# Wilhelmina Kempff: Schubert piano sonatas



## Sonata

Does anyone own the complete set? Is it worthwhile? I know Kempff sets a high standard with this, I'm just not familiar with the early sonatas and don't know if that's a worthy endeavor. I'm a touch hooked on boxed sets... What say you fine folk?

Edit: sorry for the feminization of his first name! I missed the autocorrect by my phone


----------



## Mandryka

Sonata said:


> Does anyone own the complete set? Is it worthwhile? I know Kempff sets a high standard with this, I'm just not familiar with the early sonatas and don't know if that's a worthy endeavor. I'm a touch hooked on boxed sets... What say you fine folk?
> 
> Edit: sorry for the feminization of his first name! I missed the autocorrect by my phone


It is excellent.


----------



## TurnaboutVox

I second this - it is excellent. Schubert's early piano sonatas - including the fragmentary ones not on the whole included on the Kempff set - are all at least interesting and worth hearing, and some are real gems.


----------



## Lord Lance

If you use Spotify, give all these albums a go:

Barenboim: 



Schiff: 



Kempff: 



Haebler: 



Brendel: 



Uchida: 




I heartily recommend all these sets!


----------



## joen_cph

Would recommend some comparisons between various recordings too.


----------



## Triplets

It is a very good reference cycle. I vastly prefer it to the Schiff cycle that is being praised to the skys in this month's Gramophone. As usual, you should supplement it with other recordings. I love Brendel in the last 3, Richter and Uchida.


----------



## DavidA

I have it and it is very good indeed. There are other ways of pkaying these pieces but Kempff's is certainly one very valid way.


----------



## Mandryka

If the Op wants a complete set then the one he should consider in addition to Kempff's is Michael Endres's


----------



## tortkis

Mandryka said:


> If the Op wants a complete set then the one he should consider in addition to Kempff's is Michael Endres's


Thank you for this recommendation. I have been thinking to get Kempff's set, which everyone praises highly, but I was hesitating because I read that it is not complete. Just started listening to Endres's set. (I am also interested in Badura-Skoda's complete sonatas on period instruments.)


----------



## Brouken Air

Though not complete, Richter is an absolute must in Schubert's sonatas, just like Arrau. Kempff approach seems to me too beethoven-like. Paul Badura-Skoda has a very good cycle or Mitsuko Uchida (but it's a hate or love cycle!). But If I would keep only one complete cycle of the sonatas. I would recommend Michel Dalberto.

:tiphat:


----------



## Guest

Absolutely get the Kempff cycle! It is amazing. Of course, I am an unabashed Kempff fan, and love his Beethoven and Schumann recordings. Don't pass this Schubert cycle up.


----------



## Ukko

Yeah, WK does good by Schubert - at least Wilhelm does, don't know about Wilhelmina.


----------



## SiegendesLicht

DrMike said:


> Absolutely get the Kempff cycle! It is amazing. Of course, I am an unabashed Kempff fan, and love his Beethoven and Schumann recordings. Don't pass this Schubert cycle up.


I agree, it is amazing.


----------



## aeschylus

Kempff is a bit of a hero of mine; always reliable, self-effacing, at the service of the music. If there's a criticism, it is that you won't find blinding revelation in his performances; his generation of pianists didn't wear their hearts on their sleeves.

I have- and enjoy- Barenboim's recent set for DG. It doesn't include the incomplete early sonatas, and it doesn't play to notions of the Schubertiade- a cosy plonking chamber music or Wind in the Willows style of music making. As a conductor and musician, not just a pianist, Barenboim is interested in harmony rather than pianism or style. It isn't a complete answer, but it is a valid one.

Brendel is always reliable, but sometimes too Viennese for my taste. 

I try to play these sonatas myself. The second A minor sonata op 143 (1823) is less well known than the final three, but it's a spine-tingling confrontation with mortality.

One of the leading pianists in this repertoire is Christian Blackshaw. if you have a chance to hear him, don't let it go.


----------



## Sappho

Although Kempff made excellent recordings of all Impromptus and the Hüttenbrenner Variations, I never managed to forgive him for what he did to the Wanderer Fantasia. I honestly prefer Paul Badura-Skoda.

