Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ("Appassionata"), Op. 57
Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49/1
Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49/2
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ("Pathétique"), Op. 13
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
Russian pianist Lazar Berman was known as a Liszt specialist, but in this set of live recordings made in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s, he moved back in time to Beethoven's sonatas. The results are both a mixed bag and a pleasing throwback to crowd-pleasing Romantic interpretations of Beethoven. The best comes first, in the form of a rip-roaring Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata," which was rewarded with a roar of applause from the 1972 Milanese crowd, and with the subsequent pair of little sonatas of Op. ...
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Russian pianist Lazar Berman was known as a Liszt specialist, but in this set of live recordings made in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s, he moved back in time to Beethoven's sonatas. The results are both a mixed bag and a pleasing throwback to crowd-pleasing Romantic interpretations of Beethoven. The best comes first, in the form of a rip-roaring Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata," which was rewarded with a roar of applause from the 1972 Milanese crowd, and with the subsequent pair of little sonatas of Op. 49. These pieces, for student pianists, taxed Berman's skills as a virtuoso not a bit, and one wouldn't pick him out as a pianist likely to provide insights into the odd little rhythmic currents and pregnant thematic material that show that, although these are easy pieces, they are by no means minor ones. As it happens, though, Berman really connected with these works; the first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49/1, is especially hypnotic. The Piano Sonata No. 8...
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