Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas

Claudio Arrau was one of the great pianists of the 20th century, and was particularly noted as a Beethoven interpreter. This cycle dates from the 1960's, and was originally made for Philips, but Decca-Universal has now thankfully re-released it in a bargain, space-saving box.I don't wish to rehash what other reviewers have already said, Suffice to say that these recordings were made before Arrau began to play everything at slower tempi (sometimes overly so). In general, tempi in this cycle are moderate; what makes them special is the fact that you can hear that his visions of these works are not just carefully considered from a lifetime of living with them, but are also deeply felt.I would add that Arrau probably shouldn't be treated as a reference in the earlier works. These are for the most part sonatas in the classical vein, and Arrau occasionally can sound heavy-handed. But as the set progresses, Arrau's approach starts to fit the material better and better. His "Les Adieux" is one of the finer performances available (this was a favorite sonata of his, and he recorded it numerous times both live and in studio.) For me the real draw of this set, and the reason I return to it often, are his amazing performances of the late Sonatas. His performances are of singular insight; deeply searching, emotional, spiritual, and often reaching heights rarely touched by other pianists in this repertoire. I have never heard anyone play the Arietta of #32 as beautifully as he does here...listen to the way he controls the trills towards the end of the movement, making them shimmer - it's an effect I've never heard before, and the first time I listened to it, it was like hearing the work for the first time. There are other transportive moments like this to be found as well in the A flat major fugal sections, the slow movement of the E major...trying to list them would be akin to a fool's errand.This collection also includes the major sets of variations - namely the Eroicas, the Diabellis, and the two sets on original themes, op.34 and WoO 80. All are well-done. I should note that the Diabellis are in mono, as for some that might present a problem. These particular Eroicas are a favorite, though Gilels also recorded a great set of these for DG and in better sound.There are many recommendable Beethoven sonata cycles; I dearly love Schnabel's cycle for its daring and driven playing, flubbed notes be damned; Claude Frank's cycle for its cohesiveness, Gilels' incomplete cycle for its overall quality (though one must lament that he wasn't able to set down #32), Brendel's first Philips cycle from the 1970s for its wit, both Kovacevich's EMI and Gulda's Decca cycles from the 1950s for their overt, at times astonishing virtuosity, and Backhaus' stereo Decca cycle for its no-nonsense approach that allows Beethoven be experienced unfettered. Each of these cycles posses virtues which warrant frequent revisiting, and this Arrau cycle is part of this grouping as well.The Beethoven sonatas are such an overwhelming body of work, spanning Beethoven's entire career as a composer, from his early beginnings as a classicist who followed the path set by Haydn and Mozart, to his middle period Sturm-und-Drang sonatas, and finally transitioning to his late "all is dust" period; as such there is no one right way to play these, and no single set that's perfect. But this Arrau set attains moments of perfection, and anyone who truly loves these works - particularly the last five - owes it to themselves to here his take on the late Sonatas, which (IMO) occupy a space all their own.Five stars.

Since the discography is not included in the product listing, here it is:DISC 1Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 2 no. 1Sonata No. 2 in A major, op. 2 no. 2Sonata No. 5 in C minor, op. 10 no. 1Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 1964DISC 2Sonata No. 3 in c major, op. 2 no. 3Sonata No. 4 in E flat major, op 7Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 1964DISC 3Sonata No. 6 in F major, op. 10 no. 2Sonata No. 7 in D major, op. 10 no. 3Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September, 1964Sonata No. 8 in C minor op. 13 “Pathetique”Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 1963Sonata No. 9 in E major, op. 14 no. 1Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, April 1966DISC 4Sonata No. 10 in G major, op. 14 no. 2Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, April 1966Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, op. 22Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, op. 26Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June, 1962DISC 5Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, op. 27 no. 1Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, op. 27 no. 2 “Moonlight”Sonata No. 15 in D major, op. 28 “Pastoral”Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June, 1962DISC 6Sonata No. 16 in G major, op. 31 no. 1Sonata No. 17 in D minor, op. 31 no. 2 “The Tempest”Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, op. 31 no. 3Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, May, 1965DISC 7Sonata No. 19 in G minor, op. 49 no. 1Sonata No. 20 in G major, op. 49 no. 2Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, April 1966Sonata No. 21 in C major, op. 53 “Waldstein”Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September, 1963Sonata No. 22 in F major, op. 54Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, October, 1965Sonata No. 25 in G major, op. 79Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, April 1966DISC 8Sonata No. 23 in F minor, op. 57 “Appasionata”Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, September, 1965Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, op. 78Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, November 1965Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, op 81a “Les Adieux”Sonata No. 27 in E minor, op. 90Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, April 1966DISC 9Sonata No. 28 in A major, op.101Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, November 1965Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, op. 106 “Hammerklavier”Recorded in Baachzaal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September, 1963DICS 10Sonata No. 30 in E major, op 109Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, November 1965Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, op. 110Sonata No. 32 in C minor, op. 111Recorded in Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, October, 1965DISC 1115 Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, op. 3532 Variations on an Original Theme, WoO 806 Variations on an Original Theme, op. 34Recorded in Johannessift, Berlin, Germany, November, 1968DISC 1233 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, op. 120Recorded in New York, 1952

