Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major ('Funeral March'), Op. 26: 1. Andante con Variazioni
2. Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major ('Funeral March'), Op. 26: 2. Scherzo. Allegro molto
3. Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major ('Funeral March'), Op. 26: 3. Marcia Funebre sulla morte d'un Eroe
4. Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major ('Funeral March'), Op. 26: 4. Allegro
5. Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2: 1. Allegro
6. Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2: 2. Allegretto
7. Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2: 3. Presto
8. Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: 1. Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo
9. Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: 2. Allegro molto
10. Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: 3. Adagio ma non troppo - fuga (Arioso), Allegro ma non troppo
11. Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major ('Quasi una fantasia'), Op. 27/1: 1. Andante
12. Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major ('Quasi una fantasia'), Op. 27/1: 2. Allegro molto e vivace
13. Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major ('Quasi una fantasia'), Op. 27/1: 3. Adagio con espressione
14. Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major ('Quasi una fantasia'), Op. 27/1: 4. Allegro vivace

Disc 2:

1. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ('Pathétique'), Op. 13: 1. Grave. Allegro di molto e con brio
2. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ('Pathétique'), Op. 13: 2. Adagio cantabile
3. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ('Pathétique'), Op. 13: 3. Rondo. Allegro
4. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3: 1. Allegro con brio
5. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3: 2. Adagio
6. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3: 3. Scherzo. Allegro
7. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3: 4. Allegro. assai
8. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1: 1. Allegro
9. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1: 2. Adagio
10. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1: 3. Menuetto. Allegretto
11. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1: 4. Prestissimo

Disc 3:

1. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111: 1. Maestoso. Allegro con brio e appassionato
2. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111: 2. Arietta. Adagio molto, semplice (e) cantabile
3. Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49/2: 1. Allegro ma non troppo
4. Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49/2: 2. Tempo di Menuetto
5. Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3: 1. Presto
6. Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3: 2. Largo e mesto
7. Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3: 3. Menuetto. Allegro
8. Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3: 4. Rondo. Allegro
9. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2: 1. Allegro
10. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2: 2. Andante
11. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2: 3. Scherzo. Allegro assai

Disc 4:

1. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major ('Hunt'), Op. 31/3: 1. Allegro
2. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major ('Hunt'), Op. 31/3: 2. Scherzo
3. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major ('Hunt'), Op. 31/3: 3. Menuetto
4. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major ('Hunt'), Op. 31/3: 4. Presto con fuoco
5. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major ('Hammerklavier'), Op. 106: 1. Allegro
6. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major ('Hammerklavier'), Op. 106: 2. Scherzo
7. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major ('Hammerklavier'), Op. 106: 3. Adagio sostenuto
8. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major ('Hammerklavier'), Op. 106: 4. Largo - Allegro risoluto

Disc 5:

1. Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90: 1. Con vivacità e sempre con sentimento ed espressione
2. Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90: 2. Non troppo vivace e cantabile assai
3. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1: 1. Allegro
4. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1: 2. Allegretto
5. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1: 3. Rondo. Allegro commodo
6. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ('Moonlight'), Op. 27/2: 1. Adagio sostenuto
7. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ('Moonlight'), Op. 27/2: 2. Allegretto
8. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ('Moonlight'), Op. 27/2: 3. Presto agitato
9. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101: 1. Allegretto ma non troppo con intimissimo sentimento
10. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101: 2. Vivace alla Marcia
11. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101: 3. Adagio ma non troppo, con affetto
12. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101: 4. Allegro ma non troppo, e con fermezza

Disc 6:

1. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ('Appassionata'), Op. 57: 1. Allegro assai
2. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ('Appassionata'), Op. 57: 2. Andante con moto
3. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ('Appassionata'), Op. 57: 3. Allegro, ma non troppo
4. Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ('Tempest'), Op. 31/2: 1. Largo - Allegro
5. Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ('Tempest'), Op. 31/2: 2. Adagio
6. Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ('Tempest'), Op. 31/2: 3. Allegretto
7. Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major ('Pastoral'), Op. 28: 1. Allegro
8. Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major ('Pastoral'), Op. 28: 2. Andante
9. Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major ('Pastoral'), Op. 28: 3. Scherzo & Trio. Allegro vivace
10. Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major ('Pastoral'), Op. 28: 4. Rondo

Disc 7:

1. Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31/1: 1. Allegro vivace
2. Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31/1: 2. Adagio grazioso
3. Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31/1: 3. Rondo. Allegretto
4. Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: 1. Vivace ma non troppo
5. Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: 2. Prestissimo
6. Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: 3. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung
7. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2: 1. Allegro vivace
8. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2: 2. Largo appassionato
9. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2: 3. Scherzo. Allegretto
10. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2: 4. Rondo. Grazioso
11. Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major ('A Thérèse'), Op. 78: 1. Adagio cantabile
12. Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major ('A Thérèse'), Op. 78: 2. Allegro vivace

