Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Artur Schnabel :: Beethoven: Piano Works, Vol. 2

Schnabel's inimitable Beethoven.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 06/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Artur Schnabel's reputation as an interpreter of Beethoven's piano sonatas was second to none at the time these recordings were made in the 1930s. His admirers asserted that hearing him play them was like hearing Beethoven himself at the piano. His detractors cited several of Schnabel's mannerisms as reasons for dismissing claims of classic status, in particular Schnabel's tendency to "throw away lines" here and there in the manner of an actor, and his tendency to "rush his fences" whenever approaching technical difficulties in the manner of a nervous horse-rider. Browsers will be able to respond in their own way, and at trifling cost, as they listen to this second CD in a Naxos reissue of Schnabel's Beethoven Sonata Society recordings. There are five sonatas here, and thanks to Mark Obert-Thorn's astonishingly good restoration work Schnabel's playing, occasional smudges and all, has amazing immediacy and presence. Browsers who are attracted to Schnabel's Beethoven should bear in mind that once Naxos has reissued all is Beethoven solo piano recordings on 11 CDs the complete series might become available as a boxed set."