Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110

On the wake of the box-set featuring some live and studio recordings of Dino Ciani (CDS 413/1-6), which has met with great success, Dynamic releases another publication dedicated to the artistry of this fine pianist, who died tragically and prematurely almost thirty years ago.

This new set of nine CDs holds the entire cycle of Beethoven’s thirty-two piano sonatas which Ciani performed at the Unione Musicale in Turin in eight concerts, from 4th October to 29th November 1970, which were recorded but never published before. Listening to these recordings from over thirty years ago we clearly perceive the wealth, complexity and, in many ways, the novelty of Dino Ciani’s approach as a performer. With impressively profound introspection, Dino Ciani follows the extraordinary journey that leads him from opus 2 on to opus 111. It is perhaps in the last Sonatas that Ciani gives of his best. In a sort of ecstasy of sound, he exalts and savours the cantabile element in these compositions. Then he abandons himself unguardedly as he unleashes a musical force that seems to create itself out of nothing and to find its rules and justification in itself alone. Extraordinary are also Ciani’s encores: the Finale of the Hammerklavier Sonata, with dizzying counterpoint passages, and the entire Moonlight Sonata, opus 27 n. 2.

The enclosed booklet contains unpublished photos.

Paul Lewis performed all the Beethoven piano sonatas on tour in the USA and Europe between the 2005 and 2007 seasons, in parallel with this complete recording of the cycle for harmonia mundi, now available as a boxed set for the first time.

(Volume 4 of the Sonatas received two Gramophone Awards in 2008 for Recording of the Year and Best Instrumental Recording.)

"one of the most highly prized recording marathons of recent years…an unmissable benchmark."Gramophone

This collection was recorded live across eight concerts at the Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin in June and July 2005.

Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas have been at the heart of Daniel Barenboim’s musical life since childhood and through his remarkable career, Barenboim has gained a unique understanding of Beethoven’s music. Having performed much of the composer’s solo, chamber, orchestral and operatic repertoire, Barenboim’s performances of these varied and complex works give a fascinating perspective into one of music’s greatest geniuses from one of the most gifted and complete musicians of our time.

Having first performed a complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in Tel Aviv in 1960, Barenboim has repeated the feat many times around the world, most recently at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, in 2002, at the Vienna Musikverein in 2004 (when he also conducted the Palestine Youth Orchestra in its inaugural concert and played a Beethoven sonatas concert in Ramallah), at the Berlin Staatsoper in 2005, and at both La Scala, Milan, and London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2008.

Barenboim says of the Beethoven piano sonatas: “This music encompasses everything that a great human being is capable of – in thought, in feeling, in intuition, in temperament, in character. All the different attributes of the human condition are contained in this music.”

Legendary Chilean-American pianist Claudio Arrau was born in 1903. During a career lasting over 60 years, he became one of the most admired instrumentalists of his generation. He was particularly revered for his performances and recordings of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, but was also renowned for his interpretation of early 20th century music, especially that of Debussy. He died in Mürzzuschlag, Austria in 1991.