{"id":39499,"date":"2024-02-27T13:44:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T12:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f5a7651a-db94-4120-a6d3-94a09501fa76"},"modified":"2024-02-27T14:41:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T13:41:10","slug":"beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"Beethoven’s sonatas: the best recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Freya Parr\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at 12:44 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Beehtoven sonata cycles have become a go-to for any great pianist \u2013\u00a0or even, not so great pianist. But with so many recordings to pick from, sometimes it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We’ve listened to hundreds over the years, and these are some of the best recordings of Beethoven’s sonatas available now to buy or stream.<\/p>

Best recordings of Beethoven’s piano sonatas<\/h2>

Artur Schnabel<\/h3>
Warner Classics 9029597507<\/strong><\/em><\/p>
Recorded between 1932 and 1938, this first-ever recording of the complete sonatas<\/a><\/strong> has remained a classic account.<\/p>
Buy from Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
<\/div><\/figure><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/greatest-piano-concertos-all-time\/\">The greatest piano concertos of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-pianists-all-time\/\">The 20 Greatest Pianists of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-wilhelm-kempff\">Wilhelm Kempff<\/h3><p><em><strong>DG 477 7958<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>The German <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-pianists-all-time\/\">pianist<\/a><\/strong> recorded the cycle several times; DG\u2019s remastered stereo version was released in 2008.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Beethoven-Piano-Sonatas-Wilhelm-Kempff\/dp\/B001CGJ3QS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy from Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Beethoven Piano Sonatas: The Complete Wartime 78-rpm Recordings\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/0z1BgMjZWpPtEuchIIeO1P?utm_source=oembed\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/ludwig-van-beethoven\">A guide to Beethoven<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/top-20-beethoven-works\/\"><strong>Top 20 Beethoven works<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-friedrich-gulda\">Friedrich Gulda<\/h3><p><em><strong>Orfeo C808109L<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>The Austrian pianist made three recordings of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\/\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s sonatas. This is the first, recorded for Austrian radio.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 14, 15, 17, 21-24 & 32\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/7IuansNUMwvK3IZZrmoc5H?utm_source=oembed\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-haydn-s-piano-sonatas\/\">A guide to Haydn’s piano sonatas<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/best-recordings-beethovens-hammerklavier-sonata\/\">The best recordings of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ronald-brautigam\">Ronald Brautigam<\/h3><p><em><strong>BIS BIS2000<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>Dutch keyboardist Ronald Brautigam\u2019s fortepiano recordings of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\/\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong> sonatas for BIS made between 2004 and 2010 are now gathered together in one box. Brautigam plays on Paul McNulty\u2019s replicas of original instruments dating from 1788 to 1819.<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Beethoven-Complete-Sonatas-Brautigam-BIS2000\/dp\/B00LJ3EUGC\/ref=sr_1_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Buy from Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/79TnLEIoZF0GDPIhIdnwWb?utm_source=oembed\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/beethoven-what-did-19th-century-think\/\">Beethoven: what did the 19th century think?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-stephen-kovacevich\">Stephen Kovacevich<\/h3><p><em><strong>Warner 9029586922<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>Kovacevich gets to the heart of Beethoven\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/discovering-music-sonata-form\/\">sonatas<\/a><\/strong> with playing that teeters on the edge of sanity, roars with ferocious power and frequently moves the listener to tears. The finest to date.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hive.co.uk\/Product\/Beethoven-The-Complete-Piano-Sonatasbagatelles\/21221158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy from Hive<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Beethoven-Complete-Piano-Sonatas-Bagatelles\/dp\/B0714GDHFM\/ref=sr_1_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy from Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/19jbnpI3WscUvtBCPcDYb2?utm_source=oembed\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/tag\/beethoven-reviews\/\"><strong>Read reviews of the latest Beethoven recordings here<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p><strong>Find out more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/tag\/beethoven\/\">Beethoven and his works here<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/best-music-streaming-services\/\">Which are the best music streaming services for classical music lovers?<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Freya Parr Published: Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at 12:44 PM Beehtoven sonata cycles have become a go-to for any great pianist \u2013\u00a0or even, not so great pianist. But with so many recordings to pick from, sometimes it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We’ve listened to hundreds over the years, and these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39500,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings.jpg",200,200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings.jpg",200,200,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings.jpg",200,200,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings.jpg",200,200,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings.jpg",200,200,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/beethovens-sonatas-the-best-recordings.jpg",200,200,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Freya Parr Published: Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at 12:44 PM Beehtoven sonata cycles have become a go-to for any great pianist \u2013\u00a0or even, not so great pianist. But with so many recordings to pick from, sometimes it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We’ve listened to hundreds over the years, and these…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}