GENRE: Classical
Beethoven
The Complete Piano Sonatas
Over thirty years after his death, Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff is still considered one of the greatest pianists of all time and probably the chief exponent of the Germanic tradition during the 20th century.
Born on November 25, 1895, in Jüterbog, he grew up in Potsdam, where his father was the church organist and royal musical director. His international fame and the respect and admiration of peers like Alfred Brendel and composer Jean Sibelius was founded on the lyrical and spontaneous qualities of his playing and a repertoire including the works of Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms.
However, Kempff was best known for his interpretations of the music of Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven, and this exclusive box set presents the complete recordings of the latter’s sonatas, including, of course, his legendary “Mondschein” and “Hammerklavier”.
Tracklist:
CD 1
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 1 IN F MINOR, Op. 2 No. 1
Sonate Nr. 1, f-Moll, op. 2 Nr. 1
1. I. Allegro 4‘32
2. II. Adagio 4‘43
3. III. Menuetto: Allegretto 3‘02
4. IV. Prestissimo 5‘26
SONATA No. 2 IN A MAJOR, Op.2 No. 2
Sonate Nr. 2, A-Dur, op. 2 Nr. 2
5. I. Allegro vivace 5‘32
6. II. Largo appassionato 7‘03
7. III. Scherzo: Allegretto 3‘19
8. IV. Rondo: Grazioso 6‘35
SONATA No. 27 IN E MINOR, Op. 90
Sonate Nr. 27, e-Moll, op. 90
9. I. Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus 5‘09
mit Empfindung und Ausdruck
10. II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr 8‘11
singbar vorzutragen
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18105 (1-8), 18135 (9, 10)
Total Time 53‘46
CD 2
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 3 IN C MAJOR, Op. 2 No. 3
Sonate Nr. 3, C-Dur, op. 2 Nr- 3
1. I. Allegro con brio 7‘41
2. II. Adagio 7‘13
3. III. Scherzo: Allegro 2‘48
4. IV. Allegro assai 5‘17
SONATA No. 8 IN C MINOR, Op. 13
Sonate Nr. 8 c-Moll op. 13
„Pathétique“
5. I. Grave – Allegro di molto e con brio 7‘46
6. II. Adagio cantabile 4‘08
7. III. Rondo: Allegro 4‘40
SONATA No. 13 IN E FLAT MAJOR, Op. 27 No. 1
Sonate Nr. 13, Es-Dur, op. 27 Nr. 1
„Sonata quasi una fantasia“
8. I. Andante – Allegro 4‘47
9. II. Allegro molto e vivace 2‘20
10. III. Adagio con espressione 3’07
11. IV. Allegro vivace 5‘52
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1950 (5-7), 1951 (1-4, 8-11)
LPE 17026 (5-7), LPM 18079 (1-4), 18076 (8-11)
Total Time 55‘52
CD 3
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 4 IN E FLAT MAJOR, Op. 7
Sonate Nr. 4 Es-Dur op. 7
1. I. Allegro molto e con brio 8‘45
2. II. Largo, con gran espressione 7‘52
3. III. Allegro 5‘20
4. IV. Rondo: Poco Allegretto e grazioso 7‘19
SONATA No. 5 IN C MINOR, Op. 10 No. 1
Sonate Nr. 5, c-Moll, op. 10 Nr. 1
5. I. Allegro molto e con brio 6‘10
6. II. Adagio molto 7‘46
7. III. Finale: Prestissimo 4‘06
SONATA No. 6 IN F MAJOR, Op. 10 No. 2
Sonate Nr. 6 F-Dur op. 10 Nr. 2
8. I. Allegro 5‘40
9. II. Allegretto 3‘30
10. III. Presto 3‘48
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18071 (1-4), 18106 (5-10)
Total Time 60‘24
CD 4
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 7 IN D MAJOR, Op. 10 No. 3 / Sonate Nr. 7, D-Dur, op. 10 Nr. 3
1. I. Presto 5‘00
2. II. Largo e mesto 8‘46
3. III. Menuetto: Allegro 2‘51
4. IV. Rondo: Allegro 4‘01
SONATA No. 20 IN G MAJOR, Op. 49 No. 2 / Sonate Nr. 20, G-Dur, op. 49 Nr. 2
5. I. Allegro ma non troppo 4‘35
6. II. Tempo di Menuetto 3‘48
SONATA No. 9 IN E MAJOR, Op. 14 No. 1 / Sonate Nr. 9, E-Dur, op. 14 Nr. 1
7. I. Allegro 6‘45
8. II. Allegretto 3‘36
9. III. Rondo: Allegro comodo 3‘41
SONATA No. 30 IN E MAJOR, Op. 109 / Sonate Nr. 30, E-Dur, op. 109
10. I. Vivace, ma non troppo – Adagio espressivo 3‘19
11. II. Prestissimo 2‘26
12. III. Gesangsvoll, mit innigster Empfindung – 11‘08
Andante, molto cantabile ed espressivo
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18145 (1-4), 18021 (5,6), 18071 (7-9), 18145 (10-12)
Total Time 60‘14
CD 5
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 14 IN C SHARP MINOR, Op. 27 No. 2, “Moonlight”
Sonate Nr. 14, cis-Moll, op. 27 Nr. 2, „Mondscheinsonate“
1. I. Adagio sostenuto 8‘45
2.-3. II. Allegretto
Presto agitato 6‘00
SONATA No. 10 IN G MAJOR, Op. 14 No. 2 / Sonate Nr. 10, G-Dur, op. 14 Nr. 2
4. I. Allegro 7‘32
5. II. Andante 5‘27
6. III. Scherzo: Allegro assai 3‘22
