Recordings of Beethoven Piano Cycles
prepared by Jens Laurson

 

Part 1 30s, 40s & 50s

Part 2 60s

Part 3 70s & 80s

Part 4 90s

Part 5 00s

This survey is meant to list all complete sets of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and their availability in different markets, not to review them. 

For those of you wanting to let me know about series that I have apparently missed, please wait for my last instalment.

 

	Gerard Willems 1997 - 2000? - ABC The piano used was an Australian Stuart & Sons which differs from a standard grand piano in a few salient points and promises, among other factors, greater dynamics and increased sustain. (And, Nigel Tufnel would exclaim: This piano's number of pedals goes to four!) Availability - directly from Australia. Country / Label USA UK France Germany ABC No No (Import) Import
	Anne Øland 1995 - 2002? - T.I.M. Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany T.I.M. Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Stephen Kovacevich 1992 - 2003 - EMI Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany EMI Yes Yes (Yes) Yes
	David Allen Wehr 1998 - 2004 - Connoisseur Society Piano used was a Yamaha CF111S. Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany Connoisseur Yes 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
	Andrea Lucchesini 1999? - 2004 - Stradivarius Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany Stradivarius (No) (No) No No
	Seymour Lipkin 2002 - 2004 - Newport Classics Recorded at the Curtis Institute where Lipkin is on the piano and chamber music faculty. (He also teaches at Juilliard.) The cycle is available on CD as three sets of three discs or on one CD ROM as mp3 which comes with the complete score, as well. Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany Newport Classics 1 - 2 - 3 mp3 1 - 2 - 3 mp3 1 - 2 - 3 mp3 1 - 2 - 3 mp3
	Craig Sheppard 2003 - 2004 - Romeo Records Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany Romeo Records Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Daniel Barenboim III 2005 - EMI (DVD) Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany EMI DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes

	Gerhard Oppitz 2004 - 2006 - Hänssler Oppitz' Beethoven cycle flew under the radar, compared to those of Schiff and Lewis, but it is, along with those two, one of the most notable to have been produced in this decade. I've not come across anything fancy in this cycle, but some astonishingly fine playing. Availability (previously in eight individual volumes, now also as a box): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Hänssler Yes Box Yes Box Yes Box Yes Box
	Garrick Ohlsson 1992 - 2007 - Bridge (Arabesque) Availability (in eight individual volumes): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Bridge Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Idil Biret 1994 - 2005 - IBA This sonata cycle is part of a Beethoven Edition that launched Idil Biret's own label, Idil Biret Archive. It's practically a sub-label of Naxos, the company that has brought her from relative obscurity to becoming a household name. The Beethoven Edition will include not only the sonatas and concertos but also Liszt's Symphony transcriptions which are being re-released on CD for the first time since Biret took them down on LP for EMI in the mid-eighties. Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany IBA Yes Yes Yes Yes
	András Schiff 2004 - 2007 - ECM Schiff used a Boesendorfer and a Steinway Grand for these recordings, taped live (except for the last three sonatas) and played in sequence. Availability (in eight individual volumes): Country / Label USA UK France Germany ECM Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Paul Lewis 2004 - 2007 - Harmonia Mundi Availability (in vour volumes): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Harmonia Mundi Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Kun-Woo Paik 2005 - 2007 - Decca (Korea) Perhaps Decca sent up a test-balloon in the West when they released one volume of this cycle world wide. After that it was back to releases for the Asian (Korean?) market only. Availability of Sonatas 16-26 (complete set only in Asia): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Decca Partial Partial Partial Partial
	Shoko Sugitani ???? - 2007? - IDC Classic Not available as far as I know. (Volume 11 found on HMV.co.jp)
	Daniela Varinska ???? - 2009? - Diskant Available (9 of 11? volumes) from Slovakia or in Japan:
	Ikuyo Nakamichi 2002? - BMG Japan Ikuyo Nakamichi studied under Mitsuko Kinpara, Phyllis Rappaport (Michigan), Kazuhiko Nakajima and Prof. Klaus Schilde at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich on a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Cultural Affairs. In 1982 Nakamichi won first and the Masuzawa Prize at the 51st Annual Japan Music Competition.
	Akiyoshi Sako 2003 - 2005 - Camerata Available (partially?) from Japan.

This survey was originally published on the Ionarts blog.

If you have additional information about recording dates, availability, cover art -- or corrections and additions -- your input is much appreciated.

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