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Hi 33lp - I wasn't thinking of specific works when I wrote that - just piano music in general - Brendel and Perahia are the first two pianists I think of when in the mood for piano solo.

Anyway, since you asked, I listen on Spotify to the Brendel Decca (2010) 32 Sonatas, WoO57, the 5 concerti and Fantasia for Piano.  However, I'm looking for a box set on CD fo high-end listening.

Again coincidentally, Andrew McGregor discussed Brautigam, Osborne, Bavouzet, Lim, Guy and Roscoe, last Saturday on Radio 3 (still available on iPlayer).  I've not digested it yet.

And why not; they are great! I don't though like Chris find the sound on all except a few of Brendel's Vox Turnabout Beethoven recordings unacceptable. Other complete sets of the sonatas I have are Barenboim's first set (EMI), Schnabel & Backhaus plus sundry other sonatas from Annie Fischer (very good ), Richter- Haaser, Arrau, Moravec, Horowitz (not in Beethoven!) and sundry others. All very different depending upon one's mood from young men's views to one in his 70s & 80s whose done it all in tough uncompromising performances (ie Backhaus). Backhaus must have had one of the longest recording careers of anyone and forgotten fact: prior to WW1 he was Professor of piano at the forerunner of the RNCM in Manchester.

I find Pollini cold and emotionally detatched from the music and as I was greatly disappointed by a Richter recital when he appeared early in the UK (much hyped) I don't have any of his recordings. 

The Gulda Mozart I have is 20 & 21, perhaps I should give it another go but I usually take out Perahia or Annie Fischer for 20 & 21, Brendel (Vox) for 20 & Myra Hess for 21.

Hi Chris

I have the solo works on  Vox CDs but the sound does vary over the series with some of what I think are the earlier ones being a bit "clangy" (especially some of the "loose ends" pieces).  Some are USA manufacture and some Dutch manufacture but they sound like the same digital transfers have been used. There's occasional tape "print through" and tape hiss if listening at reasonable levels. I have the  concerti on American Vox CDs and US Yorkshire label LP pressings with a very marginal preference for the latter.

I note Brilliant Classics have issued a bargain box of all Brendel's Vox & Vanguard recordings but don't have any details.

Didn't he also complain about movement gaps and spacings on the original LPs in that same essay?

Well I don't have any sonatas on LP for comparison but I would guess they're the same. A few years ago after Brendel had been somewhat dismissive of his earlier recordings in a Gramophone interview, I exchanged a couple of e-mails with Tod Landor who was then handling the Vox catalogue in the US with a few tongue in cheek comments that Brendel was perhaps a bit miffed by the fact he was in those days paid a fee only basis with no say in how the recordings were to be issued or reissued!

Hi Matt,

I envy your ability to play an instrument! :-)

Sorry, I hope that I didn't come across as trying to imply that I think that one person's recordings of (in this case) Beethoven's piano sonatas was "the best" or that I was trying to find "the ultimate recording of them either as a whole set or for particular sonatas". I do enjoy various interpretations (particularly Kempff's as a whole) but am always happy to explore further. And as "Alice" put it in an amusing way (though I would beg to differ about some of "her" descriptions), everyone has a different way of interpreting/approaching them. Some times I'm in the mode for one way, sometimes another. But like you, and I'm sure many others here, I believe that there's more than one approach that can move one and be considered as "valid". :-)

Best wishes,

Petra

Hello fellow classical music lovers. Accidentally ran into this website (was browsing vintage gramophones) and got interested about what the website, and the forum, has to offer.

Was pleasantly surprised to see parla outlining Impromptu in G flat major - I assume most of us had, and still are succumbing to the sublimacy it unfolds. 

Going back to the founding post of this thread, I would state that Schubert and Bethoven are good foundation blocks only for those who did not have the chance to finish a music school or a degree and became interested in classical music in their adult years. Those who did start early, might remember that you only talked about them for a few years before touching their music even though there are Mr B's pieces out there that would suit an 8 year old's ear. Explaining the reasons (the maturity of the brain, type of personality, the difficulty of the piece etc.) is in the application of dissertation and although fundamentally known to us, those can only unfold in a sequence of posts. That being said, my position rests on the importance of starting with Tchaikovsky, Clementi, Strauss, Czerny (yes, they are very different) and a few others. I must point out that it's my personal observation, not an accepted opinion. 

Do not like Perahia or Brendel's take on Mozart's piano concertos, though Brendel as a soloist is a bliss (regards to Waldstein). 

I smiled for a couple of minutes after reading this. We may very well have some discussions in the future!

Do you really want to go there? In addition to making a mistake and altering my words, shooting holes in your comment would result in someone's insufficient ability to comprehend the type of foundation one needs to nurture understanding of music, not in building a house.