Superb, thanks for this. You really get a sense of the instrument being pushed to its limits. The clarity is great, especially the relentless trills! Great performance, too.
Although I don't like playing favourites with B, this has to be my favourite sonata. It is monumental, one of the crowning glories of his entire output.
This is a good recording that comes with op101 but is long deleted from the catalogue. The adagio could be tightened up a little, it could have a more rhetorical feel in most performances I've heard to my mind, but I shouldn't complain too much here.
Badura-Skoda's own original Graf piano is excellent. One of the big selling points of the fp is that they add transparency to B's often robust and, as shown here, complex textures especially in the mid to low register.
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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
[This message has been edited by Rod (edited 12-08-2005).]
My first recording of 106 was the famous one by Gilels on DG label, I was pretty green then about Beethoven's piano music but even then I thought this rendition was incredibly long winded. I've yet to hear a perfect 'Hammerklavier'. Maybe in 50 years?
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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
Originally posted by Rod: This is a good recording that comes with op101 but is long deleted from the catalogue...
Those looking for a recording IN the catalogue will have to pay for the Complete Beethoven sonatas on Period Instruments set on the Claves label, which is expensive and very uneven in sound and performance quality. Or wait for Ronald Brautigam to get there with his complete Beethoven solo piano volumes, which at the current rate of output will get to op106 in about 3 years!
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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
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