Comp Ctos/Sons [Box set]

VALUE
It may seem like a lot of money but consider that you get over 1,000 minutes spread over 14 CD's.

INTERPRETATION
In my view, Arrau was the greatest interpreter of Beethoven of his generation. I will never forget seeing him perform the Emperor. Some may object to the languid tempi but to my ear, they are just right. The arietta of op.111 is sublime.

RECORDING
There is some faint background noise and hissing, but pay no attention. For the age of the recordings, the Philips' engineers have done an outstanding job.

My only complaint (and it is very small) is that the liner notes do not do the set the treatment it deserves. Barely 5 pages with few insights seems odd, to be charitable about it.

Nevertheless, a treasure to enjoy over and over again. Unreservedly recommended.

This set features recordings made in the 1960s by the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau, and supplements the sonatas with the complete concertos and some variations. Arrau is very thought provoking and exploratory in his readings. This is not Beethoven for the light hearted. The readings feature a wide dynamic range and emotional expressiveness. You are ever aware that it is not just Beethoven's thoughts that are being expressed in the playing; Arrau's own feelings are as ever present as the composer's. I agree with one reviewer who finds Arrau a little lacking in the scherzos. But, I can easily dismiss the shortage of "playfulness" in some moments when I get interpretations that fathom some of the great depths this music has to it.
No one cycle of the 32, in my opinion, can lay claim to be superior over all others, even in any one of the sonatas. I would not want to be without this set. But then, I also would not want to be without Kempff, Brendel, Schnabel, or Gilels either. All have equal strong merit.

So if you could only choose one, why might you choose this set? If you are a great fan of Schumann, Brahms, and perhaps Schubert, then you will likely find these performaces more fitting. They look forward to the future that Beethoven certainly paved the way for, a future that was more expressive and expansive. If you are a fan more of Mozart and Haydn, you may find the readings a bit heavy and introspective.

Also, consider this set if you want one stop for the sonatas, concertos, and variations.

The concertos, another genre of Beethoven's works deserving of the "Great Music!" designation, are given similarly unforgettable Arrau performances with Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

I find myself listening to the Eroica variations in this box more than anything else. The audio recording is not of the demonstration-quality that the Gilels has, but Arrau plays with more herioc feeling and captures the sense of occasion in the work in a way Gilels seems to miss entirely.

Philips has pulled off one of their best remastering jobs with this compliation. The boxed set was released shortly before Philips started their award-winning "Philips 50" series of reissues. The care taken with these Arrau remasterings makes me suspect they were a sort of "tune up" for the bigger and more publicized project that was to follow.

The documentation is decent but not exhaustive. One minor quibble is with the box. It is just a wee bit too small for the disks and booklet to fit comfortably.

The price is very low on a per disk basis.