Complete Piano Sonatas and Concertos [Box set, Import]

YES!

This is the cycle IMHO that put Alfred Brendel "on the map" for Beethoven interpretation. How well I remember the day I purchased this set on LP, in the BIG BOX, and literally "danced" out of the store, went home and began listening to these recordings for the first time! First, I had never heard all of the sonatas until then, and second I was simply in awe of the magnitude of this great volume of work written by perhaps the greatest musical genious of all time. I was mesmerized and this set (minus the concertos, of course) quickly became one of my most treasured recordings. Somehow, sadly, I missed this release the first time 'round on cd but did buy the digitally recorded traversal (his third set), but while they were quite wonderful I felt them not of the same character overall as this middle set of recordings, and longed for them but was not willing to pay collector prices for them.

How fortuitous for us that Decca (somehow the successor? of Philips) has decided to honor Alfred Brendel with a re-release of these masterful interpretations, and now including the concertos, upon his retirement from public performance (and probably from studio recording also). This is the set, by Brendel, that you want... The old Vox set had passages of great "early" brilliance from this greatest of pianists, and the third, digital, set presented the "mature" reflective Brendel. This set captured him at the time when he was reaching his early maturity interpretatively of Beethoven's great cycle for solo instrument, no longer eager to dazzle us as earlier on Vox, but now presenting these works with a mature and searching approach, secure in his attack and comfortable in his rethinking from that earlier set. As I said earlier, the third set (also now re-released on Decca vs. Philips) is wonderful, and has its place surely, and the interpretations are another approach in his senior years, having rethought many of them again, but how many sets by one artist is the average music lover going to either want or can afford? Thus, this middle set is the set that overall stands out as his "best" overall interpretation of the entire "32", and of course now it comes with a "bonus" and special treat with the concerto recordings with the LSO/Haitink, recorded at roughly the same time as the sonatas. This is a GREAT set, and no collection for those who love Beethoven's sonatas should be without it.

Further recommendations that stand at the top of the list, with this one, are: Arrau (certainly), Kempff (earlier set, mono), Schnabel, Gulda, and Lewis (as you may know, a student of Brendel's). The Schiff set, surely, belongs here also (personally I am waiting to see if it will become available as a single box set from ECM).

Now is the time to add this awesome set to your collection while the price is an absolute steal. I got my set (elsewhere from Amazon) at $28, working out to under $2.50 per disc (including shipping)!

Further sets released by Decca in honor of Mr. Brendel's 80th birthday include: Schubert: Piano Works: Sonatas / Moments Musicaux / Impromptus / 'Wanderer' Fantasia, Birthday Tribute, The Artist's Collection: Alfred Brendel [Box Set], Farewell Concerts. All these sets are worthy of your investment and deserve your time to listen to, time well spent and deeply satisfying to the soul.

Decca deserves a great big "thank you" for bringing these wonderful sets out honoring Alfred Brendel, and also enriching our lives with these great recordings, available once again, and some for the first time.

Do enjoy this set of Beethoven's sonatas, and also feel safe in checking out these other recommended sets of Brendel's output.

~operabruin

I have admired this set of Beethoven's piano sonatas for many years, but I've never purchased it until now. Brendel's first and last complete cycles leave me a bit cold, whereas this middle cycle from the 1970s is consistently captivating, especially in some of the less popular works. His performance of the second mvt. of Op. 54 is worth the price of the entire box! Pianists in my opinion usually get Op. 54 wrong, playing the finale much too fast or too dry (e.g. Frank or Ashkenazy). Brendel's pacing is perfect, and his pedaling is sublime. Speaking of pedaling, he also gets the Waldstein finale just right: wonderfully blurry at the beginning, but with subtle pedal changes that keep the texture from becoming a catatonic mess. The op. 2 sonatas are also a joy. While this box may lack the fire of Ashkenazy and Claude Frank (both of whose complete Beethoven sets I love), it contains genuine poetry, and I would recommend it without qualification. I've only listened to the 3rd Concerto so far, but I enjoyed it very much, especially his first-movement cadenza--such poetry!

There's no denying that Alfred Brendel is one of the most esteemed pianists of the past half century, and Beethoven was among his particular specialties. Brendel actually recorded the complete set of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas three times during his career (he retired from public performances in 2008), and due to his expertise and command of the piano, as well as his interpretive skill of Beethoven's works, won acclaim for each of these cycles. As with many "best of kind" performances, these sets could, unfortunately, be hideously expensive to acquire, but if one had the opportunity to enjoy them, the rewards were substantial. There's a reason why Brendel has racked up so many awards and has been received with such universal acclaim, and even the briefest of examinations of any of these recording sets reveals just why.

Brendel has a magnificent command of the instrument. It is difficult to describe his style, but I might suggest that he is a classicist in performance, meaning that he attempts to remain "true" to original composition with little distracting interpretive style, yet with a deep pathos and a seeming deftness in play that makes you forget you are listening to someone who has practiced all his life. If you had the opportunity to see Brendel perform in person, you might have noticed that his mastery of the instrument was so total that he was able even to give subtle lighthearted signals to the audience while playing while never missing a note. (Once, while seeing him perform at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he had just finished a Mozart piano sonata, and on the closing notes, made a little "trill," looked at the audience, and wiggled his eyebrows up and down in a playful grin, as if he were channeling Mozart's sense of humor. It was touching and funny, and yet, if one was simply listening, and not watching, the performance, the little "aside" would never have been noticed.) It's as if his technical performance had become detached from a second line of thought in his mind, which, I suppose, is true of many of the greatest players, but is impressive, nonetheless.

Many reviewers will rate this particular set of Brendel's performance of the 32 sonatas as his best of the three. This particular set, being the "middle" set in chronological terms (it was recorded in the 1970's on analog equipment), was completed when Brendel was beyond his early years, but still far away from the closing arc of his career. This set therefore presents a mature, yet fresh, Brendel performance of Beethoven's classic works. What I would say is that Brendel's playing here is smooth as silk, with little harshness, and, as such, it is one of the most listenable of the cycles which I've examined over the years. In fact, because Brendel here mixes technical acccuracy with a smooth yet emotive style, I prefer this as my favorite set of the 32 sonatas (and with the stiff competition for that spot, that's really saying something). These things are certainly affected by each person's opinion and preferences, but I believe there would be few who would not rate this set as among the best available today by any performer.

Here's the great thing. With the 2010 merger between Philips and Decca, this set has now been re-released (here) on the Decca label at a very reasonable price, and you can pick up the whole set much more less expensively than in year's gone by. It's an opportunity to expereince Brendel at his best, and to examine--either anew or for the first time--the acclaimed Beethoven Sonatas. I can easily recommend this as a five star rating, for performance, for recording, and for price.

Compare with ...
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas - Kempff
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas - Lewis
Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas - Ashkenazy]
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas - Barenboim
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas - Gilels