Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4
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Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenPerformer: Paul Lewis
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2008-05-13
Music Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- 1. Allegro molto e con brio
- 2. Adagio molto
- 3. Finale. Prestissimo
- 1. Allegro
- 2. Allegretto
- 3. Finale. Presto
- 1. Presto
- 2. Largo e mesto
- 3. Menuetto. Allegro
- 4. Rondo. Allegro
- 1. Allegro
- 2. Andante
- 3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
- 4. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo
- 1. Andante
- 2. Rondo. Allegro
- 1. Allegro ma non troppo
- 2. Tempo di menuetto
- 1. Adagio - Allegro ("Les Adieux")
- 2. Andante espressivo ("L'Absence")
- 3. Vivacissimamente ("Le Retour")
- 1. Vivace ma non troppo / Adagio espressivo
- 2. Prestissimo
- 3. Andante. Gesangvoll mit innigster Empfindung, mezza voce
- 1. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
- 2. Allegro molto
- 3. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro ma non troppo (Fuga)
- 1. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato
- 2. Arietta. Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
Music reviews of Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4
Music Review: (+) Record of the Year? Well, Hardly!
Rating: 3 Stars
A few weeks ago, this three-disc and final installment in Paul Lewis's complete Beethoven Sonatas survey was awarded the prestigious Gramophone Record of the Year accolade. Having been a Gramophone subscriber some five years ago, I do (actually more did) on average value its reviews. However, I seldom take them at face value, especially when it comes to British artists or labels. Having said that, similar tendencies can easily be identified when it comes to the Grammy Awards and American artists or labels.
Back to Gramophone: In the last 30 years, only 11* out of the Records of the Year winners can be considered non-British. One of these makes up the only solo piano Record of the Year--Zimerman's dazzling Debussy Preludes in 1994. Hence, you would expect something really out of the ordinary in pianistic terms from the second-ever solo piano Record of the Year. Furthermore, considering the short-listed competition, a merely 'out of the ordinary' disc wouldn't be enough to beat one of the most spectacular piano records of all times--Hamelin's Alkan Solo Concerto remake. So, let's pose the big question: is Mr Lewis, very much British by the way, able to deliver a worthy Record of the Year?
The answer is rather simple: No, he isn't. Does he make an embarrassment out of himself and, even more importantly, the collective Gramophone reviewers? Well, almost, in some instances, had it not been for the third disc of the Opp 109-111 Sonatas. Let's take a quick look at my preconditions for this disc and review: (1) Lewis is a disciple of the 'great' Alfred Brendel; (2) I consider Mr Brendel to be one of the most overrated and lackluster pianists of our time; (3) I made my worst-ever cost/benefit record investment into Brendel's third (and hopefully last!) 1990s complete cycle of the Beethoven Sonatas (Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas); (4) my reference Beethoven Sonatas cycle is Richard Goode's, due to his matchless combination of articulation, pacing, tone production and imagination (Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas); (5) I'm currently in the process of collecting Ohlsson's (one of my three favourite pianists by the way) cycle, which looks set to give Goode a really good(e) run for his money!
The first disc of the Lewis set covers the three Op 10 Sonatas--the first in C minor being the 'Little Path?tique', the second in F major being one of Beethoven's lightest, and the third in D major being one of his most ambitious in the Classical style, though not successful. Already in the C minor Sonata we encounter the main problem with Lewis's playing (probably to a large extent thanks to his mentor), namely that he is too heavily serious and unsmiling. Indeed, this Sonata is comparatively serious, which doesn't mean it needs to sound this heavy and unsparkling--just compare with the airily articulate and witty Goode account. Lewis is far more successful in the lighter F major Sonata, where he far more idiomatically captures the spirit of the music. In my youth, I actually spent some time learning the Presto first movement of the D major Sonata. Lewis is vastly more successful than I ever was at turning this somewhat puzzling movement into something worthwhile; his first movement is in fact rather excellent. Nevertheless, in the serious Largo e mesto second movement he again gets caught up in exaggerating and dragging matters, as if trying to convince us of some deep gravity--which I personally question Beethoven had in mind. Little bit along the same lines, the Menuetto and Rondo get deprived of the positive buoyancy of Goode's renditions. ***(+)
The second disc juxtaposes the great Op 28 'Pastorale' and Op 81a 'Les Adieux' Sonatas with the two petty Op 49 Sonat(in)es in between. The Pastorale is one of my favourite Beethoven Sonatas; having said that, it is very difficult to bring off--much like his Pastorale Symphony, constantly risking being turned into an over-Romanticised clich?. Although it was more than 10 years ago, I can't stop admire the marvelous combination of rural simplicity and refined pianism Boris Berezovsky brought to this Sonata in a live Beethoven Sonatas recital (?rebro Concert Hall, Sweden). Goode's studio version certainly isn't bad either--miles ahead of Lewis's ponderous version of the Allegro and Scherzo first and third movements, respectively. Things do get better in the Rondo, whereas the Andante second movement is pretty beautiful (Lewis seems to share Beethoven's own affinity for this favourite movement). Lewis's Op 49 is very average, largely unmemorable. The Les Adieux is the real dud of this 3-disc set--possibly even less vital than Brendel's heavy 1990s version, and above all even less squarely characterised. **(+)
The third and final disc gathers Beethoven's three ultimate (in double aspect) Op 109-111 Sonatas. These are evidently three masterpieces, never really having been entirely surpassed but rather equaled (or perhaps further developed) by the two great Romantic B minor Sonatas (by Chopin and Liszt, respectively). Thanks to this third disc, no one can claim Lewis to be a mere second-rate Beethoven player. Here he amply surpasses his ultra-stiff mentor, whose 1990s account of these Sonatas is a real dull to put it mildly. To me, these Sonatas confirm that Beethoven not only is the greatest Classicist but also the greatest early Romantic pioneer. Lewis credibly puts this in his playing, delivering accounts that more than hold their own against virtually any other version--especially a magical E major Sonata. ****(+)
Finally, Harmonia Mundi's Teldex Studio recording is quite good, if slightly yielding in naturalness and brilliance to Nonesuch's ditto for Goode. So, will I acquire the three preceding Lewis volumes? Well, it probably goes without saying that I will continue collecting the Ohlsson treasures, leaving little shelf space for another seemingly merely average cycle--that is: ***(+)
Almost forgot it...--the Reocord of the Year? Well, by a landslide Hamelin's Alkan Concerto (Alkan: Concerto for solo piano; Troisi?me recueil de chants)!
* 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2006
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