Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas [Box set]

HJ Lim has her own ideas. Some of them coincide with Beethoven's, but others simply do not. Why are we treated to a presto section in the middle of the last movement of the Pastoral? There is, indeed, a presto section at the end, but there is no indication that Beethoven wanted the central episode played presto also. And so on. Tempo changes where none are marked and, more important, none are needed, create havoc with Beethoven's logic.

On the positive side, there is something shocking about the playing that must surely have been similar to the effect Beethoven created on his hearers, all those years ago. There is a willfulness and an undoubted technical skill. But in comparison with, say, Buchbinder, whose cycle was released at the same time, the effect is telling. In Buchbinder you hear the endless possibilities of the music itself. Buchbinder's ideas are Beethoven's.

Finally, the recorded sound is a train wreck. I have seldom heart a more wearing recording. At any dynamic above mezzo forte, the treble clangs and whines and the bass jangles. And the overall sound is glaring and harsh. How can Yamaha have used this recording to launch their new model concert grand? They must be embarrassed and ashamed.

A curiosity which I sampled for almost no money on iTunes, but certainly not a bargain. If you're looking for a Beethoven bargain, try the wonderful playing of Luisa-guembes Buchanan, whose 6-disc set of all of late Beethoven's piano works is only 9 euro.

As a South Korean concert pianist, I decided to give this album a listen as I found it startling that a 20something pianist would debut with a complete recording of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas. The performances are bizarre and that is all that I can say about them. The interpretations are erratic, tasteless and contain hideous rubato that would even put Lang Lang's to shame. Most of the sonatas are rushed through at extreme speeds. The entire recording sounds like a composition program playing back the music at a fast forwarded speed.

I do not intend to waste any more of your time on this veritable catastrophe than is absolutely necessary, but the Beethoven's Piano Sonatas are so close to my heart that I cannot allow such blatant disrespect for such beautiful music to go unchallenged.

First of all, when a pianist - any pianist! - implies in the liner notes of their "complete" Beethoven Sonatas that the two Op. 49 sonatas were omitted because "they don't count," I cannot but regard such incredible presumption as criminally unjust to those unfamiliar with this music. If you have not already heard Beethoven's Op. 49 sonatas, let me assure you that they are, in their Haydenesque charm and grace, simply marvellous beyond measure!

In the light of the above logic - propounded by that great Beethoven scholar, HJ Lim, all of 20-something years young! - why not commission a "complete" set of Beethoven's Symphonies... minus that understated and unnecessarily lyrical 6th Symphony... you know, to keep that "fresh, new vision" rolling?

EMI really needs to hang its head in shame for allowing such an atrocity!

And secondly - after suffering through 8 excerpts of these painfully crude and comic interpretations; I could not bear to hear more! - I can do no better to state my case against these heinous performances than to quote no less a Beethoven scholar than Alfred Brendel on the subject of the performer as classical music interpreter:

"If I belong to a tradition it is a tradition that makes the masterpiece tell the performer what he should do and not the performer telling the piece what it should be like, or the composer what he ought to have composed."

And finally:

"Every piece has a structure, but it also has its own character. Each piece has its own personality, with different qualities, capabilities and frailties, but there's a borderline that closes the character; outside that borderline, the character doesn't exist. The same applies to a piece of music. Within the borderlines there's a certain amount of freedom for the player, but if you don't recognize the borderlines, and overstep and ignore them, you misrepresent and falsify the piece."

No, there is no "right" way to play Beethoven, but there are such things as responsibility, respect and taste! Only purchase complete recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas - unedited by presumptuous, self aggrandizing "artists" who have no authority to deny anyone the right to hear all of these masterpieces - and you cannot go far wrong. Profound respect for this music can be found in masterful performances by Brendel, Kempff and Gilels, but more adventurous listeners may want to consider Pollini, Barenboim or the marvellous ongoing cycle by Bavouzet as possible alternatives.