Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 21 & 23

Advantages: Thrilling, daredevil chamber music performances from the legendary Martha Argerich and partner-in-crime Gidon Kremer.
Disadvantages: Violinist Kremer occasionally on the mannered, spastic side; only forty-three minutes of music.

...thorough introduction to Martha Argerich, you may want to read my other post (or you may not!): http://www.ciao.co.uk/BachKeyboardWorksReview5359921 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CD Notes: LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 - 1827) Sonata for Piano and Violin no. 4 in A minor, op. 23 1. (1) Presto 6’56 2. (2) Andante scherzoso più Allegretto 7’20 3. (3) Allegro molto 5’15 Sonata for Piano and Violin no. 5 in F major, op. 24 "Frühlings-Sonate" ["Spring"] 4. (1) Allegro 9’41 5. (2) Adagio molto espressivo 6’02 6. (3) Scherzo. Allegro molto 1’19 7. (4) Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo 6’34 MARTHA ARGERICH, Piano GIDON KREMER, Violin Deutsche Grammophon (P) 1987 43’23 417 787-2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Performances for comparison:) From: BEETHOVEN The Violin Sonatas ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER LAMBERT ORKIS Compact Disc 2 Sonatas op. 23 & op. 24 "Spring Sonata... Read review

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Advantages: a new take on a familiar warhorse
Disadvantages: is it worth full price?

...even the piano, Beethoven was, after all, a pianist himself and hated to see a good tune go unplayed by himself) but after a while, when the first shock wears off, the thing actually works quite well. Pletnev did have to make concessions, of course, a little transposition here, a minor rewrite there, but on the whole Beethoven's Clarinet Concerto (as the booklet cheerfully bills it)is a totally credible addition to the repertoire. It comes too late, unfortunately, for the great Gervase de Peyer, but it will be snapped up quite happily by the likes of Sabine Meyer and other relative youngsters. That said, I suspect the names Pletnev and Collins made it imperative for this recording to be issued on a full-price luxury label like DG. As a curiosity (which it will always be, in spite of its quality) it might have more logically appeared... Read review

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Advantages: Everything you could ever want from a classical CD
Disadvantages: none

...Beethoven 5. Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 6. Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E minor Composed by Sir Edward Elgar 7. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov 8. Concierto de Aranjuez Composed by Joaquín Rodrigo 9. Swan Lake Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky 10. Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" in E minor Composed by Antonín Dvorák 11. Variations on an Original Theme, 'Enigma' Composed by Sir Edward Elgar 12. Sonata for Piano No. 14, 'Moonlight' in C sharp minor Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven 13. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov 14. Adagio for Strings Composed by Samuel Barber 15. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 21, "Elvira M in C Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 16... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful