Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Murray Perahia :: Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 7 & 23

Perahia Scores Again!

R. Tobias | Oklahoma City, OK | 10/29/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A wonderful disc. The Apassionata is the most gripping and powerful of many that I have listened to. Also of special note is the deeply moving rendition of the slow movement of the Op. 10 sonata. A worthwhile addition to my collection even though I have all these sonatas on other discs."

A major pianist playing with bravado, but the timing is stin

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This stingy CD (only two sontas, for a total timinng of 47 min.) can also be bought in a mid-line "Great Performances" issue. I haven't compared them, but the piano, miked very close, turns too steely and clangy for comfort. Perahia's fans will get what they want, a very assured, exciting, but fairly unmysterious "Appassionata," inflected with enough self-confidence and strength that there's no doubt a major pianist is playing.



When I heard him a few years ago, Perahia seemed safe and conventional, and I worried about his well-publicized hand injury. But he goes for broke in the passagework here, as well as in thundering fortissimos a la Serkin in the big eruptions of the "Appassionata's" first movement. The second movement feels flat-footed compared to Pletnev's poetic touch on Virgin (one of my recent favorites). The finale is fairly slow, not played for flash, and it gives scope for Perahia's considerable gifts for phrasing. Picking Sonata No. 7 (Op. 10 no. 3) as a filler ws a quirky choice, but to tell the truth, Perahia takes off, giving us a flashing and spirited reading -- the highlight of the whole CD."