Barenboim plays Beethoven

[George K]

DG just released a new recording of Barenboim playing some middle Beethoven sonatas (#13-19).

Listened to Op. 28. He strays from the score in the 2nd moment ignoring the "staccato" markings in the 2nd section.

Op 31 #2 doesn't sound all that "Tempestuous" to me.

You can find them here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=barenboim+beethoven&sp=EgIIAw%253D%253D

[Klaus]

I listened to op. 3 no. 2.

Link to video

I'm not a fan so far.

Compare this with ABMs recording:

Link to video
Huge difference in clarity.

[George K]

@George-K said in Barenboim plays Beethoven:

Listened to Op. 28. He strays from the score in the 2nd moment ignoring the "staccato" markings in the 2nd section.

[Copper]

Fail

[kluurs]

Barenboim has recorded these works a few times. I believe I have 3 versions of the complete sonatas and there are 2 others out there. I believe his best was his first on EMI when he was in his early 20s.

There are two excellent new versions of the Beethoven sonatas out there - Igor Levit and Konstantin Scherbakov. There's also a wonderful recording of the Beethoven Emperor by Martin Helmchen.

It's sad that many of the celebrations for Beethoven's 250th Anniversary had to be cancelled but there have been some decent recordings released this year.

I do admire Barenboim - and enjoyed listening to him perform Mozart concerti with the CSO. He's a bit like Arthur Rubinstein in that he has strong musical ideas - and can play almost anything from memory. I once bid at an auction on having him come to the house with the President of the CSO for dinner - but sadly, was outbid.

ABM was a perfectionist - and almost everything he performed was gorgeous.

[George K]

@kluurs said in Barenboim plays Beethoven:

ABM was a perfectionist

Yeah. He was awesome. He never let his feelings get in the way of the notes that were written by the composer.

I'll have to revisit Barenboim's early recordings which you mention. However, I was really not impressed with anything I heard today - and I listened to almost all of them.

[kluurs]

@George-K Barenboim was a gifted youngster. A few years ago when he was with the CSO, he conducted or performed 5 different programs over 3 days. My technician who was responsible for the pianos at Symphony Center said Barenboim never was one to feel a need to practice the piano - at least at the Center or prior to a concert. I did shake Barenboim's hand once when I was on one of the boards of the CSO. The outer portions of his hand were much more developed than a normal person's hand. But for all his musical talents, he shoots from the hip, a musical hip - but not always as scrupulous as one might wish.

In any event, while I enjoyed his first traversal, when he re-recorded the sonatas for DG (his 2nd traversal), I bought them - listened to them and I don't think I've listened to them since.

Similarly, I liked Alfred Brendel's first take on the Beethoven sonatas on the Turnabout label, but I found all of his subsequent versions to be a lot duller - Brendull as some people referred to him.

I liked Richard Goode's version of the sonatas, released a few decades ago - and wish he could have re-recorded them as I heard him perform most of them at Pick-Staiger. It was magical and inspiring - even better than the recorded version but alas, tendonitis prevented him from completing the traversal.

Jonathan Biss has got some notice - and is a local product - so we should applaud his efforts - but I'd really be interested to hear what Trifonov does, should he ever tackle them.

[George K]

Thanks for your comments @kluurs ! I haven't listened to Goode's recordings in a while. When I first did, I found them, though not stirring, impressive for their simplistic (and that's not meant as an insult!) approach. Accurate, direct and approachable.

I'll have to revisit them.

Regarding Barenboim, a few months ago, I had dinner with a violinist in the CSO (you know who I mean). She commented that Barenboim, though a taskmaster, frequently just "dialed it in." Muti, OTOH, makes a huge effort to understand the music and really, REALLY, knows the music.

But this is, perhaps, a discussion for another thread, or, when personal and COVID issues pass, another in-person discussion.

[George K]

By the way, have you ever seen the movie "Hilary and Jackie?"

[kluurs]

@George-K No, I haven't. I did read a Jaquiline DuPre biography and felt that her sister's trashing of her was a bit...unseemly. Jaqueline was one of the most talented musicians of the 20th century. It's incredibly sad that illness prevented her from having the career she should have had. Hilary's trashing of Jacqueline's memory says a lot more about Hilary than her sister.