149.00 PLN

8 CD:

Nr kat.: FRC6801
Label  : Regis Records

jsa 5.0 out of 5 stars legendary recordings in very good sound 20 February 2011 - Published on Amazon.com To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 1970, High Fidelity magazine published a comprehensive survey, in book form, of the composer's recordings that were available at the time. Their distinguished piano critic, Harris Goldsmith, wrote the sections on the piano music and concertos, and his opinions and insights are still valuable today. Of the Schnabel set of sonatas, Goldsmith wrote the following: "The Schnabel records were made without the niceties of wide-range sound and tape editing. In the Thirties it was impossible for an artist to hear immediate playback of what he had just recorded. By the time the wax had been prepared - several months after the sessions - he was off on a concert tour halfway around the globe. In addition Schnabel was never one for dotting his 'i's' and crossing his 't's.' These discs, then, are not letter perfect, but they are incomparably vital. It is really remarkable how Schnabel's performances leap to life with the same intense impact that they must have had thirty years ago. This pianist's truly universal concept of Beethoven transcends considerations of epoch and nationality: they are timeless, and not in the least provincial or 'old-fashioned.' Schnabel's approach was primarily concerned with the structural and metaphysical aspects of the music and he managed to balance those often contradictory facets with wonderful success.... This set is a priceless legacy from a legendary musical thinker and ought to be considered basic to every music library." (from "The Recordings of Beethoven As Viewed by the Critics from High Fidelity," 1971) Forty years later, Leon Fleisher, one of Schnabel's best-known pupils, wrote this of the Master: "Schnabel wasn't a flashy virtuoso. He was simply the greatest musician at the keyboard I've ever heard. His playing had an irresistable elan - what the Germans call Schwung - as if he were grabbing you and twirling you in a dance.... His performances were never about him. They were all about the composer. In an era when the cult of personality was still flourishing, Schnabel was insistent that a performer serve the score. He abhorred any kind of showmanship.... He wanted to penetrate to the heart of a score and understand what the composer really wanted. He was most interested in works that allowed him to keep asking questions, probing, exploring - 'music,' as he used to say, 'that is better than it can be performed.'" (from "My Nine Lives: A Memoir of Many Careers in Music," 2010) There's not much to add to these comments from critic and student. The Schnabel recordings were the first complete set of Beethoven sonatas in my library, shortly to be joined by the equally majestic set from Claudio Arrau, and my ears have been conditioned by nearly forty years of listening to these two great masters. While there are many sets of the Beethoven sonatas available today, it would be fair to say that virtually all of the pianists performing them have been influenced in one way or another by Schnabel, whose interpretations are still definitive. Prospective buyers will want to know that these recordings were mastered by Nuova Era and the sound is surprisingly clear and bright for its age. On the negative side, I found that the time interval between both movements and sonatas is barely sufficient to allow the ear to transition from one track to the next. Unfortunately all of this is moot given that the first disc suffered from skips on two tracks even though there are no visible marks on the disc surface. The set had to be returned to Amazon for replacement; however, the first disc from the replacement set also skipped on the same tracks as the original disc. This indicates a manufacturing defect that might affect all the Schnabel sets that Musical Concepts produced. Consequently, I would avoid this set until this problem is resolved. ***UPDATE: I received a replacement set from the manufacturer today (May 27, 2011) and am happy to report that the above-referenced defects have been fixed. Musical Concepts has also assured me that the inventory at amazon has been replaced and purchasers can buy with confidence that they won't encounter any problems. As a result, I have updated my rating to five stars.