Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ('Path?tique'), Op. 13: Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ('Path?tique'), Op. 13: Andante cantabile
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ('Path?tique'), Op. 13: Rondo, Allegro
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ('Moonlight'), Op. 27/2: Adagio sostenuto
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ('Moonlight'), Op. 27/2: Allegretto
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ('Moonlight'), Op. 27/2: Presto agitato
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ('Tempest'), Op. 31/2: Largo - Allegro
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ('Tempest'), Op. 31/2: Adagio
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ('Tempest'), Op. 31/2: Allegretto
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major ('Waldstein'), Op. 53: Allegro con brio
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major ('Waldstein'), Op. 53: Adagio molto; Allegretto moderato
Track Listings (11) - Disc #2
Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major ('A Th?r?se'), Op. 78: Adagio cantabile - Allegro ma non troppo
Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major ('A Th?r?se'), Op. 78: Allegro vivace
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: Vivace, ma non troppo
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: Prestissimo
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo, Gesangvoll, mi innigster Empfindung
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: Allegro molto
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: Adagio ma non troppo
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: Fuga, Allegro ma non troppo
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111: Maestoso / Allegro con brio ed appassionato
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111: Arietta, Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
Track Listings (14) - Disc #3
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959: Allegro
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959: Andantino
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959: Scherzo & Trio, Allegro vivace... Un poco piu lento
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959: Rondo, Allegretto
Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118: No. 1 'Intermezzo' in A minor
Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118: No. 2 'Intermezzo' in A major
Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118: No. 3 'Ballade' in G minor
Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118: No. 4 'Intermezzo' in F minor
Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118: No. 5 'Romance' in F major
Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118: No. 6 'Intermezzo' in E flat minor
Mazurka for piano No. 32 in C sharp minor, Op. 50/3, CT. 82
Nocturne for piano No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27/2, CT. 115
Etude for piano No. 14 in F minor, Op. 25/2, CT. 27
Waltz for piano No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 34/1, CT. 208
Track Listings (4) - Disc #4
Fantasia for piano in C major ('Wanderer'), D. 760 (Op. 15)
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58: Allegro moderato
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58: Andante con moto
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58: Rondo, Vivace
Bruce Hungerford was indeed a legend, although mostly among a small group of pianophiles. A pupil of Carl Friedberg and Myra Hess, Hungerford was one of the most intelligent and profound pianists of the LP era. The eight... more » Beethoven piano sonatas included here come from Hungerford's incomplete cycle, interrupted by his sudden death. They are direct, unfancy, personal, and about as effective as any Beethoven you'll hear. The examples of Schubert, Brahms, and Chopin are just as good, and while a live Schubert Wanderer Fantasy seems a little overwrought, a live Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto (previously unpublished) is magnificently played. --Leslie Gerber« less
Bruce Hungerford was indeed a legend, although mostly among a small group of pianophiles. A pupil of Carl Friedberg and Myra Hess, Hungerford was one of the most intelligent and profound pianists of the LP era. The eight Beethoven piano sonatas included here come from Hungerford's incomplete cycle, interrupted by his sudden death. They are direct, unfancy, personal, and about as effective as any Beethoven you'll hear. The examples of Schubert, Brahms, and Chopin are just as good, and while a live Schubert Wanderer Fantasy seems a little overwrought, a live Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto (previously unpublished) is magnificently played. --Leslie Gerber
CD Reviews
The Legendary Hungerford
Peter Chandler | Haverhill, Suffolk, England | 06/17/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Many years ago I came across a piano recording which changed my perception of classical music. It was Bruce Hungerford playing Beethoven sonatas, and it opened a new world to me.Until that time classical music had been an experience that I had admired more than enjoyed. All that changed with Hungerford's performance of Sonata 17, "Tempest", or more precisely with the third movement. For the first time this arcane world made sense. I felt I could see something of the intent of the piece and the structure which brought the mind of the composer to the ear of the listener.In addition, I had the unmistakable impression that Mr Hungerford simply understood what Beethoven meant. I realise that these things are intensely personal, but for me this recording is the most perfect convergence of composer, work, instrument, and performer imaginable.I've been looking for this recording for almost thirty years. Finding it is like being reintroduced to a long-lost friend. The other pieces in the set are a great joy, but the Tempest is the gem."
"Who can deny that 1804 was an exceptional year for Beethoven?. You must realize the state of mind in Ludwig van. He had completed his Eroica Symphony and began his Appassionata Sonata and that he began and finished the Waldstein.
Never before, to my mind such notable spirit was immersed in works of such levels. Bonn's genius was in mythological effervescence and creative rapture.
The supreme musical authority Donald Tovey called the Waldstein the first work to challenge Bach's Goldberg Variations as "the most brilliant piece of sheer instrumental display extant". It's a real interesting to remark the fact this Sonata may be the most symmetric Sonata ever written by him. Think in the tumultuous power of the first movement , gifted with presence, character and energetic vitality, though of brief duration and then realize the long duration of the slow movement. This fact immediately remits us to the Eroica where the Second Movement is the dramatic nucleus of the work.
The third movement goes far beyond the raise of a new day. It's talking in mythic terms, the expected back to the innocence after the terrible experience: the wisdom innocence and not the ingenious innocence before the experience begins. That's why we feel that redemption state and redefinition of the life.
There have been many powerful readings of this Sonata. My favorite one is a golden treasure recording of the early years of the XX Century in the magic hands of Frau Teresa Carreño, unexplainable not released to commercial level. But after that colossal version, you may consider this performance as one the top five in the market.
Hungerford elaborated a honest approach of this work accenting the dramatic conflict and permeating the slow movement of sublime noblesse, not theatrical posture and evanescent smooth. The other superb readings would be to my mind. An old Badura Skoda achievement of the Fifties, an Rudolf Serkin performance of the Fifties too, a eighty video of Daniel Barenboim and finally a convincing recording of Murray Perahia in the early eighties too.
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1