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What are the advantages of the Henle cloth-bound editions over the paper-bound ones? I am thinking of treating myself to the Beethoven Sonatas.

Never had one (could not afford it

Let me know if they are easier to learn

I've had the Beethoven Sonatas in the cloth-bound editions since I was a kid. The binding is still strong and the pages look like new 20 years later.

One advantage is that it will make your pocketbook lighter. Other than that it's like buying a hardbound book. They're fantastic really and I own a few dozen of them. Keep in mind, however, that they don't always sit open quite as nicely on the piano's music stand as do the paper bound and after spending extra dollars for them you're probably not going to want to use them as a "working" edition. They are quite nice (some come with slipcases) and will make a nice treat for yourself! Enjoy!

Yeah they just stay good longer, however they are also more expensive. I have the paperbounds as study books, but will buy the clothbounds later for performance.

You use the score for performances?

I use mine as working editions.. it would be silly to buy books I couldn't use! I don't have any others besides the Beethoven Sonatas, but then again, I've had to slowly replace most of my library as the books have fallen apart, so in the long run, they're probably a good investment for a serious player.

A lot of people use the score for performances, even professionals.

I love clothbound editions. I love hardbound editions too. I get all my editions hardbound at the library hehe.

You're right that it would be silly (I use mine as working editions also and am lucky to have doubles of many scores...the doubles being paper) but most don't want to spend that kind of money on something that they'll "beat up".

Who? I can't recall the last time I've seen anyone with a score.

The only cloth bound I have is the complete Beethovens, and they are lovely. Lucky enough to inherit these long before I could play any beethoven, only later found out how expensive they are.
But it doesn't seem to make playing them any easier I take a working photocopy to my lessons since I ride my bike up a huge hill (and I am heavy enough), later I put my final fingerings/markings in the book, then I can maintain or revive pieces using the books - that's the plan anyway.

Is this a question?

Quite often when one adds a question mark to the end of a sentence it's to signify the presence of a question.

I say I will buy the clothbounds later for performance, then you ask if I use the score for performances.....

It seemed more like you wanted to give your critique or something, because the question you asked was already answered in my first post. Was this your intent? Or didn't you understand from my first sentence that my plan was to buy the clothbounds later, to use during performance?

Joanna MacGregor regularly uses the score. I saw Pierre Laurent-Aimard use a score for Gaspard de la Nuit once. Chamber music performers almost always use the score.

The cloth-bound editions run about $20 more per volume. Since this will be a birthday present to myself the added expense is not a big deal. However, how well they sit open is a big deal. This is one of the things I really like about my other Henle editions. How much worse are the cloth-bound editions? I already find the paper-bound editions to be quite durable so how well the sit open may be the deciding factor.

I have the full (paperbound) collection from Henle of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Chopin, and all of them stay open perfectly.

Given that Henle paper-bound editions, with proper, reasonable care, are extremely durable, the only advantage I can see to having cloth-bound editions is that of appearance. I don't have any experience with Henle cloth-bounds, but the few cloth-bounds I have from other publishers do tend to be a little less manageable on the music stand than well-bound paper editions.

Cloth-bound will certainly look nice on the shelves, though, just as do my leather-bound Éditions de la Pléiade of certain major works of French literature. Those works could have been bought in much, much cheaper editions, but the luxury of handling a leather-bound edition printed on extremely fine paper is an indulgence I have allowed myself.

That said, I don't think I could bring myself to using a cloth-bound Henle as a working copy, but that's just me, I guess.

Regards,

No critique...It just seemed as if you meant you used paper bound for working and then you buy the clothbound for performance. Just a misunderstanding in the wording you used is all.

You're right that the cost is fairly marginal, but keep in mind there are two volumes. My point here was that most people don't necessarily want to shell out $100 for all 32 at once. They are, as I said (and Bruce I notice did too), somewhat difficult to keep open on the stand. With the extra expense you don't want to have to crease your pages, or grab a bottom corner (perhaps crumpling or tearing it in the process) to turn a page back. I'm not at all discouraging you from purchasing them, but just giving you a bit of a heads up. If I were you and wanted to treat myself I'd buy them.