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Editorial Reviews

Hungarian pianist András Schiff's chronological survey of Beethoven's complete piano sonatas for ECM continues with this disc of sonatas numbered 22 through 26. This program thus encompasses the light and lyrical sonatas in F major, F sharp major, and G major, as well as the heavy and dramatic sonatas in F minor ("Appassionata") and E flat major ("Les Adieux"). As listeners who have been following the series already know, Schiff's virtuoso technique is up for both the light and the heavy, but his poetic temperament is more up for the lyrical than the dramatic. In practice, this means Schiff's alert account of the delightful "F major Sonata" and his rapturous reading of the central Andante con moto of the "Appassionata" are more persuasive than his crisp performance of the latter sonata's closing Allegro ma non troppo or his restrained interpretation of "Les Adieux"'s central Andante espressivo. While no one could legitimately claim Schiff doesn't have the skills to bring off even the breakneck coda of the "Appassionata," some might object that other pianists have gotten closer to the music's demonic drive. Anyone following Schiff's career will certainly want to hear this disc, but listeners unfamiliar with these canonical works are urged to try their canonical recordings by Artur Schnabel. Recorded at a concert in Zürich's Tonhalle, ECM's digital sound is bright and lucid and virtually without audience noise. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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