Emil Gilels - Beethoven Sonatas

Saw this near complete set of LvB sonatas by Gilels on DG going reasonably priced in HMV.... wondering about giving it a go.

I have the Hammerklavier from this set, its a superb performance but sound is typical early digital from early 1980s, metallic and hard.

Anyone got any views or informed opinions on this set?

 

Dear Alanbeeb

Having owned the Gilels-set for some time, I havent heard more than half of it, due to other preferences (Bach m.m.), but I
think I can say, that Gilels as to Beethoven is the Otto Klemperer
of pianists, striving for the monumental performance. There is no
spontaneity and the poetry is completely intellectualized. But
there is on the other hand an all present concentrated spirituality,
which suits the middle-period and later works best, and sometimes is a little too weighty for some of the earlier works.
His approach of the Hammerclaviersonata is of almost symphonic stature. All in all I find him imposing and often overwhelming, and well worth to own. But you need to have more than one interpretation of this central work of our western culture, and if you are going to aquire only one, I think Gilels is a bit one-dimensional, and I should rather choose Arrau or Barenboim. But If you choose to have say four different recordings, I think the Gilels ought to be one of those.
Recording tecnique is usually adequate, and it is surely the interpretation that matters, otherwise nobody would aquire e.g. Schnabels recordings.

Venlig hilsen

 

I've got several recordings of some of the sonatas, but no complete set by anybody.
I've got Pollini's last 5, including the Hammerklavier, and its the one I return to most often in this once every couple of years music.

The last three sonatas are the most crucial for me... Pollini is excellent, Pizzaro's recent disc is not in the same league, wondering when Perahia will get round to them.
I have other LvB sonatas by Kempff (who I think simplifies things), Perahia, Gould (can't remember when I last listened to this) and Jonathan Gilad.

If you had to choose a pianist who could do the Appasionata, Les Adieux and op.109 all must hear recordings.... who might it be?

 

Dear Alanbeeb

The market is inundated with excellent complete and incomplete recordings of Beethovens pianosonatas. It is absurd to claim that a single one of these should be a "must hear" recording, and others not. Every recording has its special virtues. The monumental style of Gilels, the classic restraint of Backhaus and to some extent Gulda and Buchbinder, the poetry of Kempff, the noble expressivity of Arrau, the manly force of Lill and Jando, the
analytic style of Roberts, the nostalgic charm of Barenboim et.c. et. c. are complementary, and if you are serious interested in Beethovens pianosonatas, you need to have different recordings of the same works.

But if I were to choose only one, I should choose Barenboim (first recording for EMI), but should shortly afterwards have a need for others, and it is really a matter of taste which one(s) to choose. And it is difficult to advise others.

I do definitely not like Gould. I have heard 95 percent of his Beethoven sonata-recordings. He makes at will caricatures of the music. This is not only irrelevant but also repellent. In my opinion he is the most overrated pianist of the 2000th century.

Pollini is tecnical perfect, but cool. Reminds me of Toscaninis Beethoven symphonies.

I like Kempff - especially his mono set from the 1950ies which is more expressive than the smoother stereo set from the 1960ies. Kempffs poetic attitude is specially suited to sonatas like the Pastorale ,the Es-dur nr 18 ,the Les Adieux and the slow movements in the earlier sonatas.

Perahia: Well, I have only heard his recording of sonatas no. 1 - 3, and I found his playing a little unconcentrated in the expression.
I have not heard Pizzaros or Gilads Beethoven.

If I were to have 5 different recordings , these should be Barenboim (HMV-set), Arrau (complete Philips-set), Backhaus,
Kempff (mono-set) and Gilels in that order.

Venlig hilsen

 

Interesting topic.

I have a bunch of Gilels Beethoven sonatas, among which, naturally, the Hammerklavier (by far not a favorite for me among th LvB sonatas).

I'm getting less and less a Pollini fan (his latest recordings have not been so great), but that seventies set of late Beethoven sonatas is firly indispensable.

I love the mono Kempff, and love it especially in combination with Schnabel. Usually when I listen to a Beethoven sonata, I go from Kempff to Schnabel or the other way around, and there always added insights.

I wouldn't want to miss Rudolf Serkin. I should get the Arrau set, I guess.

 

So "monumental" is the adjective used for Gilels' playing then - I must remember never to use it again as a term of approbation. I've had a big down on Gilels ever since hearing him play Brahms 1 at the Proms years ago, and a relay of his Beethoven Op 111 on the radio. Both were the most portentious, pompous, uninvolving (and hence seriously tedious) renditions of either piece I've ever heard.

I'm a big fan of the Barenboim DG Op111 disc, and when looking for a complete Beethoven cycle recently was seriously considering getting either his DG or the HMV set. Seeing the almost hallowed terms people use for the Kempff mono set though I ended up with that one - I think I'll still be getting a Barenboim set. Kempff just doesn't do it for me in general - too cool by far, but in Op 111 some of his rubato is just plain bizarre, and completely disruptive to the mood of the piece. And the critics complained of Barenboim's eccentricities!

I've been seriously impressed by John Lill in recent concerts - all three have been outstanding (which included Beethoven Op 54, Pf Conc 4, and Apassionata). His cycle was recorded a long time ago though, so I'm not sure how his playing then compares to now.

The best performances of Beethoven sonatas I've heard recently have to be Paul Lewis (in Op 111 again), and Mikail Pletnev in the Op 10/3 (after a rather detached 1st movement the slow movement was absolutely mesmerising, although there are glaciers in the world moving faster than he did) followed by a staggering Pathetique. It would appear Paul Lewis is to tour all the Beethoven sonatas over the seasons 2005/6 and 6/7, and record a complete cycle for Harmonia Mundi. Should be worth watching out for.

Kovacevich has to my ears lost it - one recent reviewer referred to a degree of "impatience" in the music with which, if he means sudden lurches forward in tempo in final movements to the point where he can't control the rhythm and the notes tumble over each other as they feel like, I'd fully agree.

 

Dear GrahamN

"Monumental" is for me the word that describes Gilels style most
adequately. Have you heard his Brahms 2.nd concerto-recording with Fritz Reiner(RCA ca 1959)? But he is also a bit over-intellectualized sometimes, and I dont postulate that his style suites all the Beethovensonatas.

I find Barenboims recordings -and Kempffs recordings as well- very poetic and beautiful. Cool is the last word I would apply to Kempff, I think the description "a little feminine" is more fitting.
Barenboim on the contrary is sufficient manly when needed.
Lill is manly too, almost all the time, - in a way I find him more Beethovenian than most of the others in this respect.

As to op. 111 and rubato. If you look into the score, you will see
that LvB in the first movement prescribes much more tempo-variation and rubato than usual.

Venlig hilsen