]

Meanwhile, I do hope that Kun-Woo Paik's recital series gets issued: Pianist Kun-Woo Paik to play rearranged Beethoven sonata cycle

  I hadn't heard about this...I may go and see Friday's show.

[Todd]

The most objective ratings system known to humanity - refreshed!


Top Tier – The Holy Tetrarchy
Annie Fischer (Hungarton)
Friedrich Gulda (Amadeo)
Wilhelm Kempff (DG, mono)
Wilhelm Backhaus (mono)

[Rudolf Serkin; OK, he didn't complete a cycle, but this is where he belongs]


Top Tier – The Rest of the Top Ten (sort of in order)
Wilhelm Kempff (DG, stereo)
Eric Heidsieck
Russell Sherman
Andrea Lucchesini
Emil Gilels
Daniel-Ben Pienaar

[Sviatoslav Richter; OK, he didn't complete a cycle, but this is where he belongs]


Second Tier - Cycles 11-20 (in alphabetical order)
Artur Schnabel
Fazil Say
Francois Frederic Guy
Kazune Shimizu (Sony)
Minsoo Sohn
Paul Badura-Skoda (JVC/Astree)
Takahiro Sonoda (Evica)
Wilhelm Backhaus (stereo)
Yu Kosuge
Yusuke Kikuchi


Second Tier - Remainder (in alphabetical order)
Bernard Roberts
Claude Frank
Daniel Barenboim (EMI, 2005)
Eduardo del Pueyo
Friedrich Gulda (Orfeo)
Maurizio Pollini
Michael Levinas
Peter Takacs
Robert Silverman
Rudolf Buchbinder (Unitel)
Seymour Lipkin
Takahiro Sonoda (Denon)
Younwha Lee

[Bruce Hungerford; OK, he didn't complete a cycle, but this is where he belongs]


Third Tier (in alphabetical order)
Abdel Rahman El Bacha (Mirare)
Akiyoshi Sako
Alfred Brendel (Philips, 1970s)
Alfred Brendel (Vox)
Alfredo Perl
Andras Schiff
Claudio Arrau (1960s)
Claudio Arrau (1980s)
Craig Sheppard
Daniel Barenboim (DG)
Daniel Barenboim (EMI, 1960s)
David Allen Wehr
Dieter Zechlin
Friedrich Gulda (Decca)
Garrick Ohlsson
Gerard Willems
Gerhard Oppitz
Ian Hobson
Ichiro Nodaira
Igor Levit
Irina Mejoueva
John O'Conor
Jonathan Biss
Konstantin Scherbakov
Kun-Woo Paik
Louie Lortie
Malcolm Binns
Michael Houstoun (Morrison Trust)
Michael Houstoun (Rattle)
Michael Korstick
Paul Badura-Skoda (Gramola)
Pavaali Jumppanen
Peter Rösel
Robert Silverman (AudioHigh)
Rudolf Buchbinder (Teldec)
Sequeira Costa
Stephen Kovacevich
Stewart Goodyear
Wilhelm Kempff (1961, King International)
Yaeko Yamane
Yves Nat


Fourth Tier (in alphabetical order)
Abdel Rahman El Bacha (Forlane)
Aldo Ciccolini
Alfred Brendel (Philips, 1990s)
Andre De Groote
Anton Kuerti
Christian Leotta
Daniel Barenboim (DG, 2020)
Dino Ciani
Georges Pludermacher
Idil Biret
Ikuyo Nakamichi
Jean Bernard Pommier
Jean Muller
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Jeno Jando
John Kane
John Lill
Konstantin Lifschitz
Llŷr Williams
Mari Kodama
Maria Grinburg
Martin Rasch
Martino Tirimo   
Melodie Zhao
Paul Lewis
Richard Goode
Robert Benz
Robert Taub
Ronald Brautigam
Rudolf Buchbinder (RCA)
Sebastian Forster
Steven Herbert Smith
Steven Masi
Timothy Ehlen
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Walter Gieseking (Tahra)
Yukio Yokoyama


Bottom Tier (in sorta particular order)
HJ Lim
Rita Bouboulidi
Tatiana Nikolayeva
Anne Oland


Eighth Circle of Hell
[Glenn Gould; OK, he didn't complete a cycle, but this is where he belongs]

[mc ukrneal]

I may or may not have solved this. The EuroArts recordings are DVDs and were made in 1983/1984. The DGG are CD recordings and also made in 1983/84. Is it possible that:

The DVDs were recorded separately technically creating a 5th cycle. This is them.

https://www.medici.tv/en/collections/the-complete-beethoven-sonatas-by-daniel-barenboim-1983-1984/

The tracks from the DVDs were transferred from the EuroArts, leading the reviewer to think that they are different and hence a 5th cycle.

To throw a spanner in the works, a separate reviewer also calls this a 5th cycle.

https://www.ft.com/content/5d17e7dc-6c4d-495a-801d-f84c604f3e1b


A comparison by someone who owns the DG cycle with the Medici videos posted above might clear this up. Track timing might give this away. Also, the CD booklet could also help as Medici lists the venues as "Austrian Palaces".  You'll need a Medici subscription to hear the complete recordings.

[/list][/list]

Perhaps the reviewer that discusses the recordings will be of help (Joseph) from here:
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Piano-Sonatas-Blu-ray-EuroArts/dp/B00UGQIOA6

[Brass Hole]

Sad...just sad.

[Brian]

Holy cow, you really lined up alllll these threads to finish out and post tiers in every single one on Beethoven's probable birthday? Talk about a master plan.

Interesting to note that the Beethoven Year yielded up two new cycles in the upper tiers: Minsoo Sohn and Fazil Say. Plus that Tetzlaff/Ticciati concerto was either this year or last year, and the Honeck 3 was pretty recent...not a bad haul. Except when I remember we could have had Freire/Chailly completed.