Disc 8:

1. Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10/1: 1. Molto allegro
2. Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10/1: 2. Adagio molto
3. Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10/1: 3. Finale. Prestissimo
4. Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major ('Waldstein'), Op. 53: 1. Allegro con brio
5. Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major ('Waldstein'), Op. 53: 2. Introduzione. Adagio molto - Attacca subito
6. Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major ('Waldstein'), Op. 53: 3. Rondo. Allegretto moderato - Prestissimo
7. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major ('Grand Sonata'), Op. 7: 1. Molto allegro
8. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major ('Grand Sonata'), Op. 7: 2. Largo con gran espressione
9. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major ('Grand Sonata'), Op. 7: 3. Allegro
10. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major ('Grand Sonata'), Op. 7: 4. Rondo. Poco allegretto

Disc 9:

1. Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major ('Cuckoo'), Op. 79: 1. Presto alla tedesca
2. Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major ('Cuckoo'), Op. 79: 2. Andante
3. Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major ('Cuckoo'), Op. 79: 3. Vivace
4. Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49/1: 1. Andante
5. Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49/1: 2. Rondo. Allegro
6. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major ('Les Adieux'), Op. 81a: 1. Das Lebwohl - Adagio. Allegro
7. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major ('Les Adieux'), Op. 81a: 2. Abweswenheit - Andante espressivo. In gehender Bewegung, doch mit vie
8. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major ('Les Adieux'), Op. 81a: 3. Das Wiedersehn - Vivacissimamente. Im lebhafsten Zeitmasse
9. Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22: 1. Allegro con brio
10. Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22: 2. Adagio con molto espressione
11. Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22: 3. Minuetto
12. Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22: 4. Rondo. Allegretto
13. Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54: 1. In Tempo d'un Minuetto
14. Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54: 2. Allegretto

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #281777 in Music
• Released on: 2002-01-29
• Number of discs: 9
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .59 pounds

Customer Reviews

My Favorite Beethoven Piano Sonata Set
I happen to know for a fact that there are a number of you out there who are finding it hard to decide to pay the asking price for this set. Therefore, I shall try to explain why you should do so, immediately.

First of all, I will say that I own complete cycles by Gulda, Fischer, Schnabel, Kempff (mono), Kovacevich, Ciccolini, Brendel (VOX), Barenboim (DG), Goode, Roberts, Gilels (incomplete) and Backhaus (mono and stereo.) Of these, Annie's is my favorite complete set, easily. I also own single/double discs by Serkin, Richter, Moravec, Horowitz, O'Conor, Pollini, Kempff (stereo), Arrau, Jando and Rubinstein. Annie also trumps many of these as well.

Secondly, I must say that Annie's cycle is remarkably consistent. She does excellent or superb on 25 of the 32. In the others, she is fair or good. In my experience, this is no small feat, in fact only Gulda equals her in consistency, though his imterpretations rarely reach the heights of Annie Fischer's performances. Gulda tends to rush through these works, an approach which doesn't always come off well and even when it does, he still lack's Fischer's depth. Schnabel's legendary set, now available on Naxos from European sellers with excellent transfers by Mark Obert-Thorn, is of course very consistent and superbly played. However, many will likely pass on this set due to the historical sound. Kempff plays these works on a smaller scale that doesn't always work for me, though few can match his tone and beauty. Backhaus's more masculine approach is more to my liking, though his fast slow movements, like Gulda, lack depth. Kovacevich's set is more aggressive than even Annie's, who is surprisingly aggressive when needed and deeply touching and sensitive when appropriate. She handles all three of the main periods of Lvb's works with equal achievement, an incredible feat.

Third, the quality of her playing simply has to be heard to be believed. The opening to her Appassionata sonata dispels all worries that you might have that she isn't up the job. You can listen here at Amazon on the page that holds the single disc from this set. Her playing sounds like thunder from the heavens, as does the finale here and in the Moonlight Sonata. She finds young energy in the early works and confident strength and power in the heroic middle sonatas. Her Op. 31 is easily my favorite, combining a great sense of rhythm, drama and beauty. Her Late Sonatas are incredibly profound and gorgeous. Without resorting to some of the more extreme tempo choices others have made, she finds a style all her own that works magnificently. In fact, her tempo choices are almost always just right, never rushing, nor letting the tempo sag.

