# Louis Lortie's Beethoven piano sonatas box set...........



## Itullian

imho, this is an "under the radar" great cycle. Great Hammerklavier, and the "name" sonatas all done well. virtuoso playing with sparkling tone, beautiful lines and bravura when needed. Rich and clear Chandos sound. 

If you want a great set in great digital sound I rec it completely. get it.

Thanks Louis and Chandos :tiphat:


----------



## annie

i don't agree with you at all. i wouldn't put his name in the first 15 or may be 20 cycles. the late ones were good though...

...just my opinion for sure


----------



## Itullian

annie said:


> i don't agree with you at all. i wouldn't put his name in the first 15 or may be 20 cycles. the late ones were good though...
> 
> ...just my opinion for sure


annie, annie, annie, you must be a musician. :tiphat:


----------



## starthrower

I just got this set. I've only listened to the first two discs. Nos. 1 & 7 really hit the spot, and I've always had much love for the Pathetique. Lortie plays the lst movement with more power and passion than I've heard from him on any other works.

I've had this little voice telling me to pick up the Rudolph Serkin set on Sony as well. 11 CDs of Beethoven sonatas, concertos, variations, etc. for around 25 dollars. But I want to spend a month with the Lortie set for now.


----------



## realdealblues

I agree with Itullian on lots of things, but just reading through my own notes I made from when I listened to this set, I have to agree with Annie that I was fairly underwhelmed with what I heard from Lortie. What I heard seemed to lie somewhere between Barenboim's passion but also including Barenboim's complete disregard for fine details and correct tempos and Brendel's emotionally cool head, but without Brendel's intellectual insight. I obviously didn't find the set very memorable because I really couldn't remember what I thought about it to begin with and actually had to go look up my notes. As always, different strokes for different folks but those were my thoughts on this set.


----------



## starthrower

The Lortie Beethoven is my first complete set, so I'm glad I have it just to hear all of the music. In time I can listen to other pianists, and that's what I'm going to have to do, because reading other's opinions is futile. Nobody agrees on all of these other pianists.

One of the reasons I chose this set is because of the sound. After all, it is a recording, and if I'm not happy with the sound, I'll be distracted from the music.


----------



## Vaneyes

I find similarity with Goode and Lortie LvB Piano Sonatas. Elegant portrayals for the most part. Not as fiery as some, but valid just the same. Different keystrokes for different folks. :tiphat:


----------



## realdealblues

starthrower said:


> The Lortie Beethoven is my first complete set, so I'm glad I have it just to hear all of the music. In time I can listen to other pianists, and that's what I'm going to have to do, because reading other's opinions is futile. Nobody agrees on all of these other pianists.
> 
> One of the reasons I chose this set is because of the sound. After all, it is a recording, and if I'm not happy with the sound, I'll be distracted from the music.


I understand. My first set was Ashkenazy who is looked down upon by many Beethoven fans. I now have 20-30 Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycles that I have compared. Depending on my mood I may go with a different approach.

Brendel and Barenboim are both fairly controversial but very well known as Beethoven interpreters as they both made several complete traversals through piano sonatas.

You will find very few people who will bad mouth Wilhelm Kempff's Beethoven though. His stereo cycle is in very good sound (although his mono cycle really isn't that bad for sound) and while he was fairly old when he recorded it and some of the passages may have been a little difficult for him to play, his lyrical approach to the sonatas were very profound and still stand to this day. Now, many times I may not want to hear "lyrical" Beethoven, but I would never detract someone from experiencing Kempff. Claudio Arrau's cycle is another most will not speak poorly of. It may not be "their" Beethoven, but few will deny his interpretations as something special.

Of course there are many, many others and I think it's good to try different pianists out. I still do, even though I have my favorites. I also now know what I like in my Beethoven so it's very easy for me to dismiss things that I don't agree with. Louis Lortie is obviously a great pianist who knows how to play the piano, his interpretation of Beethoven just differ from mine in many regards.


----------



## starthrower

For what it's worth, here's an overview of a few dozen cycles with links to extended reviews including the Lortie set, which the reviewer decided to compare to one of Brendel's cycles.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/June09/Beethoven_piano_cycles.htm

Quick link to the Lortie review.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/DEC10/Beethoven_Lortie_CHAN106169.htm


----------



## starthrower

Itullian said:


> imho, this is an "under the radar" great cycle. Great Hammerklavier, and the "name" sonatas all done well. virtuoso playing with sparkling tone, beautiful lines and bravura when needed. Rich and clear Chandos sound.
> 
> If you want a great set in great digital sound I rec it completely. get it.
> 
> Thanks Louis and Chandos :tiphat:


After a week of listening to this set, I'm in total agreement. Bravo! Mr. Lortie, Bravo!

I have been doing some online comparisons with other pianists, but I haven't found anyone else who sounds consistently great throughout the cycle. I could probably live with some others including Arrau, Kempff, Claude Frank, and John O'Conor, but I'm happy with my Lortie set.


----------



## Ukko

starthrower said:


> After a week of listening to this set, I'm in total agreement. Bravo! Mr. Lortie, Bravo!
> 
> I have been doing some online comparisons with other pianists, but I haven't found anyone else who sounds consistently great throughout the cycle. I could probably live with some others including Arrau, Kempff, Claude Frank, and John O'Conor, but I'm happy with my Lortie set.


