# Beethoven's Sonatas Complete



## Lisztfreak

Is there maybe, just possibly, a set of recordings of ALL the Beethoven's piano sonatas? 

You know, a big box with some 10-15 CDs with a nice, colourful booklet.


----------



## ChamberNut

Lisztfreak,

There are many complete recordings of all his piano sonatas.

I have the complete set with Daniel Barenboim on the EMI label. 10 discs.

It was my 2nd purchase of classical music after Beethoven's symphonies.


----------



## Lisztfreak

Ooooh, cool! Then my wishes come true. I would like to hear them and have them all!


----------



## opus67

There are tons of it! Kempff on DG is supposed to be good. (In fact all those boxed sets from DG look good.) Just search an online store like Amazon or Barnes&Nobles for Beethoven piano sonatas and you're bound to get many choices. 

Personally, I'd like to 'hear them and have them all': Beethoven symphonies (I've heard them all), string quartets, piano concertos, piano sonatas; Mozart string quartets, quintets; Schubert piano sonatas; Mendelssohn string quartets, symphonies, and a whole lot more.


----------



## Murugesh

My recommendation would be the complete piano sonatas set by Richard Goode.


----------



## Manuel

Lisztfreak said:


> Ooooh, cool! Then my wishes come true.


Definitely: 
Gilels, Schnabel, Arrau, Kempff, Barenboim... there are lots of complete recordings out there.

From those I have, the one I like most is a blind one... a full set I downloaded from the net six years ago, without any information about the interpreter.


----------



## mohawk1975

Goode is generally well recieved 

Kempff (1951) I like...

And Brendel on VoxBox is a good bargain


----------



## RebLem

My favorite is the Annie Fischer set on Hungaroton (9 CDs). I suppose my second favorite would be the Kempff, but I have the stereo remake and people I trust say the original mono ones from the early 50's are better. Its on my wants list. I also have Brendel, Goode, and Jando.I have Schnabel on LPs, and I must say I am nowhere near as impressed by them as so many seem to be.

Bruce Hungerford was on his way to recording all of the sonatas when he unexpectedly died in a tragic auto accident on January 26, 1977, but some of the most popular works are all on a two CD set--Vanguard 1193, which is a superb introduction to Beethoven's sonatas for those who are not ready for the complete Annie Fischer. This 2 CD Hungerford contains # 8 "Pathetique," 14 "Moonlight," 17 "Tempest," 21 "Waldstein,", and 24, 30, 31, & 32.


----------



## Inominate

Not only are there lots of complete cycles but many are available at super budget price. Just do a search on Amazon (for example) to see what's available


----------



## TSHare

Gulda for me!


----------



## SixFootScowl

Is there a set of complete Beethoven piano sonatas that has the sonatas in order on the disks? I see a set where sonata 22 has sonatas 5, 6, 7, and 22. I realize that packs them in to less disks but it is a bit strange to have them all mixed up like that.


----------



## Blancrocher

Fritz Kobus said:


> Is there a set of complete Beethoven piano sonatas that has the sonatas in order on the disks? I see a set where sonata 22 has sonatas 5, 6, 7, and 22. I realize that packs them in to less disks but it is a bit strange to have them all mixed up like that.


There are two Gulda sets; this one has them in order:

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Pi...30334&sr=8-1&keywords=gulda+beethoven+sonatas

Love the set.


----------



## Rmathuln

Kovacevich is in order, unbelievably cheap, and excellent performances.










Most sets though, be aware, will have very scanty verbiage about the individual sonatas.


----------



## Manxfeeder

Kempff's mono recordings from the '50s has them in order also as well as that of Yves Nat.


----------



## hoodjem

Beethoven Piano Sonatas (complete)

*A Group*
Schnabel (various labels)
Arrau Philips
Goode Nonesuch
Gilels (incompl.: 29) DG

*B Group*
Kovacevich EMI/Warner
Barenboim EMI
Brendel (no. 2 from 1970-77, analogue) Philips/Decca
Lewis HM
Frank RCA/M&A
Schiff ECM
Backhaus Decca
Bavouzet Chandos

P.S. I have the Kempff stereo set on DGG. I am not fond of it. IMHO he plays in too clipped a manner, and the recording is too lightweight, edgy, and "clangy."


----------



## Josquin13

Alas, the greatest Beethoven pianists I've heard in my life have rarely left us a complete cycle (though sadly a number intended to): Such as Rudolf Serkin (unfinished), Sviatoslav Richter (nearly finished, but it's unclear whether Richter ever intended to record all 32), Emil Gilels (nearly finished), Youra Guller, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Bruno Leonardo Gelber (unfinished on Denon), Solomon (unfinished), Edwin Fischer, Glenn Gould (unfinished, & a bit erratic in places, interpretatively--& frustratingly so, since his Beethoven can be brilliant at times), Ivo Pogorelich (his Op. 111 on DG only, as I've not heard his new Sony recording), Clara Haskil, Steven Lubin (period), Radu Lupu, & Mieczyslaw Horszowski.

Some exceptions are Artur Schnabel, Annie Fischer, Claudio Arrau (who I tend to prefer in the PCs), Alfred Brendel (multiple times), Claude Frank, Yves Nat, Ronald Brautigam, Wilhelm Backhaus, & Wilhelm Kempff. Although by the time Annie Fischer made her cycle for Hungaroton she could no longer play through the sonatas without making a lot of mistakes, so she had to edit her performances to an extreme degree. She was also a perfectionist, so she had to get every phrase exactly right before she'd leave it alone. Yet, the hundreds of edits in her cycle aren't especially noticeable, and she was a great pianist. While with Wilhelm Kempff, the further back you go in his career the better his Beethoven playing becomes. His piano technique was noticeably more effortless & daring on his pre-war APR Beethoven recordings than, for example, on his two later DG cycles, especially the stereo set. In some of the more technically challenging sonatas, it can make a big difference.

As for Vladimir Ashkenazy & Maurizio Pollini, I've only heard parts of their cycles, but have liked Pollini in the Late Piano Sonatas 28-32, as well as some of Ashkenazy's earlier analogue recordings, such as his excellent Andante Favori: 



.

As for other pianists, in my opinion, Evgeny Kissin over generalizes the emotional range of this music by pounding too heavily on the keys (a frustratingly bad habit of his, in general), while Richard Goode remains too much on the surface, for me, especially in the last 5 sonatas (the same is true of Ashkenazy's later digital recordings), and Stephen Kovacevich isn't nearly mercurial enough (though I've liked him in his 1968 Diabelli Variations & Bagatelles on Philips). Lastly, I don't know Paul Lewis' cycle well enough to comment.

My two cents.


----------



## Mandryka

Lisztfreak said:


> Is there maybe, just possibly, a set of recordings of ALL the Beethoven's piano sonatas?
> 
> You know, a big box with some 10-15 CDs with a nice, colourful booklet.


As far as I know there is only one, the one by Peter Takács. It includes the 32 sonatas for two hands with opus numbers, the so called Elector Sonatas WoO 47 1-3, the so called Easy Sonatas WoO 50 & 51, the Sonata for Four Hands in D-major, op.6 and the Andante favori WoO57.

The set by Ichiro Nodaira released in Japan may be worth exploring, but I haven't seen it to be sure what it contains.


----------



## jegreenwood

Am I the only one who believes the original poster was kidding?


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

jegreenwood said:


> Am I the only one who believes the original poster was kidding?


I thought possibly his English did not communicate his question very well.


----------

