I can vouch for the Brendel set. I am very fond of S. Richter's interpretations as well. I didn't realize R. Goode had recorded LvB. His recent recordings of Bach are splendid. While I'm gushing let me gush a little more: Claudio Abbado's recordings with Berlin Phil. of the symphonies; The Cleveland String Quartet of...you guessed it; and the old Leon Fleischer recording (now on budget cd) of the piano concerti, especially 5. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 11:31 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Beethoven piano sonatas
Dear Rainer, Glad to hear that you still like Gulda. He was a good friend, and every time he came to Hamburg we went out to dinner, and then off to his concert. He never practised from the age of 18, just went to the local Steinway house, is there was one, and played around a bit on the afternoon of the concert. As regards a recording, the Gilels set is glorious, though he didn't record 5 of the sonatas, the biggest omission being op. 111. Kempff is always wonderful (probably the best all-round version there is), Schnabel, if you don't mind the wrong notes (especially at the start of the Hammerklavier, where they come in fistfuls) is very moving. A modern version, most highly recommended and said to be of the highest class is that by Richard Goode, though I don't know it. I have, however, heard him play Mozart, and his is a very fine pianist indeed. Solomon recorded all the late sonatas, and some of the earlier ones, and those are truly magnificent recordings. Hope that helps Tom --
