Pollini
Serkin
Kempff
Richter
A Fischer
Solomon
Schnabel

 

My favorites are:
sonata no. 28 and 30 - Pollini
sonata no. 31 - A Ciccolini
sonata no. 32 - Trifonov

I don't listen to whole sets because there is such a range of styles across the Sonata's that no one plays them all exceptionally well, however if I had choose one, then Schnabel would be it.

 

Arrau, Levit, Lucchesini, Pollini, Serkin.

 

Brendel has long been one of my favorites. Serious, thoughtful playing which suits the style of the late sonatas. Recently, though, Goodyear has been growing on me.

 

I never Tire of Goodyear.

 

LOL! Goodyear never gets a flat tire, that's for sure. A few years ago, I heard him perform all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas in one day, and his stamina never flagged. I think I was more tired than he was at the end of the day!! :lol:

 

Nothing to do with Beethoven last sonatas. An Scotish friend once told me an american Who was visiting Scotland went to a kilt shop and asked which tartan would fit to his name (Dunlop). As Dunlop Is not an Scottish name, The shop assistant answered: no doubt, McIntire

what about Arrau and Kovacevich?

 

Anton Kuerti's hammerklavier. Vladimir Feltsman. I beg you all to listen to feltsman's last beethoven sonatas

 

I agree on Goodyear's excellent Beethoven cycle. Those interested should know it can be had, as a download, for $5.99. Amazing, that! These are 320K MP3s.

https://us.7digital.com/artist/stew...dyear/release/beethoven-the-complete-piano-sonatas-1946009?f=20,19,12,16,17,9,2

 

KenOC - many thanks for the recommendation. Paid and downloaded a couple of days ago: what a bargain!

 

Bruce Hungerford. Annie Fischer.

I never get tired of listening to these two great Beethoven interpreters.

 

Oh no, how could I even forget ashtray Annie! Yes, her late Beethoven are remarkable too. At the moment, Schnabel and Annie Fischer are my two favorite Beethoven interpreters.

 

This is so good

 

Arrau
Brendel
Goode
Pollini
Serkin
Schnabel
Backhaus
Solomon
Gilels
Kempff
Barenboim
Schiff
Fischer
Richter - Not his Op.110 though, it is one of the very, very, few interpretations of any repertoire that Richter falls flat in.

 

Pollini and Brendel for me.
I'm curious to hear Igor Levit's rendition, since I love his Diabelli variations.

 

Pollini, Schnabel, Gulda, ABM (32).

 

My favorites for the sonatas #28-32 in general:
1. Pollini DG, all of them are nearly perfect.
2. Richter, #30-32 on Philips are very good, #29 London live performance 1975 is legendary despite the poor sound quality.
3. Arrau 1960s, generally very good, especially #29. But I don't like the slow tempo and over-romantic rendition on the 2nd movement of #32, which requires to be played "SIMPLE and cantabile".
4. Richter-Haaser EMI, very fine overall performance, clean and to-the-point.
5. Serkin on DG and Sony, generally outstanding. Exploring the most personal aspect of the works without the lost of general contour.
6. Gilels DG, #28-31 are excellent. A great loss that he did not manage to record #32.

Other versions I owned that I found less recommendable than the above, but still worth mentioning here: Brautigam, Buchbinder 1st, Brendel 1970s, Uchida, Kempff stereo, Backhaus stereo, Solomon EMI.

 

i uploaded a video of feltsman's interpretation of 109 for y'all, couldn't find it on youtube.

second one is seong-jin cho, a winner of the chopin competition. this has a romantic flare to it.

 

Richter's 1975 recording of the Op.106 is unmatched
Pollini's 1975 Op.110
I like Barenboim's 1983 rendition of the Op.109 best
The last one is a bit difficult, but I would go with Richter again

 

No love for Kovacevich? Excellent performances, in my ears. Schiff is superb in the late sonatas and I still love my Gilels. Jando is a nice cheap alternative too.

 

No love for Kovacevich? Excellent performances, in my ears.

They are excellent! I made a long list, and yet still forgot Kovacevich. It shows the embarrassment of riches that the Beethoven Sonatas have been blessed with.

 

Gilels - Brendel - Ashkenazy - Gulda and Pollini only for the late sonatas.

 

Leave the Gulda out and I am with your choice.

 

Kempff and Pollini - but I tend to prefer Pollini.

 

The same for me... but I tend to prefer Kempff.

 

Probably Brendel over all, but Gilels for 28-31 and Solomon for 32.

And what's wrong with Hammerklavier? Lovely slow movement.

 

Probably Brendel over all, but Gilels for 28-31 and Solomon for 32.

And what's wrong with Hammerklavier? Lovely slow movement.

While I try to avoid the 29th, I do adore the Adagio sostenuto though. Schnable is amazing there.

 

I have a few gaps to put it mildly, I have only heard Ronald Brautigam, Daniel Barenboim and one by Claudio Arrau.

Brautigam is presently my favourite by a margin - I especially enjoy the fortepiano here (as in his Haydn & Mozart), but I also enjoy Barenboim's EMI set. I need to hear more Arrau but I really enjoyed the Sonata I heard.

On my to listen list at some point are Murray Perahia, Alfred Brendel and Rudolf Serkin.

 

I really enjoy the Brautigan set. I generally don't care for the sound of the fortepiano but Brautigan plays with with total abandon and seems to be pushing the instrument to its limits, which in my imagination is the way that Beethoven would have sounded.
My introduction to Op.110 & 111 was from a Gary Graffman disc in the mid 70s. I still have the 'First Love' feeling when I play it but generally I turn to Arrau, Fischer, and Richard Goode in the late works. Pollini is a Pianist that I otherwise admire but his late Beethoven set on DG left me feeling cold. Serkin is admirable but a bit brusque. Kempff is great in the early works but occasionally sounds strained in the late works. I have not kept up with younger sets such as Goodyear.

 

If I try to really narrow it down to a single recording for each:

#28 - Kempff (DG)
#29 - Arrau (Philips)
#30 - Fischer (EMI)
#31 - Goode (Nonesuch)
#32 - Pollini (DG)

For a single performer, in general I like Arrau for the late sonatas. Serkin is also a favorite. I like Brendel, Kempff and Goode. I think Ashkenazy is underrated in Beethoven and does well in the late sonatas.

 

Agree about Ashkenazy. He's not always my favourite interpreter (for example I find his Mozart concertos over-personal too often) but I like him in Beethoven. I especially enjoy his Op.110.

My ideal in these sonatas is Solomon. I so wish he'd recorded the whole cycle.

 

I must add that his Schubert is surprisingly good too.

 

My favorites are Arrau, Korstick, Lewis, Guy, and Levit. A single favorite performance is Op.106 by Vestard Shimkus.

 

The only thing Schnabel could play fluently was slow movements. He made a mess of anything faster than andante.

I have a live recording of him in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 and it was a mess.