Requests on sonatas

[Chaszz]

Might I ask for some kind recommendations for lesser known Beethoven piano sonatas that are particularly worth knowing. Not the foremost-known ones like the Appassionata, Moonlight, Pathetique, Hammerklavier, Les Adieux, and the late ones, but some others I may not have heard which are especially good. Also which are his most important violin/piano sonatas to know, please. Thanks in advance.

[Peter]

Hello Chaszz - good to hear from you again! Op.26 in Ab is a lovely work (Chopin's favourite Beethoven sonata). Op.28, Op.31/3, Op.78 and Op.90 are less well known but very fine works. Of the violin sonatas Op.24, Op.47 and Op.96 are essential listening!

[Chris]

Hello Chaszz - good to hear from you again! Op.26 in Ab is a lovely work (Chopin's favourite Beethoven sonata). Op.28, Op.31/3, Op.78 and Op.90 are less well known but very fine works. Of the violin sonatas Op.24, Op.47 and Op.96 are essential listening!

That's a good list. Op. 78 is a particular favorite of mine. I would add another favorite, Op. 14, No. 1 to that. (In fact, Beethoven arranged this work for string quartet as well, Hess 34.)

Beethoven wrote a lot of piano sonatas. But really, each one of them is worth spending time with. I cannot think of another composer and genre with a comparable number of works for which this is also true. The Mozart piano concertos? Great works, but I don't think skipping a few of them would be a great loss. The Haydn piano trios? Also great, but not all of them are essential.

But any piano sonata of Beethoven is worth knowing, and I would not be surprised to hear any one of them named as someone's favorite work.

[gprengel]

My favourite sonatas of the lesser known are: op. 22, 31,2 and 31,3 (Tempest !!!), 78, 79, 90, 101,

Violin Sonatas: op. 30,2 and 47
From op. 12,2 , op 24 and 96 I adore mainly the wonderful slow movements.

[Chaszz]

Thank you all. Now which interpreter? (Rudolf Serkin is my personal favorite for Beethoven sonatas.) And Chris, please mention a few of the greatest Haydn trios.

[Chris]

The Haydn piano trios composed from the 1780s onward are all great works. No. 39, the "Gypsy", is probably the most famous and would be a good place to start if you are not familiar with the works.

[Chaszz]

The Haydn piano trios composed from the 1780s onward are all great works. No. 39, the "Gypsy", is probably the most famous and would be a good place to start if you are not familiar with the works.

Thanks.

[Peter]

Thank you all. Now which interpreter? (Rudolf Serkin is my personal favorite for Beethoven sonatas.) And Chris, please mention a few of the greatest Haydn trios.

Schnabel for historical reference.
Wilhelm Kempff's 1st complete recordings.
Charles Rosen sonatas 27-32
Claude Frank - relatively unknown but fine performances worth checking out.
Paul Komen - HIP Fortepiano.