Schubert's early sonatas are fragmentary, but well worth a listen. If you know Schubert well, you'll probably laugh a few times when you recognise several motives he recycled at a later point in life.


----------



## Lord Lance

You should hear Richter's Schubert recordings - Live (his Prague recordings are revered), studio and official-live releases.

If morality does not weigh down upon you and you are a man of practicality, PM me.


----------



## PeterF

I am also a big supporter of the Kempff / Schubert Sonata Box.
There are many other good individual Schubert Sonatas by various piansts, but for a complete cycle, Kempff would be my hands down favorite.


----------



## Steatopygous

PeterF said:


> I am also a big supporter of the Kempff / Schubert Sonata Box.
> There are many other good individual Schubert Sonatas by various piansts, but for a complete cycle, Kempff would be my hands down favorite.


I haven't even got the Schubert box, and it's my hands-down favourite. (Why hands down, I wonder?) Kempff is immense in this repertoire. I have him doing a few, and must get that set. I have masses of his Brahms and Schumann and quite a lot of Mozart and Beethoven. 
For Kempff fans, can I draw your attention to a 14-CD set of his complete concerto recordings that came out in 2013. Lovely stuff here, including two complete Beethoven sets:
Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op 19
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op 37
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Emperor, Op 73
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner. 1961
Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
Concert Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in D major, K382
Dresden Philharmonic, Paul van Kempen. 1941
Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, Lutzow, K246
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488
Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner. 1960
Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K595
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner. 1960
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K467
Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, K482
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernhard Klee. 1977
Schumann
Piano Concerto in A minor
Konzertstuck for Piano and Orchestra in G major
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik. 1973
Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op 19
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op 37
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Emperor, Op 73
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul van Kempen. 1953
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op 15
Dresden Staatskapelle, Franz Konwitschny. 1957
Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, Jeunehomme, K271: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Karl Munchinger. 1953
Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, K450: Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Karl Munchinger. 1953
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54: London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips. 1953
Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S124
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S125
London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15: Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Paul van Kempen. 1925
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op37: Dresden Philharmonic, Paul van Kempen. 1942
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op 58: German Opera Orchestra Berlin, Paul van Kempen. 1941
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Emperor, Op 73: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Raabe. 1936
William Kempff piano
2013
DG 479 1133


----------



## PeterF

I have many of the same Kempff pieces on a recently purchased 10 CD box on MCPS. It is titled Poet At The Piano.



Steatopygous said:


> I haven't even got the Schubert box, and it's my hands-down favourite. (Why hands down, I wonder?) Kempff is immense in this repertoire. I have him doing a few, and must get that set. I have masses of his Brahms and Schumann and quite a lot of Mozart and Beethoven.
> For Kempff fans, can I draw your attention to a 14-CD set of his complete concerto recordings that came out in 2013. Lovely stuff here, including two complete Beethoven sets:
> Beethoven
> Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15
> Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op 19
> Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op 37
> Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
> Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Emperor, Op 73
> Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner. 1961
> Mozart
> Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
> Concert Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in D major, K382
> Dresden Philharmonic, Paul van Kempen. 1941
> Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, Lutzow, K246
> Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488
> Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491
> Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner. 1960
> Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K595
> Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner. 1960
> Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K467
> Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, K482
> Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernhard Klee. 1977
> Schumann
> Piano Concerto in A minor
> Konzertstuck for Piano and Orchestra in G major
> Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik. 1973
> Beethoven
> Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15
> Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op 19
> Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op 37
> Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
> Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Emperor, Op 73
> Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul van Kempen. 1953
> Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op 15
> Dresden Staatskapelle, Franz Konwitschny. 1957
> Mozart
> Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, Jeunehomme, K271: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Karl Munchinger. 1953
> Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, K450: Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Karl Munchinger. 1953
> Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54: London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips. 1953
> Liszt
> Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S124
> Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S125
> London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
> Beethoven
> Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15: Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Paul van Kempen. 1925
> Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op37: Dresden Philharmonic, Paul van Kempen. 1942
> Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op 58: German Opera Orchestra Berlin, Paul van Kempen. 1941
> Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Emperor, Op 73: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Raabe. 1936
> William Kempff piano
> 2013
> DG 479 1133


----------

