Beethoven: Complete Works for Solo Piano Vol 1 – Sonatas Op 13 Pathétique, Op 14 Nos 1 & 2, Op 22 /Brautigam

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata No.8 in C minor, Op.13, Pathètique Sonata No.9 in E major, Op.14, No.1 Sonata No.10 in G major, Op.14, No.2 Sonata No.11 in B flat major, Op.22 10/10 Classicstoday 10/10/10 Klassik-Heute 2004 Empfohlen Klassik 2005 With what is possibly the most famous C minor chord in the history of classical music, Ronald Brautigam begins a new Herculean travail on BIS. The slow introduction of the Pathétique Sonata is the starting signal for a projected 17 CD series of Beethoven’s complete works for solo piano, following Brautigam’s surveys of the piano music by Haydn and Mozart. Both these series have been unanimously praised in the music press. About the Mozart Sonatas (BIS-CD-835/37) Classical Music Web wrote ‘Brautigam finds more colour in the fortepiano than any other player I have heard…’ And on BIS-CD-1095, BBC Music Magazine found that Ronald Brautigam ‘reinforces his credentials as one of the most discerning Haydn pianists around.’ The Haydn series was completed in the spring of 2004 with a recording of an arrangement for piano of The Seven Last Words (BIS-CD-1325) that caused the reviewer in Le Monde de la Musique to note: ‘Avec ces Sept Paroles, il termine son entreprise en beauté.’ As Brautigam now progresses to the climax of the Classical period (and the onset of the Romantic era), everything is set for an experience out of the ordinary. The works on this first volume were composed between 1797 and 1800, by a composer not yet thirty years old. Performed on a fortepiano especially built for this recording project by Paul McNulty, after a Walther & Sohn instrument built around 1802, and recorded in multi-channel, Brautigam’s interpretations are certain to make the listener sit up and take notice. As all Super Audio CDs on BIS, this is a so-called hybrid disc, playable on all CD- and SACD-players. For those who have the necessary equipment, this is probably the first chance of hearing these works performed on a fortepiano in Surround Sound.