Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 / Biss

Jonathan Biss, piano

Beethoven
Piano Sonata no.5 op.10/1 / Piano Sonata no.11 op.22 / Piano Sonata no.12 op.26 / Piano Sonata no.26 op.81a / 'Les Adieux'

'Beethoven is more than just a composer: he is a life force'. Biss
'Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas are often referred to as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - bodies of music ever composed. True enough. But to refer to them as such is to obscure the brilliance and individuality of each work, for what is perhaps most remarkable about the sonatas is that they really aren't a 'body of music' at all: they are 32 masterpieces, 32 distinct structures, 32 fully realised, often awe-inspiring, always unique emotional universes. As individual works, each is endlessly compelling on its own merits; as a cycle, it moves from transcendence to transcendence, the basic concerns always the same, but the language impossibly varied.' Jonathan Biss
o Jonathan Biss is one of the most exciting pianists of the younger generation, and this disc represents the first stage of his journey with ONYX through the complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas. For this first volume, he has chosen three works from Beethoven's early period, and one from the middle - the famous 'Les Adieux'. This fascinating programme, the later work in particular, illustrates how Beethoven's sonatas developed from the early, virtuosic works of the 1790s to the assured compositions of his middle period.
o 'Biss is not only one of the most technically skilful of young instrumentalists (and heaven knows there are plenty of those around) but he has an emotional maturity that belies his years.' Gramophone

Price: $21.98