Beethoven Piano Trios, Violin Sonatas, Cello Sonatas: Box Set 9cds (2012)

Asked to provide a capsule characterization of the Beethoven trios as opposed to the many other fine ones that the Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio performed, Isaac Stern offered the summation that "Beethoven is constantly driving himself and his performers in a way unknown to any other composer. There is none of the romantic levity one finds in the works of others. He is always deadly in earnest, even when introducing a lighter touch for contrast….."

Irving Kolodin

One of the great cycles. Of the hundred or so available recorded cycles (out of about one hundred and fifteen or so), this rates as one of the best. In better sound than either the DG stereo cycle and the live King International cycle, Kempff's style is more poetic and less intense and fiery than others. Whatever Kempff may give away in terms of speed, power, and precision, he makes up for in other ways

Portrayed in Hilary and Jackie , notorious for her marriage to Daniel Barenboim and mourned for the life and career she lost to multiple sclerosis, Jacqueline du Pré is still best remembered as one of the finest musicians Britain has ever produced. Few cellists could hope to achieve the level of mastery and emotion she poured into her treasured EMI recordings, collected here in complete form on 17 CDs: her stunning interpretations of Elgar, Dvorak, Beethoven, Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Haydn, Brahms, Strauss and more!

Michael Korstick - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas
EAC+LOG+CUE | 10x FLAC: 2,04 GB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Oehms Classical # OC 125 | Country/Year: Germany 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Classical Period, Piano

The recording is clean and conducive to the careful listening which Korstick consistently commands. (…) The pianist has declared his aim is to attain an "ideal", a distillation of Beethoven's piano writing. Perhaps a Platonic "essence" even. If this, rather than something personal, fluid, malleable and potentially as fallible as it is valid appeals to you, then you should investigate the cycle on Oehms. (…) For here is – if not a granite monolith – a commentary on what stone and a chisel can achieve.

Decca's five-CD set Ultimate Beethoven is a respectable beginner's introduction to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven because it presents his greatest masterworks in complete performances by major artists. Where some other collections present only short, thematic excerpts or single movements taken from larger works, obliging the listener to put in additional effort to hear the whole compositions, this set leaves nothing incomplete. Central to Beethoven's output are his symphonies, and the Symphony No. 5 in C minor; the Symphony No. 6 in F major, "Pastoral"; and the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral" have long been regarded as essential works.

This is the second two-CD set of Beethoven's ten sonatas for piano and violin performed by violinist Henryk Szeryng and pianist Ingrid Haebler. It includes Beethoven's final five works in this form, including the three sonatas of opus 30, the opus 47 sonata, and the opus 96 sonata.

There are dozens of available recordings of Beethoven trios on the market, although not so many that avoid the combination of the two Op. 70 trios and instead combine one of them with the Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 ("Archduke"). For other reasons as well, this release by the trio of violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and fortepianist Alexander Melnikov can be strongly recommended.

Daishin Kashimoto - Beethoven, The Complete Violin Sonatas (2014) [4CD] {Warner Classics}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.09 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 621 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 145 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Warner Classics | 2564 63492-9
Classical / Chamber Music / Sonatas / Violin

Daishin Kashimoto, a Japanese national born in London who studied at the Juilliard when barely in long trousers, started prodigiously young – he gave his first full recital aged nine and has scooped most of the world's top violin prizes. Today he is first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He also has a lively career as soloist and chamber musician. His clean, elegant tone and peerless accuracy suit these Beethoven sonatas, requiring digital precision in, say, the early "classical" Op 12 set or the witty, tail-chasing Scherzo of the C minor, Op 30 No 2. In contrast he easily embraces the big-boned ambitions of the Kreutzer Sonata Op 47, never sounding forced. Konstantin Lifschitz is a sympathetic, alert partner, even if the recording seems to favour the violin perhaps more than Beethoven would have expected. But the musicianship is never in question.

Beethoven wrote ten sonatas for piano and violin, the best known of which are the "Spring" and the "Kreutzer" sonatas. The fame of these two works has tended to result in neglect of the remaining sonatas. This is unfortunate because Beethoven's remaining eight sonatas for piano and violin include much great music. The set of 10 works is of an appropriate size to warrant exploration of the entire group for those with a passion for the violin or for Beethoven. It includes an appealing mix of familiar and unfamiliar music.