Beethoven 250: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1–3 (Stephen Kovacevich, 2002–2003)

Beethoven: The Complete Works (80 CD). Warner Classics / © 2019 Parlophone Records Limited. Also available on Spotify etc. I bought my box set from Fuga at Helsinki Music Centre.
    Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827.
    Beethoven 250 / corona lockdown listening.

CD 17/80  Piano Sonatas Nos. 1–3
Drei Klaviersonaten op. 2 (1795)
Joseph Haydn gewidmet.

Opus 2 Nr. 1: Klaviersonate Nr. 1 in f-Moll (1795)
Opus 2 Nr. 2: Klaviersonate Nr. 2 in A-Dur (1795)
Opus 2 Nr. 3: Klaviersonate Nr. 3 in C-Dur (1795)

Stephen Kovacevich, piano, 2002 (No. 3), 2003 (Nos. 1–2)

On my odyssey through the complete works of Ludwig van Beethoven the piano sonatas are one of the most magnificent continuities. Piano was Beethoven's most beloved instrument, and this cycle has been called by Hans von Bülow the "New Testament" of the piano, following Bach's "Old Testament", the Well-Tempered Clavier.

Beethoven composed 32 piano sonatas. The first set was published in 1795 when the composer was 25 years old, and the last piano sonata appeared in 1822 when he was 52. The total duration of the piano sonatas is ten hours. There have been pianists who could play them all by heart in their concert repertory. Legendary recordings of the complete set have been made by Artur Schnabel, Wilhelm Kempff, Claudio Arrau, Alfred Brendel and Solomon. Anthony Tommasini* lists also Daniel Barenboim, Maurizio Pollini, Annie Fischer, Andras Schiff, Richard Goode and Paul Lewis, and, as the latest, Igor Levit.

For Stephen Kovacevich the complete recording of the piano sonatas was a 12-year project, and John Fraser produced them all. The newest of his recordings is this set of the three first piano sonatas, dedicated to Joseph Haydn. On the box set the piano sonatas are collected on nine CDs.

I start to realize that there is a consistent curatorial approach on this box set to select interpretations of the highest order that can be called clean and sober. They are brilliant, disciplined, perfect and faithful to the script. They are not necessarily wild and free, exciting, original or personal. There is a digital emphasis on clarity and sharpness.

Wandering through the world of Beethoven it may be a good idea to start with these official box set selections and then try out others for poetry, imagination, passion and adventure. After Kovacevich I continued with listening to Schnabel. Like in the András Schiff 1996 recording of the piano concertos, there is a masterclass feeling in Kovacevich, as if we were conducting a study of the piano sonatas.

To my layman's ears it is fascinating to register that if I would happen on these early sonatas on the radio without knowing who is the composer, I would not be able to tell Beethoven from Haydn or Mozart. At first I register the conventional dimensions, and only later I start to hear affinities with later Beethoven, with Appassionata for instance in the first sonata.

Already these first piano sonatas are unfathomable. A new kind of composer lays dormant in the Haydn-Mozart terrain. These compositions belong to the great explorations of the mind. They expand and deepen consciousness. Like psychedelia, they are mind trips, but instead of being explosive they are mind-bending in a cool, intelligent, spirited and stimulating way.

...

PS. A wonderful live recording of Grigory Sokolov at Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 3: Album: Grigory Sokolov: Beethoven – Brahms – Mozart, Deutsche Grammophon, 8 May 2020. Presentation at the Deutsche Grammophon homepage. "Atemberaubend in seiner Klarheit, Artikulation und Farbe". - A different Deutsche Grammophon release in Spotify: Grigory Sokolov: Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 etc.

PS. András Schiff's lectures on Beethoven's piano sonatas (alerted by Sampsa Laurinen)
https://www.theguardian.com/music/classical/page/0,,1943867,00.html

Per Tengstrand
https://worldofbeethoven.com/overview-of-the-sonatas/

Bryce Morrison in Gramophone, February 2004
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/review?slug=beethoven-complete-piano-sonatas-10

* Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 3 July 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/arts/music/beethoven-piano-sonatas.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Music