SONATA No. 18 IN E FLAT MAJOR, Op. 31 No. 3 / Sonate Nr. 18, Es-Dur, op. 31 Nr. 3
7. I. Allegro 6‘11
8. II. Scherzo: Allegretto vivace 5‘10
9. III. Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso 4‘36
10. IV. Presto con fuoco 4‘52
SONATA No. 19 IN G MINOR, Op. 49 No. 1 / Sonate Nr. 19, g-Moll, op. 49 Nr. 1
11. I. Andante 4‘08
12. II. Rondo: Allegro 3‘48
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1956 (1, 2), 1951 (3-11)
LPE 17026 (1, 2-3), LPM 18079 (3-5), 18021 (6-11)
Total Time 59‘57
CD 6
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 11 IN B FLAT MAJOR, Op. 22
Sonate Nr. 11, B-Dur, op. 22
1. I. Allegro con brio 7‘37
2. II. Adagio con molta espressione 7‘41
3. III. Menuetto 3‘10
4. IV. Rondo: Allegretto 6‘27
SONATA No. 26 IN E FLAT MAJOR, Op. 81a
Sonate Nr. 26, Es-Dur, op. 81a
„Les Adieux“
5. I. Das Lebewohl (Les adieux). Adagio - Allegro 6‘54
6. II. - 7. III. Die Abwesenheit (L’absence). 7‘14
Andante espressivo
Das Wiedersehen (Le retour). Vivacissimamente
SONATA No. 32 IN C MINOR, Op. 111
Sonate Nr. 32, c-Moll, op. 111
8. I. Maeatoso – Allegro con brio es appassionato 7‘11
9. II. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile 14‘36
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18020 (1-4), 18135 (5-7), 18045 (8, 9)
Total Time 61‘06
CD 7
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 12 IN A FLAT MAJOR, Op. 26
Sonate Nr. 12, As-Dur, op. 26
1. I. Andante con variazioni 8‘07
2. II. Scherzo: Allegro molto 2‘57
3. III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Eroe 5‘32
4. IV. Allegro 3‘11
SONATA No. 17 IN D MINOR, Op. 31 No. 2, “Tempest”
Sonate Nr. 17, d-Moll, op. 31 Nr. 2, „Der Sturm“
5. I. Largo – Allegro 6‘20
6. II. Adagio 7‘24
7. III. Allegretto 7‘11
SONATA No. 28 IN MAJOR, Op. 101
Sonate Nr. 28, A-Dur, op. 101
8. I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung:
Allegretto, ma non troppo 3‘33
9. II. Lebhaft, marschmäßig: Vivace alla marcia 5‘41
10. III. – Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll: Adagio ma 2‘30
non troppo, con affetto
11. IV. Geschwinde, doch nicht zu sehr und mit 7‘13
Entschlossenheit: Allegro
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18076 (1-4), 18056 (5-8), 18145 (9-11) Total Time 59‘56
CD 8
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 15 IN D MAJOR, Op. 28 / Sonate Nr. 15, D-Dur, op. 28 „Pastorale“
1. I. Allegro 7‘30
2. II. Andante 6‘37
3. III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 2‘28
4. IV. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo 5‘00
SONATA No. 23 IN F MINOR, Op.57 / Sonate Nr. 23, f-Moll, op. 57 „Appassionata“
5. I. Allegro assai 9‘47
6. II. Andante con moto 6‘13
7. III. Allegro, ma non troppo – Presto 5‘49
SONATA No. 24 IN F SHARP MAJOR, Op. 78 / Sonate Nr. 24, Fis-Dur, op. 78
8. I. Adagio cantabile - Allegro, ma non troppo 5‘00
9. II. Allegro vivace 2‘52
SONATA No. 25 IN G MAJOR, Op. 79 / Sonate Nr. 25, G-Dur, op. 79
10. I. Presto alla tedesca 3‘02
11. II. Andante 2‘30
12. III. Vivace 1‘56
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18055 (1-4), LPE 17165 (5-9), LPM 18135 (10-12)
Total Time 58‘57
CD 9
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 16 IN G MAJOR, Op. 31 No. 1
Sonate Nr. 16, G-Dur, op. 31 Nr. 1
1. I Allegro vivace 4‘52
2. II. Adagio grazioso 11‘05
3. III. Rondo: Allegretto 6‘28
SONATA No. 21 IN C MAJOR, Op. 53, “Waldstein”
Sonate Nr. 21, C-Dur, op. 53, „Waldstein-Sonate“
4. I. Allegro con brio 8‘28
5. II. Introduzione: Adagio molto 3‘31
6. III. Rondo: Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo 9‘50
SONATA No. 22 IN F MAJOR No. 54
Sonate Nr. 22, F-Dur, op. 54
7. I. In tempo d’un menuetto 6‘07
8. II. Allegretto 5‘59
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18055 (1-3), 18089 (4-8)
Total Time 56‘31
CD 10
■ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 – 1827)
SONATA No. 31 IN A FLAT MAJOR, Op. 110
Sonate Nr. 31, As-Dur, op. 110
1. I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo 6‘06
2. II. Allegro molto 2‘29
3. III. Adagio, ma non troppo – 9‘41
Fuga: Allegro, ma non troppo
SONATA No. 29 IN B FLAT MAJOR, Op. 106
Sonate Nr. 29, B-D-Dur, op. 106
„Sonate für das Hammerklavier“
4. I. Allegro 8‘57
5. II. Scherzo: Assai vivace – Presto 2‘42
6. III. Adagio sostenuto: Appassionato e con 15‘24
molto sentimento
7. IV. Largo: Allegro risoluto 11‘49
Wilhelm Kempff piano
recorded / aufgenommen 1951
LPM 18045 (1-3), 18146 (4-7)
Total Time 57‘10