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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
What a tribute to the sheer genius of the composer that this pianist (Paul Lewis) re-thinks and re-communicates sonatas so familiar that one had thought there was little more to be said. Again and again he finds new melodies within melodies (often in the bass or tenor lines of the music) and new rhythmic patterns that stretch the ear into listening for whole paragraphs and not just sentences. Assisted by excellent recording technique, he is also able to discover sonorities in various sections of the keyboard which testify to the composer's empathy with the new 'pianoforte' -- a testimony to the different 'character' of each sonata that the instruments of Beethoven's own day might not have conveyed so well.
Comparisons? For me, only Kempff's series continues to give equivalent, consistent pleasure (and one has to say that his 1950s recording cannot discover so much in the keyboard sonority as in this later version.)
Comparisons? For me, only Kempff's series continues to give equivalent, consistent pleasure (and one has to say that his 1950s recording cannot discover so much in the keyboard sonority as in this later version.)
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Of-course there are many interpretations of these wonderful pieces. Many put their own slant on them and as such, I feel, are not as true to the original score as they ought to be.LACK OF EMOTION? Each and every piece is saturated with the emotion Beethoven intended . Lewis researched these pieces for some time before playing them live to fine tune them. Watching him play them live is to see a man completely immersed in the music and as one with the keyboard. Perhaps one needs a very good valve system to truly appreciate the light and shade along with the exceptional left hand/right hand symbiosis. There are very few CDs that can effect me on such a deep emotional level as this one. George Michael may have little, if anything, of musical merit to his name but his album title 'listen without prejudice' is very apt here. Indeed listen as if you have never heard these pieces before.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I acquired these discs as each set was released, so I owned the "full set" before the complete box set came out.
I've also had the opportunity of hearing Lewis play all five of the Beethoven piano concertos at live performances, with different orchestras and conductors at a number of venues.
I guess my starting point in evaluating his whole survey is that no single pianist can claim to offer the full story in every single sonata. If any criticism of Lewis is justified, it is that he avoids excess - and in the process the results in dramatic music may seem a tad "tame". Against that, I would add that at no point does his playing seem to me to be anything other than intelligent and above all musical.
Apart from individual discs of Beethoven sonatas by a large number of pianists, I own three sets - Emil Gilels on DG (sadly not quite complete), Artur Schnabel, and most recently Paul Lewis. Schabel may not be the "best" pianist technically but in terms of understanding what these works are about, he remains peerless. Gilels remains my favourite because of his unique tone and blend of drama and lyricism. Lewis seems to me to tread a middle course and I would be surprised if his interpretations did not develop still further with age and maturity: the current set remains for me a very enjoyable and satisfying listening experience, recorded with great naturalness and presence.
I've also had the opportunity of hearing Lewis play all five of the Beethoven piano concertos at live performances, with different orchestras and conductors at a number of venues.
I guess my starting point in evaluating his whole survey is that no single pianist can claim to offer the full story in every single sonata. If any criticism of Lewis is justified, it is that he avoids excess - and in the process the results in dramatic music may seem a tad "tame". Against that, I would add that at no point does his playing seem to me to be anything other than intelligent and above all musical.
Apart from individual discs of Beethoven sonatas by a large number of pianists, I own three sets - Emil Gilels on DG (sadly not quite complete), Artur Schnabel, and most recently Paul Lewis. Schabel may not be the "best" pianist technically but in terms of understanding what these works are about, he remains peerless. Gilels remains my favourite because of his unique tone and blend of drama and lyricism. Lewis seems to me to tread a middle course and I would be surprised if his interpretations did not develop still further with age and maturity: the current set remains for me a very enjoyable and satisfying listening experience, recorded with great naturalness and presence.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
appreciative customer
very pleased with presentation box and cd covers
very taken by the quality of the music
this collection has really opened up my appreciation of Beethoven's works
in... Read more
very taken by the quality of the music
this collection has really opened up my appreciation of Beethoven's works
in... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Alastair Burnett
Another 1 Star Rating that NEEDS to be Heard!
Please allow me to add my own 1 star rating to the growing number of reviewers who were thoroughly dissatisfied with these recordings. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Michael Lee Davis
Where is the spirit?
This trend of complete sets of things seems to be being adopted by many of the younger-generation pianists. Read more
Published 18 months ago by AbsoluteClassical
OK one star is exaggerated, but not too much
...alright, three stars.
I went into this recording with high hopes, hoping that this would finally be the more-modern recording to Brendel's plain yet transcendental... Read more
I went into this recording with high hopes, hoping that this would finally be the more-modern recording to Brendel's plain yet transcendental... Read more
Published 22 months ago by George S
Beethoven as intended
I'm familiar with this set, it having been previously released in four volumes as they were recorded. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2009 by M. HOPKINSON
Extra-ordinary!
A beautiful performance by this new member of the exclusive "Beethoven complete sonatas club performers". Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by Othon Leon
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