Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Paul Badura-Skoda
Number of Discs: 9
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Arcana
Release: 2020
Size: 2.33 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Menuetto (Allegretto)
04. IV. Prestissimo
Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2 No. 2
05. I. Allegro vivace
06. II. Largo appassionato
07. III. Scherzo (Allegretto)
08. IV. Rondo (Grazioso)
Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2 No. 3
09. I. Allegro con brio
10 .II. Adagio
11. III. Scherzo (Allegro)
12. IV. Allegro assai
CD 02
Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 7
01. I. Allegro molto e con brio
02. II. Largo, con gran espressione
03. III. Allegro
04. IV. Rondo (Poco allegretto e grazioso)
Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22
05. I. Allegro con brio
06. II. Adagio con molta espressione
07. III. Menuetto
08. IV. Rondo (Allegretto)
Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14 No. 1
09. I. Allegro
10 .II. Allegretto
11. III. Rondo (Allegro comodo)
CD 03
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1
01. I. Allegro molto e con brio
02. II. Adagio molto
03. III. Finale (Prestissimo)
Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 No. 2
04. I. Allegro
05. II. Allegretto
06. III. Presto
Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10 No. 3
07. I. Presto
08. II. Largo e mesto
09. III. Menuetto (Allegro)
01. IV. Rondo (Allegro)
Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14 No. 2
11. I. Allegro
12. II. Andante
13. III. Scherzo (Allegro assai)
CD 04
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ‘Pathetique’
01. I. Grave (Allegro di molto e con brio)
02. II. Adagio cantabile
03. III. Rondo (Allegro)
Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26 ‘March Funebre’
04. I. Andante con variazioni
05. II. Scherzo. Allegro molto
06. III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Eroe
07. IV. Allegro
Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, Op. 27 No. 1 ‘Quasi una fantasia’
08. I. Andante
09 .II. Allegro molto e vivace
10 .III. Adagio con espressione
11. IV. Allegro vivace
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight’
12. I. Adagio sostenuto
13. II. Allegretto
14. III. Presto agitato
CD 05
Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Scherzo (Allegro assai)
04. IV. Rondo (Allegro ma non troppo)
Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31 No. 1
05. I. Allegro vivace
06. II. Adagio grazioso
07. III. Rondo (Allegretto – Presto)
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 ‘Tempest’
08. I. Largo – Allegro
09 .II. Adagio
10. III. Allegretto
CD 06
Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31 No. 3 ‘The Hunt’
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Scherzo (Allegretto vivace)
03. III. Menuetto (Moderato e grazioso)
04. IV. Presto con fuoco
Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, Op. 78
05. I. Adagio cantabile – Allegro ma non troppo
06. II. Allegro vivace
Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79
07 .I. Presto alla tedesca
08. II. Andante
09. III. Vivace
Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a ‘Les Adieux’
10. I. Das Lebewohl (Adagio)
11. II. Abwesenheit. Andante espressivo – III. Das Wiedersehen (Vivacissimamente)
Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
12. I. Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck
13. II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen
CD 07
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ‘Waldstein’
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Introduzione (Adagio molto) – III. Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo
Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1
03. I. Andante
04. II. Rondo. Allegro
Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49 No. 2
05. I. Allegro ma non troppo
06. II. Tempo di menuetto
Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54
07. I. In tempo d’un menuetto
08. II. Allegretto – Più allegro
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’
09. I. Allegro assai
10. II. Andante con moto – III. Allegro ma non troppo – Presto
CD 08
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 ‘Hammerklavier’
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Scherzo (Assai vivace)
03. III. Adagio sostenuto
04. IV. Introduzione. Largo – Fuga (Allegro risoluto)
Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
05. I. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten Empfindung (Allegretto, ma non troppo)
06. II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig (Vivace alla marcia)
07. III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (Adagio, ma non troppo, con affetto) – IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit (Allegro)
CD 09
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
01. I. Vivace ma non troppo. Adagio espressivo – II. Prestissimo
02. III. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
03. I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo – II. Allegro molto – III. Adagio ma non troppo – Arioso dolente – Fuga (Allegro ma non troppo)
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
04. I. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
05. II. Arietta (Adagio molto semplice cantabile)
This is a major project, the fruit of an unusual collaboration between the editor Michel Bernstein and the Viennese performer, pianist Paul Badura-Skoda, who passed away in 2019. Completed in the 1980s, this complete collection of Beethoven’s sonatas played on period instruments was no longer available. It is therefore an even greater blessing to have it again in a publication which now represents a double homage: to Beethoven for the 250th anniversary of his birth, and to the memory of Badura-Skoda.
Paul Badura-Skoda was an avid collector of period instruments, much like his longtime friend Jörg Demus. For this series of recordings, he chose seven pianofortes of the era, each one depending on the piece and the evolution of the making of the instrument. Badura-Skoda only ever played on period instruments and not on copies, risking all the mechanical faults that this entails.
Playing on old instruments became something of an obsession for the pianist who started his career at the end of the war playing on modern instruments (that he loved just as much) under the direction of the great conductors of his youth like Wilhelm Furtwängler or Herbert von Karajan. To this day, he remains the only pianist to have recorded all the sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert on both period and modern instruments.
His comprehensive knowledge of the instruments allowed him to understand the intentions of the composers and correct any editor’s mistake accumulated over the centuries. Furthermore, his historic knowledge married with his reliable Viennese style makes his discographic legacy even more precious.