Ikuyo Nakamichi

Volume 1

No, this isn

Kun-Woo Paik

When I read last year that Kun-Woo Paik would record all of the Beethoven piano sonatas, I was interested though not exactly spurred to rush out and buy it the day it was released. My exposure to this pianist is limited to his very good Prokofiev Piano Concertos on Naxos, his (relatively) light and nuanced touch bringing something appealing to the works that some others miss. But Beethoven? Now, I

Paul Lewis

[This is from early January.]

A new year means it

Joyce Hatto

She

Robert Casadesus

[Okay, this isn

Ikuyo Nakamichi - Volumes 3 & 9

I figured it was about time I listen to more of Ms Nakamichi

Andr

Mari Kodama, Volume 3(?)

Yet another on-going cycle it seems. Or at least I hope. (Or do I?) PentaTone, led by erstwhile Philips execs, has released three hybrid SACDs of Mari Kodama playing some of LvB

Nicholas Angelich

[I don't know if Mr Angelich will record a complete cycle or not, but I'll post this here anyway.]

I figured I ought to give at least one other young-ish contemporary pianist a shot in Elveebee

Paul Lewis, Volume 2

It

Quote:
Care to comment on the amazing Joyce Hatto

Sure. John O'Conor recorded the sonatas attributed to Hatto, at least for Op 31. My comments on his cycle are posted in another thread. Perhaps not too surprisingly, I find Hatto and O'Conor to be on roughly the same level; I've long been a big fan of O'Conor's cycle, so it's not surprising that I find "Hatto" very good.

My preference of the three sonatas varies slightly between the posts, but that's because 1.) the playing was speeded up on the "Hatto" disc, 2.) the sound was otherwise fiddled with, and 3.) because I was listening to different LvB at the time and had different expectations.

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Quote:
Hatto is the greatest virtuoso pianist in the world, you said.

It looks like you need to go back and reread the post a little more carefully. That's not what I wrote.

[I don't know if Angela Hewitt plans to record a complete cycle, but I'll post this here anyway.]

Angela Hewitt

I can still be surprised. Generally speaking, I

Andr

Nelson Freire

[I don't know if Mr Freire will record a complete cycle, but I'll post this here just because.]

Why buy only one new LvB sonata disc when you can buy two? When I snapped up the latest Schiff offering, I also picked up the new Decca recording of Nelson Freire playing four sonatas, including the Mondschein, so I could do a direct comparison between the two pianists. The Schiff disc was a disappointment, but surely Freire would do better I thought. He does, sort of, but with caveats.

The disc opens with the Waldstein, and some of my misgivings show up here. The opening Allegro con brio is taken at blazing speed, and Freire plays with immense flexibility, precision, and dynamic gradations. He hits all the marks that Richard Goode misses in a similarly fast take. There

Ronald Brautigam Plays Beethoven

Volume 2

I don

Against expectations, I rather enjoyed the second volume of Ronald Brautigam

I so enjoyed my first two go-rounds with Brautigam and Beethoven that I thought it was about time I tried another. Volume 2, dedicated to Op 2 and Op 49, got the nod. It

I enjoyed Angela Hewitt