Beethoven Baruda Skoda

“Nobody plays this music more authoritatively and eloquently,” wrote London’s Sunday Times of Stephen Kovacevich in Beethoven. “He is in his element, responding wholeheartedly to the extreme physicality that Beethoven brought to music … but the wit and delicacy of the playing are also remarkable.”Kovacevich himself has spoken of his love for the “fun and virtuosity” of the composer’s early sonatas, while in the often

French Canada's ATMA Classique label tends to favor Canadian artists and specifically those from Québec, but the only connection between Canada and young Italian pianist Christian Leotta is apparently that he appeared in 2002 and perhaps – this is not made clear in the booklet – that he began playing the complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas in that city. He's certainly among the youngest performers to have attempted that feat, and perhaps that mark of ambition is what attracted the label to the project.

For once the hyperbole rings true. Christian Leotta’s fourth volume of Beethoven sonatas is indeed ‘a major addition to other sets currently available’. Musicianly to the core, this young Italian pianist quietly but unmistakably commands your attention at every level. His musical focus and concentration are unswerving, nothing is rushed or overly volatile, everything is scrupulously placed yet illuminated with acute detail and vitality. You will rarely encounter performances more meticulously prepared.

"Muti's Beethoven Fifth is fleet, fluid, and transparent. He shows his usual attention to details, and offers many individual touches. I especially enjoyed the horn crescendo in bar 34 of the Allegro con brio. It's not indicated in my ancient Eulenberg score but makes perfect sense in its context. …Muti achieves a clarity and rhythmic definition found only in the finest interpretations…The playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra is nothing short of spectacular. The fast string triplets from measure 132 in the final movement are not only accurate but beautifully played with full tone.

Originally released between 1976 and 2007, the offerings in this eight-CD box set represent Maurizio Pollini's exemplary concerto recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, including all of Ludwig van Beethoven's cycle, the two piano concertos by Johannes Brahms, and six of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's masterpieces in performances that rank among the pianist's finest.

"Muti's Beethoven Fifth is fleet, fluid, and transparent. He shows his usual attention to details, and offers many individual touches. I especially enjoyed the horn crescendo in bar 34 of the Allegro con brio. It's not indicated in my ancient Eulenberg score but makes perfect sense in its context. …Muti achieves a clarity and rhythmic definition found only in the finest interpretations…The playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra is nothing short of spectacular. The fast string triplets from measure 132 in the final movement are not only accurate but beautifully played with full tone.

8 CDs, Capbox. Maurizio Pollini's Beethoven Sonatas cycle has reached completion after nearly 40 years. The Beethoven cycle began in June 1975 with opp. 109 and 110, and reached completion this year with the final CD, of the three sonatas op. 31 and the two of op. 49. This latter recording will appear as a single CD simultaneously with the box set. This is the first Beethoven cycle on DG since those of Barenboim and Giles in the 1980s.