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I am looking for some recordings, but the problem is that I am not sure which would be best. These are it: (I want the sound quality to be top notch, like the playing!)
All of Beethoven Sonatas- Brendel maybe? Is there better?
Chopin Etudes, Polonaises- I though maybe Maurizio Pollini here
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies

Thanks!

It seems that recording companies have often
changed their focus[and ownership!] allowing
for variable products at different times.
Deutsche Grammophon seems very consistent
in high-end classical recording.
The interpretation of composers is another
matter. Like pianos,you enter the realm of
personal preferences and your own taste.
I never liked Glenn Gould playing Beethoven.
Others thought he was genius,doing it his way

CrashTest,

Let me start by listing a few for you.

Chopin 24 Etudes -
Ashkenazy
Pollini
Zayas
Lortie
Berezovsky

(not in any particular order)

Beethoven 32 Sonatas -
Claude Frank
Richard Goode
Alfred Brendel (2nd recording)
Claudio Arrau

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies -
Robert Szidon

Rgds,
AndrewG

Oh, I left out Polonaises -

Pollini
Ashkenazy
Rubinstein
Cherkassky

(again not in any particular order)

Those are the pianists I had in mind, how do I know which of the Brendel recordings is the second one? What year was that one(and the other one) recorded? Thanks!

The 2nd Brendel set is from the 70's. I also very highly recommend Robert Taub's Beethoven cycle. Also on the Vox label --the Op. 111 is gloriously done. Other considerations: Richard Goode (my first choice) and, of course, Artur Schnabel's Beethoven cycle.

my $0.02:

Beethoven Sonatas: Ashkenazy. even if u don't like him you have to hear his recordings, especially the Appassionata 3.

Chopin Etudes: Pollini. no one else seems to come close to his killer combination of technique + interpretation.

Chopin Polonaises: in my opinion, few have recorded these outstandingly, but Ashkenazy and Cherkassky are pretty good here.

To date Brendel has done 3 cycles of Beethoven 32. The first is under Vox. The other two are under Philips. The earlier one under Philips is analogue recording while the later one a digital recording. Get the earlier one under Philips. To me Claude Frank did a better job than Brendel even though Brendel is a far better known name.

As to the individual sonatas others mentioned I feel that Arrau's Op.111 has yet to be surpassed. Richter's 'Appassionata' enjoys a world-wide acclaim for good reasons.

Another set that ought to be mentioned, is Kempff's. Of his two sets, I prefer the last.

Here's a link to a very nice (and, to my mind, pretty accurate) overview of the various available recordings of the Beethoven Sonatas.
http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/articles/beethoven/psonatas.html

[ July 17, 2001: Message edited by: netizen ]

The Wilhelm Backhaus cycle of Beethoven Sonatas is a serious omission from this review, at least in my opinion. The set was recorded between '53 and '69, so the recording quality is not as high as more recent recordings, but it isn't bad by any means. I know I have mentioned them before, but I thought I would give them another plug

What I like about Backhaus' playing is his drive and sense of line and direction. All inner voices are phrased, not just the melody. He builds up small ideas into larger structures, using the full range of dynamics with variations in tempo to help provide shape. His approach is still more pianist than pedantic - his tempi are aggressive and and the Sonatas are exciting to listen to. Even if you don't prefer his interpretations, I think it's worth giving them a listen to get a different point of view.

Ryan

A few weeks ago I asked my teacher what the best sonata recordings was, his answer was always Wilhelm Backhaus! Wilhelm Backhaus! "You can hear every note!". But I can't find it anywhere, even on the internet cd stores, so its one of the others for me.

Try www.gemm.com, that's where I found it. They are a global music search engine that can find some pretty obscure stuff. They found the Backhaus set at a store in Germany, which is where I wound up buying it from. Shipping wasn't too expensive, and I had the disks in my hand in about a week.

I really liked your teacher's comment about Backhaus - you really *can* hear every note.

The Backhaus is really great stuff. You can probably acquire much easier the Backhaus Volume in the "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" series. It is comprised mainly of the Beethoven sonatas.

[ July 17, 2001: Message edited by: netizen ]

CrashTest,

In your original post you stated you wanted the sound quality to be top notch. That rules out...

For modern sound sets, two have not been mentioned but I thought they deserve looking into.

John O'Conner
Alredo Perl

Perl's is a budget set plus a magnificent Diabelli Variations. I like this set a lot.

I agree with Ryan, I think that Backhaus' recording of all of the 32 Sonatas is one of the best in commerce. It has recently been released here in Europe in a single package (eight cd's), it's quite easy to find and it's also relatively cheap. I'd recommend it. I think you could try to look for it in an European-based internet store (for instance, Amazon.fr)

Also, Pollini made some sensational recordings of the last 5 Sonatas by Beethoven, in a double DGG. His 110, for instance, is the best I've ever heard.