I bought this set two years ago and still come back to it often. I have always been a great fan of Claudio Arrau. My piano teacher gave me as a gift a box set containing his renderings of Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Chopin and Bach (it was An Anniversary Tribute by Phillips, I think), through which I grew to love Arrau.For many years the first cycle of Arrau's Beethoven Sonatas, recorded in the 1960s was either unavailable or awfully expensive. Hence about ten years ago I bought his second cycle, recorded in digital towards the end of the artist's life. I liked it, however, some of the readings were excessively slow or eccentric. Now the first cycle, recorded when Arrau was at the height of his powers, and in my opinion, much better than the second one, has been re-released at the budget price.Arrau was one of the great Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century, and therefore, at least in my opinion, this set is one of the finest available on the market. It is a classic, the sound is excellent (one would never guess the performances are more than fifty years old), and at the unbeatable price. In addition to the sonatas, there are also two bonus discs, including the Diabelli Variations and Variations on the Original Theme.One can't miss by making a purchase - Highly recommended!

I like Arrau very much, I also have the complete recordings with Brendel which I also admire, I have no preference although they play the sonatas quit differently. Arrau is, especially in the younger ones, rather untamed, I like that! Brendel plays it "beautiful", may be too shy ..... never the less, I wouldn’t like to miss one of them. The recording on the first two cd’s are al little mat and have hardly any echo, not bad, not good either. The other sonatas are recorded beautifully, no criticism there! Only the last cd, number 12, is a disappointment. The recording from 1951 is really bad, muddy and seems to have been recorded in an empty auction hall …. May be that’s the reason that I wasn’t very impressed by the a bit dull Diabelli Variations …..

The one review against this product that exists just will not do! It concentrates on an element of hiss from what was originally an analogue recording by possibly the greatest Beethoven interpreter of the 20th century. I have listened to some of these recordings and find that he vastly overstates the case. The erudite and somewhat ironic comment against that review rather sums up the position. Furthermore, only 4 people out of some 28 people voting find that review helpful. So ignore that first review and buy this set basking in some of the greatest Beethoven playing available, actually more fluent than in the replacement digital set recorded when Arrau was 80 rather than 60. Indeed, even if you invest in the digital set you will find that you get the performances from this analogue set of the Hammerklavier and Moonlight sonatas as Arrau did not get round to rerecording these works. So I hope this puts the record straight and makes the average assessment of reviewers more in keeping with what is on offer!

Je ne sais si c'est la meilleure des intégrales (le marché en regorge, et Kempff, Backhaus, Schnabel, quand même....). Mais nous avons avec ce coffret la quintessence de l'art beethovenien, donc de l'art tout court. Quelque soit l'intégrale de ces "sages" que vous choisissez, vous ne serez pas trompé !

Gran ejecución y grandes obras, escucharlo es un placer. Recomiendo ampliamente esta colección de discos de Claudio Arrau.Lo máximo

Llegó rapidísimo y tanto por la calidad de la grabación, como por las interpretaciones, este es un álbum excelente. Muy recomendable