Pno Sons Comp [Box set, Import]

I first bought Schnabel's complete Beethoven Sonatas in a big Angel LP box set back in 1963 - paying for it with the proceeds from many a high school lawn mowing allowance. Later on I got the mono Kempff set from the 1950's on DG - which I still have. Then came the Phillips set by Arrau - these three sets gave me many hours of fascinating comparisons, with the Schnabel my over-all favorite.

When I decided to get the Schnabel set on CD, I first did a few comparisons. I was frankly appalled when I heard this EMI set - it is distinctly inferior even to my Angel LP's (which in turn I suspect were inferior to the earlier RCA LPs). Then I had an opportunity to hear the Pearl set. In the main I found the Pearls to be "plain Jane," unfiltered transfers from pretty noisy 78's. Then I chanced to come across the 14-disc Dante set, which also includes all the miscellaneous Beethoven piano music recorded by Schnabel (bagatelles, variations, etc.) PLUS the 5 concertoes with Malcolm Sargent AND the later Emperor with Galliera. I was lucky: the 14-disc set was selling as a discontinued remainder item for just $28. The sound is superb - vastly superior to anything else I have heard.

Schnabel's interpretations are inspired, even when his fingers are hitting a few wrong notes (most notably in the Hammerklavier Sonata - and even there, his Adagio is simply unequalled in my experience). I also treasure a CD box set of the complete sonatas recorded in the 1950's for EMI by French pianist Yves Nat, some of whose performances I even prefer to Schnabel's. These two box sets are the cornerstone of my Beethoven piano collection - they are supplemented by many individual sonatas from the likes of Richter, Levy, Renard, Hungerford, and Gieseking.

My advice: Schnabel's Beethoven Sonata recordings belong in any serious piano collection. However, I would definitely avoid this EMI set and explore the alternatives. My choice is the Dante set.

I had this set and was completely satisfied with it for the longest time, until I wanted more Schanbel playing Beethoven. I did some research on the net and found a set on ebay that not only contained the complete Sonatas but had all the Concertos, Variations and Bagatells that Schnabel did! Let me tell you again. THE COMPLETE SOLO PIANO AND CONCERTO RECORDINGS OF BEETHOVEN BY SCHNABEL!!! This was too good to be true, so I went out on a limb and ordered it. When I got it, I was holding gold my friend! 14 CD's in a slim case boxed set! Okay, so I'm happy eh, but now for the transfer test...I compared the EMI tranfers to the transfers this French label called DANTE did. Absolutely unbelievable! I'm listening to the Dante versions and I hear clarity, volume and depth, and hardly any hiss! I put on the Emi versions and I hear large hiss, muffled clarity and hardly any piano depth from the recordings. I was astounded! I immediatly sold the Emi. Now, I also noticed that in the Emi, they don't always give each movement its own track, they sometimes link 2 movements together in 1 track (weird). But in the Dante they give each movement its own track and present the sonatas in complete chronological order, whereas in the Emi the order of the sonatas are mixed up a bit (which doesnt matter anyway). But I'm just letting you know. I've heard the Perl tranfers are better than Emi, and the Naxos are not bad too, but these are all available as singles pretty much right now. If you invested in all of these, you'd wind up with no more space in your collection! If you want the Schnabel set, spend the time to look for the DANTE 14 CD slim box set, remember I found it on ebay. I paid full price though, but it's been the best purchase I ever made in my life! (I would still recommend the EMI set to anybody, just because it's Schnabel playing Beethoven). GOOD LUCK and ENJOY!

I personally recommend this EMI box set of Schnabel playing Beethoven. Schnabel has tremendous power, excellent dynamics and also plays delicate. He was the first pianist to make me sit down and just...LISTEN! It was that moment were I knew Schnabel was somebody very special. You might say he put me under a musical spell and I'm probably not the first.

The sound quality isn't that dull, lifeless or muffled as one critic noted, but possibly the Pearl set or the recent NAXOS series is a better sonic choice. All I know for sure is this EMI set has done me right for many, many years. The human ear adjusts quickly and the sound quality soon becomes "good enough" so you can enjoy these incredible (sparkling and flowing) recordings from the 1930's.