Hah! You were sailing along fine - until you listed those other guys you could 'live with'. They are mutually incompatible taste-wise. Frank is widely inconsistent, and O'Connor can;t make studio recordings. Lortie, who is a reasonably competent and consistent 'centrist', would be dismayed. On the other hand, favorable comparisons with Arrau and Kempff might give him a swelled head.

[Sorry, I've been hanging out in the HiFi subforum too much. I have several Lortie recordings; he's OK.]


----------



## moody

Ukko said:


> Hah! You were sailing along fine - until you listed those other guys you could 'live with'. They are mutually incompatible taste-wise. Frank is widely inconsistent, and O'Connor can;t make studio recordings. Lortie, who is a reasonably competent and consistent 'centrist', would be dismayed. On the other hand, favorable comparisons with Arrau and Kempff might give him a swelled head.
> 
> [Sorry, I've been hanging out in the HiFi subforum too much. I have several Lortie recordings; he's OK.]


Exactly OK, but why bother when there are so many better Beethoven pianists.


----------



## starthrower

What do you mean by O'Conor can't make studio recordings? I own two of his sonata CDs, and they sound fine to me. And Lortie is more than competent. He's definitely consistent, which makes his complete cycle valuable to me. Overall, he displays good taste and judgement with tempos and phrasing, and he has a great sound. So comparisons to Kempff and Arrau are not off the mark. As for the other pianists mentioned, I wouldn't necessarily need to own complete cycles, but they have their strong points concerning various sonatas. But my listening is rather limited with all these other pianists, which is why I inserted "probably" in my statement. 

And some of these artists play so fast it sounds ridiculous to my ears. The Waldstein sonata being a prime example. I suppose whether a pianist is consistent or not, box sets are so cheap these days, it doesn't make much sense to buy two or three individual discs.


----------



## starthrower

moody said:


> Exactly OK, but why bother when there are so many better Beethoven pianists.


Yeah, yeah, the Kempff mono set is superior according to you. I'm listening to no. 1 in mono on YouTube, and it sounds better than some of the stereo stuff I've heard.

But I've listened to Lortie, Arrau, and Kempff playing nos. 8, and 23, and they are all fine. The black & white concert film finds the elder Arrau in fine form.


----------



## moody

starthrower said:


> What do you mean by O'Conor can't make studio recordings? I own two of his sonata CDs, and they sound fine to me. And Lortie is more than competent. He's definitely consistent, which makes his complete cycle valuable to me. Overall, he displays good taste and judgement with tempos and phrasing, and he has a great sound. So comparisons to Kempff and Arrau are not off the mark. As for the other pianists mentioned, I wouldn't necessarily need to own complete cycles, but they have their strong points concerning various sonatas. But my listening is rather limited with all these other pianists, which is why I inserted "probably" in my statement.
> 
> And some of these artists play so fast it sounds ridiculous to my ears. The Waldstein sonata being a prime example. I suppose whether a pianist is consistent or not, box sets are so cheap these days, it doesn't make much sense to buy two or three individual discs.


I thought the idea was to buy the best not the cheapest,you make it sound like supermarket shopping.


----------



## moody

starthrower said:


> Yeah, yeah, the Kempff mono set is superior according to you. I'm listening to no. 1 in mono on YouTube, and it sounds better than some of the stereo stuff I've heard.
> 
> But I've listened to Lortie, Arrau, and Kempff playing nos. 8, and 23, and they are all fine. The black & white concert film finds the elder Arrau in fine form.


What's with the "yeah,yeah" ? All I've ever said on this artist is that the mono is better than the later stereo.As it happens he is not a particular favourite of mine.
But Annie Fischer,Egon Petri,Solomon, Schnabel, Rosen,Casadesus,Yves Nat,plus others are certainly preferable to me.


----------



## starthrower

I'll give some of them a listen. I guess I only saw your Kempff post on another thread.


----------



## Ukko

starthrower said:


> What do you mean by O'Conor can't make studio recordings?
> [...]


I mean that I have read multiple raves about his playing in recitals, and don't care for his recorded Beethoven at all.


----------



## ShropshireMoose

Ukko said:


> I mean that I have read multiple raves about his playing in recitals, and don't care for his recorded Beethoven at all.


I've read many concert reviews in my time and quite often wondered whether I've been at the same concert as the reviewer.


----------



## Ukko

ShropshireMoose said:


> I've read many concert reviews in my time and quite often wondered whether I've been at the same concert as the reviewer.


The raves I mean were from 'ordinary people'. I'm willing to buy the story; apparently he isn't the only pianist that 'does good' with audiences. Garrick Ohlson is pretty awesome, and Horowitz was good at getting feedback and responding to it. I've watched videos of Cziffra concerts where he looked like he was vibrating while he played, and 'communicating' bigtime.


----------



## realdealblues

starthrower said:


> After a week of listening to this set, I'm in total agreement. Bravo! Mr. Lortie, Bravo!
> 
> I have been doing some online comparisons with other pianists, but I haven't found anyone else who sounds consistently great throughout the cycle. I could probably live with some others including Arrau, Kempff, Claude Frank, and John O'Conor, but I'm happy with my Lortie set.


Hey, as long as you are happy and enjoy the set...then good for you, and I sincerely mean that.

As I said different strokes for different folks. My review was just not as favorable.


----------