Fourth, when compared to her closest rivals, Schnabel, Gulda, and Kempff, her set has superior sound. She plays a gorgeously dark sounding Bosendorfer that was recorded remarkably well. Her recordings were made in the 70's and 80's and the close miking accurately conveys her sweet tone and powerful fortes. Sure, Goode and Kovacevich may have better sound, but IMO they don't play at her level. Goode's interpretations lack excitement at times, while Kovacevich seems to focus a bit too much on excitement.

Fifth, you will notice that the price changes from time to time by some of the marketplace sellers, buying it now saves you from paying more for it later. More importantly, there may not even be a later, for this set is hard to find as it is. This can certainly suggest that it may not stay in print. With talent like this, why gamble? This is mostly a matter of taste of course, I suggest that you listen to the samples here and compare for yourself. I really don't think that you'll be sorry if you choose Annie, though!

Checking the notes again.....
(...)

First, it did not take fifteen years to record these sonatas. The notes are quite clear that they were recorded 1977-78. It is possible considerable patches were recorded later, with some selection of takes still later, but heck, that's been going on since magnetic tape came in after WWII.

Check a book by Glenn Plaskin on a certain famous pianist's patching. Vladimir Horowitz was always revisiting performances supposedly already in the can. The only complete Beethoven cycle without splicing is Schnabel's, and there's more of a few of us who suspect he might have benefitted with some.

Secondly, Ms Fischer was not a stranger to any of these sonatas. She did concentrate on the named sonatas earlier in her career, as did most pianists of her generation. But these recordings were made following performances of the complete cycle in 16 recitals during 1976-77, after 55 years on the concert platform, and Annie Fischer is about the last pianist on earth to sell glib sight-reading to the public.

I saw Annie Fischer only once, in Edinburgh around 1970, and I've never seen a more responsible artist. There's nothing tentative, immature or dishonest about these recordings, and how they were made is less important than the performances they contain.

My only cavil is that the sound may be a bit close for a tank like the Boesendorfer. My preference is not for an under-the-lid sound in what sounds like a small studio (see the additional notes below). I like a piano's sound to expand and breathe in a comfortable sized space. However a lot of other people seem to like the pianists's perspective rather than the audience's, and it's the rule, not the exception, among Beethoven cycles.

(...)

After checking the recordings on the 'scope, I discovered that the engineers have removed most of the stereo information. In some recording setups, the production staff can increase or diminish stereo content as easily as you can raise or lower your volume control at home.

What's left in these recordings is not quite a hard knot of pure, vicious mono, but almost. As a result, you are not supposed to find out that the sessions were in fact done in a warm, spacious hall, not in an airless shoe box as you and I might have guessed. (By contrast, Claude Frank's superb set was recorded in a much smaller room, but the breadth of the stereo wears much more easily on the nerves.)

The cure for the overly aggressive sound given to Annie Fischer's piano is to retrieve the suppressed stereo information. That restores the environment around the instrument and gives the sound some air. There are several ways to do this, but perhaps the easiest is to listen on a surround system and if necessary, boost the rear speakers. The piano itself will stay solidly front and center, but the air around the sound will spread throughout your listening area, easing the occasional brutal proximity of the recording.

And then you will find Annie Fischer's excellent performances sound even better.

The price is exorbitant. It's worth it.
This is a brilliant set of Beethoven's piano sonatas. The Hungarian Annie Fischer is one of the legendary figures in the history of music. To any true lover of Beethoven this boxed set is a must.

When it comes to Beethoven's piano sonatas my feet are not set in concrete. There is no one "perfect" interpretation, there are many "perfect" interpretations. I've been listening to these sonatas for over 50 years and have enjoyed many different renditions. We must remember that after all, it is Beethoven that we are hearing. That's where the true genius lies.

I first heard and came to love Beethoven's piano works played by Arthur Rubinstein. My personal favorite interpreter is Claudio Arrau. He's currently out of fashion. I like his extremely slow tempo and his mysticism. However I've never heard a more interesting first movement of Pathetique than Alfred Brendel's. And I never understood the final movement of Hammerklavier until I heard Brendel's reading of it. Emil Gilels owns the Second Sonata in my estimation. But there are many other renditions worth hearing.

Ms. Fischer was a perfectionist and did not like studio recording. The information on the disc insert says that she did not play any of the sonatas at a single sitting. She would play portions over and over until she had the effect she wanted, and then the recording engineers would electronically splice the parts together. It took her 15 years to finalize the entire sonatas. The engineering is perfect and you would never suspect the splicing of her sessions.

I was put off when I heard how Ms. Fischer had spliced these sonata sections together. Also by the fact that she did not want them released. I'm glad these concerns did not hold me back from purchasing the set. The greatest praise I can give them is that often I hear notes and experience emotions that are new to me. In each sonata there is a fresh sound to keep me inspired by the master composer.