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Beethoven has always been a part of the concert repertoire of exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie, and it rose again to the top of his agenda as he prepared to complete his recorded cycle of the composer’s sonatas earlier this year. Sonatas Nos 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31 and 32, newly recorded, will be released for the first time as part of a box set of the entire canon, which will be available at the bargain price of 9 CDs for the price of 3.
This box set of the complete piano sonatas is a must for all lovers of Beethoven and great piano playing. The compositions are bold and beautiful, challenging, witty and fresh. They seem to encompass all aspects of human sensibility and aspiration, and the superb playing of Louis Lortie takes the music to another level. His recording of the composer’s ‘Eroica’ Variations, which won an Edison Award, was described by Gramophone in glowing terms:
‘His account… is spacious and magisterial, virile yet sensitive, and the wide range of dynamic nuance and keyboard colour is there to illumine Beethoven’s textures and not highlight the artist’s pianism. He succeeds in communicating the power of Beethoven’s imagination: the part-writing in the fugue emerges with a masterly clarity, and is beautifully weighted and balanced.’
Highlights among the new recordings are that of the sublime Sonata No. 30, composed in 1820 – 22, which displays all the characteristics of Beethoven’s last creative phase: rich harmonic structures, a fascination with intricate counterpoint, and a strict adherence to classical and baroque forms. Also worthy of a separate mention is Sonata No. 22, a veritable study in contrasts. Its two complementary themes – a gracious, dignified ‘feminine’ theme resembling a minuet, and a stamping, assertive, ‘masculine’ theme – gradually influence one another in the course of the movement until they become thoroughly integrated and combined in the final passages.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuetto: Allegretto
IV. Prestissimo
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2
I. Allegro vivace
II. Largo appassionato
III. Scherzo: Allegretto - Trio
IV. Rondo: Grazioso
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio
III. Scherzo: Allegro - Trio
IV. Allegro assai
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in D major for Piano 4 Hands, Op. 6
I. Allegro molto
II. Rondo: Moderato
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
I. Molto allegro e con brio
II. Adagio molto
III. Finale: Prestissimo
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto
III. Finale: Presto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3
I. Presto
II. Largo e mesto
III. Menuetto - Trio - Menuetto: Allegro
IV. Rondo: Allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, "Pathetique"
I. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio
II. Adagio cantabile
III. Rondo: Allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto
III. Rondo: Allegro comodo
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14, No. 2
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Scherzo: Allegro assai
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio con molto espressione
III. Minuetto
IV. Rondo: Allegretto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26
I. Andante con variazioni
II. Scherzo: Molto allegro
III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe
IV. Allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, Op. 27, No. 1
I. Andante
II. Allegro molto e vivace
III. Adagio con espressione
IV. Allegro vivace
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, "Moonlight"
I. Adagio sostenuto
II. Allegretto
III. Presto agitato
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, "Pastoral"
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
IV. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1
I. Allegro vivace
II. Adagio grazioso
III. Rondo: Allegretto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2, "Tempest"
I. Largo - Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31, No. 3, "La Chasse"
I. Allegro
II. Scherzo: Allegretto vivace
III. Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso - Trio
IV. Presto con fuoco
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 7
I. Molto allegro
II. Largo con gran espressione
III. Allegro
IV. Rondo: Poco allegretto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, No. 1
I. Andante
II. Rondo: Allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49, No. 2
I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Tempo di menuetto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, "Waldstein"
I. Allegro con brio
II. Introduzione: Adagio molto
III. Rondo: Allegretto moderato - Prestissimo
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54
I. In tempo d'un minuetto
II. Allegretto - Piu allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata"
I. Allegro assai
II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, Op. 78
I. Adagio cantabile - Allegro ma non troppo
II. Allegro vivace
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79
I. Presto alla tedesca
II. Andante
III. Vivace
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a, "Les adieux"
I. Das Lebewohl: Adagio - Allegro
II. Abwesenheit: Andante espressivo
III. Das Wiedersehn: Vivacissimamente
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
I. Mit lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck
II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
I. Allegretto ma non troppo
II. Vivace alla marcia
III. Adagio ma non troppo con affeto - Presto
IV. Allegro
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
I. Allegro
II. Scherzo: Assai vivace - Presto - Tempo I
III. Adagio sostenuto, appassionato e con molto sentimento
IV. Largo - Allegro risoluto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
I. Vivace ma non troppo
II. Prestissimo
III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung: Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
III. Variation 1: Molto espressivo
III. Variation 2: Leggieramente
III. Variation 3: Allegro vivace
III. Variation 4: Etwas langsamer, als das Thema
III. Variation 5: Allegro ma non troppo
III. Variation 6: Tempo I del tema
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
II. Allegro molto
III. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo
III. L'istesso tempo di Arioso
III. L'istesso tempo della Fuga poi a poi di nuovo vivente
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
I. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato
II. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
II. [Variation 1]
II. [Variation 2] L'istesso tempo
II. [Variation 3] L'istesso tempo
II. [Variation 4]
II. [Variation 5]
Christmas 2010
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“Lortie seems less interested in metaphysical profundity than in textural stylishness; spending enough time with this set to grasp Lortie's aims and insights is nevertheless genuinely rewarding”
January 2011
“Time and again a faultless pianistic sheen and mastery are allied to the finest musical perception. Here, surely, is vital and living proof that you can maintain an individual and distinctive voice while remaining scrupulously true to the composer...Nothing is forced or rushed, everything is subtly nuanced and phrased beneath an outwardly urbane surface...These are performances to treasure and revisit.”
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I. Allegro
