Search - Claudio Arrau, Janos Starker, Ludwig van Beethoven :: Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas & Concertos [Box Set]

A fantastic set with tremendous personality and insight

hjonkers | The Netherlands | 08/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Claudio Arrau's Sonatas set is one for the ages. It is thoughtful, musically honest and inspired like no one else's. True, it took me some time to realize this. But I've come to like Arrau's interpretations, more than any other pianist's. I don't think it would right to talk about 'the best' Beethoven cycle, as there isn't just one perfect way to the top, but so far I consider Arrau's performances deeper and more satisfying than anyone else's. He is unmatched in revealing the essence of the sonatas, and no one can hold a candle to Arrau's injections of drama in fairly every piece. It is indeed as if you're living through the sonatas yourself, as one other reviewer said.



Arrau takes a very serious, almost dark and tragic, approach to the sonatas. He may miss some of the music's humor because of that, but on the whole the effect is very rewarding. On paper it may seem that Beethoven's earlier works do not profit from Arrau's approach, but it's not true in reality. He performs these pieces as if they are just as important as the later works, and hearing him I can only prove him right. I've not yet heard anyone who makes these sometimes ignored pieces so interesting and powerful. The serious weight he gives to the very first sonata is amazing, especially in the last movement. The op.7 sonata is much more than just a pretty dancing piece. And even in the normally sunny second sonata, its dark sides are most significant in Arrau's performance. The fifth sonata is played quite slowly but with so much content and attention to every moment that it is just breathtaking. Overall, Arrau's bold and thoughtful playing reveals a great amount of hidden treasures in these sonatas and lets every phrase sing with great beauty.



Beethoven's middle-period works like the Moonlight, Tempest, Waldstein and Appassionata are in equally superb hands, especially in the Appassionata whose outer movements are greatly intimidating and violent. No one quite captures the torrent towards the end in the Appassionata's final as powerfully as Arrau does here, although Pollini's live recording comes close. Arrau's Waldstein is notable for its unusually slow first movement that yet remains fascinating all the way through. His Moonlight made me listen again to this piece that I got bored of a little. I don't think the Moonlight's last movement is weak, as others say. Maybe it doesn't live up to the extreme standards of the rest of the set, but even then it is among the better renditions. Again, the more humorous pieces of this period are less swift and surprising than in other's renditions. The final of the op.31/3 'Hunt' sonata gives no single reason to laugh. But Arrau fills the gap with so much furious power and intensity that I strongly doubt which approach to prefer. The final of Les Adieux is heaven-storming instead of the usual children's party treatment, and you may understand what I prefer.



And even after then, the highlight of the set hasn't been reached: the late sonatas get that honour. Arrau's arresting performance of op.101 is a hint of what's coming after: the Hammerklavier. This sonata has of course received many legendary performances (my own favourites are Solomon, Gilels, Pollini, Rosen, Brendel, Serkin, Gould and Kempff) but Arrau does better than any of them. Listen how carefuly he prepares the opening bars, for instance, and then dives headstrong into the movement. The Adagio Sostenuto gets the most somber rendition I've heard, and the fugue is a model of precise articulation combined with effortless and even technique.



The last three sonatas then, all sound completely different from other recordings. Arrau gives a highly personal performance of the theme and variations of op.109, rather mannered and all but still convincing in its own way. The last variation is one of the greatest moments of all Beethoven, and likewise it is one of the most memorable performances of Arrau. The op.110 sonata is on a similar scale, with the fugue played in total devotion and concentration. There may be some doubts over the rather slow first movement of op.111, but Arrau leaves every bit of drama intact--in fact, I find that the slower tempo even adds to the intensity. The Arietta, too, is on the slow side, but it makes full sense, although I'd prefer a more rhytmical 3rd variation. Yet what follows is as heavenly and moving as any performance of this piece could become (notice the short stop he makes in between the leggieramente figures around 11.00; just brilliant!), not to mention the incredible trills near the end.



Again, the set may not seem as good at first. Arrau misses most of Beethoven's humor, and his playing is a little slow and careful at times. But that's just the surface. Beneath, there is an immense amount of fantastic insights waiting. Arrau's early sonatas sound like they have got a repainting, and a superb one at that. The middle-period pieces get an intensely tragic and dark treatment, and the late sonatas are played quite originally and among the most profound and spirited recordings ever made. I doubted first, but now I simply love this set more than fairly any other recording I have. Regarding the comments of other reviewers here, I doubt if many will disagree. There are other ways to play Beethoven--Brendel and especially Kempff are more lucid, Schnabel generates more excitement, etcetera. But this is a Beethoven sonata set for the ages, a great investment if there ever was one. I've heard people say Arrau is the Furtwangler of the keyboard. I don't think that's right. It's better to say that Furtwangler is the Arrau of the directors."

24 Bit Sublime Ecstasy

R. W. | Oregon | 06/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everything glorious I read about Claudio Arrau in these Amazon.com reviews is absolutely true. My CD set arrived this morning, and I just finished listening to Sonata No. 1. I never paid much attention to it before, but Arrau plays each note with such passion, clarity, and sensitivity that it sounds like one of the greatest works - simply because he plays it that way.



I didn't realize when I ordered this set that Philips had remastered the music with 24 bit A/D transfer, so the sound quality is glorious.



By the way, there is also a 7 CD box set of Arrau playing Chopin. After hearing his Beethoven, I can't wait for my copy of Arrau's Chopin to arrive!"