Annie Fischer – Complete Beethoven Sonatas (9 CD box set, FLAC)

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Annie Fischer
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 9 CD box set
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hungaroton
Size: 2.08 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01
Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major (“Funeral March”), Op. 26
01. 1. Andante con Variazioni
02. 2. Scherzo. Allegro molto
03. 3. Marcia Funebre sulla morte d’un Eroe
04. 4. Allegro

Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2
05. 1. Allegro
06. 2. Allegretto
07. 3. Presto

Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
08. 1. Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo
09. 2. Allegro molto
10. 3. Adagio ma non troppo – fuga (Arioso), Allegro ma non troppo

Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major (“Quasi una fantasia”), Op. 27/1
11. 1. Andante
12. 2. Allegro molto e vivace
13. 3. Adagio con espressione
14. 4. Allegro vivace

CD 02
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (“Pathétique”), Op. 13
01. 1. Grave. Allegro di molto e con brio
02. 2. Adagio cantabile
03. 3. Rondo. Allegro

Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3
04. 1. Allegro con brio
05. 2. Adagio
06. 3. Scherzo. Allegro
07. 4. Allegro. assai

Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1
08. 1. Allegro
09. 2. Adagio
10. 3. Menuetto. Allegretto
11. 4. Prestissimo

CD 03
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
01. 1. Maestoso. Allegro con brio e appassionato
02. 2. Arietta. Adagio molto, semplice (e) cantabile

Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49/2
03. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
04. 2. Tempo di Menuetto

Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3
05. 1. Presto
06. 2. Largo e mesto
07. 3. Menuetto. Allegro
08. 4. Rondo. Allegro

Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2
09. 1. Allegro
10. 2. Andante
11. 3. Scherzo. Allegro assai

CD 04
Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major (“Hunt”), Op. 31/3
01. 1. Allegro
02. 2. Scherzo
03. 3. Menuetto
04. 4. Presto con fuoco

Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major (“Hammerklavier”), Op. 106
05. 1. Allegro
06. 2. Scherzo
07. 3. Adagio sostenuto
08. 4. Largo – Allegro risoluto

CD 05
Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
01. 1. Con vivacità e sempre con sentimento ed espressione
02. 2. Non troppo vivace e cantabile assai

Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1
03. 1. Allegro
04. 2. Allegretto
05. 3. Rondo. Allegro commodo

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor (“Moonlight”), Op. 27/2
06. 1. Adagio sostenuto
07. 2. Allegretto
08. 3. Presto agitato

Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
09. 1. Allegretto ma non troppo con intimissimo sentimento
10. 2. Vivace alla Marcia
11. 3. Adagio ma non troppo, con affetto
12. 4. Allegro ma non troppo, e con fermezza

CD 06
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor (“Appassionata”), Op. 57
01. 1. Allegro assai
02. 2. Andante con moto
03. 3. Allegro, ma non troppo

Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor (“Tempest”), Op. 31/2
04. 1. Largo – Allegro
05. 2. Adagio
06. 3. Allegretto

Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major (“Pastoral”), Op. 28
07. 1. Allegro
08. 2. Andante
09. 3. Scherzo & Trio. Allegro vivace
10. 4. Rondo

CD 07
Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31/1
01. 1. Allegro vivace
02. 2. Adagio grazioso
03. 3. Rondo. Allegretto

Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
04. 1. Vivace ma non troppo
05. 2. Prestissimo
06. 3. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung

Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2
07. 1. Allegro vivace
08. 2. Largo appassionato
09. 3. Scherzo. Allegretto
10. 4. Rondo. Grazioso

Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major (“A Thérèse”), Op. 78
11. 1. Adagio cantabile
12. 2. Allegro vivace

CD 08
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10/1
01. 1. Molto allegro
02. 2. Adagio molto
03. 3. Finale. Prestissimo

Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major (“Waldstein”), Op. 53
04. 1. Allegro con brio
05. 2. Introduzione. Adagio molto – Attacca subito
06. 3. Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo

Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major (“Grand Sonata”), Op. 7
07. 1. Molto allegro
08. 2. Largo con gran espressione
09. 3. Allegro
10. 4. Rondo. Poco allegretto

CD 09
Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major (“Cuckoo”), Op. 79
01. 1. Presto alla tedesca
02. 2. Andante
03. 3. Vivace

Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49/1
04. 1. Andante
05. 2. Rondo. Allegro

Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major (“Les Adieux”), Op. 81a
06. 1. Das Lebwohl – Adagio. Allegro
07. 2. Abweswenheit – Andante espressivo. In gehender Bewegung, doch mit viel Ausdruck
08. 3. Das Wiedersehn – Vivacissimamente. Im lebhafsten Zeitmasse

Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22
09. 1. Allegro con brio
10. 2. Adagio con molto espressione
11. 3. Minuetto
12. 4. Rondo. Allegretto

Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54
13. 1. In Tempo d’un Minuetto
14. 2. Allegretto

For many years i have wanted to buy this set of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas. I came up with all kinds of reasons not to. First i had other complete sets such as Kovacevich. Secondly,I had other partial sets such as Sviatoslav Richter, Solomon, Schnabel etc.. And thirdly, I even had a number Annie Fischer’s earlier versions of Beethoven Sonatas. Plus this set was not cheap. So I continued to put off buying it. But I have always really liked Ms. Fischer’s playing so when I saw a small price drop I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the set. Although I still enjoy the other versions of Beethoven’s Sonatas, this has quickly become my favorite. I am not going to try to convince anyone that it is the “best.” Best is a matter of opinion. It is my personal favorite because I believe that Annie Fischer captures the wide array of emotional intensity that Beethoven wrote into these sonatas. Annie Fischer was a perfectionist and has been written, she would not release these prior to her death. But perfection does not exist it is only a dream. What Annie Fischer created is, for me, as close to perfection as I will ever need. Well-recorded, on a beautiful sounding piano, by someone who was deeply involved in this work for many years, this is what outstanding classical music is all about. Highly Recommended.