Beethoven Piano Sonatas Nos.28 and 29 (Uchida) |
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Artist:
Mitsuko Uchida
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £7.54
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028947586623
Format: CD
Label: Universal Classics
Manufacturer: Universal Classics
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Universal Classics
Release Date: 2007-08-20
Running Time: 69
Studio: Universal Classics |
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Disc 1:
| 1. 1. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung (Allegretto ma non troppo) | | 2. 2. Lebhaft, marschmäßig (Vivace alla marcia) | | 3. 3. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (Adagio ma non troppo, con affetto) | | 4. 1. Allegro | | 5. 2. Scherzo (Assai vivace - Presto - Prestissimo - Tempo I) | | 6. 3. Adagio sostenuto | | 7. 4. Largo - Allegro risoluto |
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A true illumination., 2008-02-14
I don't usually write reviews into Amazon, but I want to let people know that the negative review, above, of Uchida's performance strikes me as very peculiar, and that I hope people won't be put off listening to this recording by it. This is an absolutely stunning performance, one of those rare and extraordinary gifts that make you feel like you're about to split your skin with excitement. Uchida is an immensely intelligent interpreter of Beethoven. I did truly feel when I heard this that a new depth of passion and of intellectual confrontation in Beethoven's music stood illuminated for the first time. If you want the work of thinking with and through art to be a blessed straining, as Adorno argued that it must be, then listen to this performance. It won't leave you alone for a second.
A hurricane of a performance, with passion and tenderness, 2008-01-30
This is a performance with real fire! Beethoven ablaze. Uchida plays with passion. At the same time it is not just fireworks, there is tenderness too. The slow movt has great depth.
The final movt combines both and engages both heart and head. So, for me this is a very satisfying recording that adds something to the many versions availiable.
A disappointing Hammerklavier, 2007-11-09
Having read very positive reviews of Uchida's Beethoven sonatas, I had great expectations to this CD. And the sound quality is really excellent; maybe the best piano sound I have ever heard on CD.
Unfortunately I can not say the same of Mitsuko Uchida's Beethoven interpretation. I own about 20 different recordings of the op.106 sonata, from Schnabel onwards. It's probably my favourite piece of music. I also have other recordings of Uchida, mainly Mozart and Schubert, which I enjoy very much. But having listened through this CD now 4 or 5 times, I have to say that I do not like her way of playing the Hammerklavier sonata at all; less and less for each hearing. In the Allegro her rubato sounds completely wrong. She seems over-focused on making an Uchida-Hammerklavier rather than playing Beethoven. The Adagio is much the same. One of Beethoven's deepest single movements does not require such personal colouring. There is no fine flow through the music here, just an urge to produce something different. In the Largo the contrapuntal parts are mixed up, and the fine melody is almost lost. This is not how a fugue should sound.
As I said at the start the engineers have done an outstanding job with this recording, but the pianistic performance is far from perfect. Compared with the great Hammerklaviers of Arrau, Brendel, Gilels, Kovacevich, Pollini, Richter, Serkin, Solomon, this recording from Mitsuko Uchida belong on the far back shelf.
Maybe I'm a bit harsh here, but this CD does certainly not deserve a top rating: 5 stars for the engineers; 2 for the klavier hammerer.
Insight and wisdom, 2008-08-12
I have always had misgivings about Uchida's Beethoven, having heard her play the last three sonatas live and been disappointed. Hearing her recent recordings, however, has made me change my mind. Yes, this is idiosyncratic playing: you are listening to Uchida's view of Hammerklavier, but there is insight here, wisdom and depth, that places this reading among the finest. Uchida's playing has grace and elegance, but with enough Romantic muscle to add weight to her performance. The slow movement is, in places, almost ethereal, as if she has shifted levels to a higher plane of existence, and the fugal finale maintains a real sense of line and proportion, presenting a convincing conclusion to an account of the piece as a whole that builds in intensity and expression. If you are only ever going to buy one version of this sonata, then this is probably not it. Kovacevich is in many ways truer to the score, entirely himself but in service to the music; Paul Lewis would probably be my 'building a library' recommendation; and, personally, I couldn't be without Brendel, Gilels and Schnabel, to name but a few of the greats. But this is a 'Hammerklavier' to be reckoned with, presenting new insights into this old warhorse and, as such, a 'must hear' for the serious Beethovenian.
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