Beethoven / Lifschitz 32 Sonatas CD

In a world like ours, shaped by centrifugal forces, even a monumental corpus like Beethoven's thirty-two piano sonatas can appear in a new light. Chronological examination of it's genesis reveals fascinating parallels. - The Sonatas op.2 were published in the last year of the French Revolution. - The ensuing wave of political migration reached Vienna and also affected Elector Maximilian Franz, who was not only the brother of Marie Antoinette and Emperor Joseph II but had also been Beethoven's employer in Bonn. - Beethoven gave compositional form to the triumph and downfall of a tyrant who brought war to Europe and occupied Vienna. - After the international peace conference of 1815, he vigorously embarked on writing modernistic late works in opposition to the emerging police state and it's postmodern entertainment culture. Konstantin Lifschitz applies strict criteria in order to realize the groundbreaking compositional dynamics of these works. He shows his musical independence by supplementing the cycle of sonatas with the Allegretto WoO 53, and still has much to tell us about it, defying past and present fashions. The fact that he recorded the massive cycle live on eight consecutive days also makes this set a monument in it's own right.

1. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2, No. 1 2. 1. I. Allegro 3. 2. II. Adagio 4. 3. III. Menuetto: Allegretto 5. 4. IV. Prestissimo 6. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2 7. 5. I. Allegro vivace 8. 6. II. Largo appassionato 9. 7. III. Scherzo: Allegretto - Trio 10. 8. IV. Rondo: Grazioso 11. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3 12. 9. I. Allegro con brio 13. 10. II. Adagio 14. 11. III. Scherzo: Allegro - Trio 15. 12. IV. Allegro assai 16. Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 1 17. 1. I. Allegro molto e con brio 18. 2. II. Adagio molto 19. . 3. Allegretto in C Minor, WoO 53 20. Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 1 21. 4. III. Finale: Prestissimo 22. Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10, No. 2 23. 5. I. Allegro 24. 6. II. Allegretto 25. 7. III. Presto 26. Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3 27. 8. I. Presto 28. 9. II. Largo e mesto 29. 10. III. Menuetto: Allegro 30. 11. IV. Rondo: Allegro 31. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 32. 1. I. Allegro molto e con brio 33. 2. II. Largo con gran espressione 34. 3. III. Allegro 35. 4. IV. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso 36. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, "Path?tique" 37. 5. I. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio 38. 6. II. Adagio cantabile 39. 7. III. Rondo: Allegro 40. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1 41. 8. I. Allegro 42. 9. II. Allegretto 43. 10. III. Rondo: Allegro comodo 44. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2 45. 11. I. Allegro 46. 12. II. Andante 47. 13. III. Scherzo: Allegro assai 48. Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-Flat Major, Op. 22 49. 1. I. Allegro con brio 50. 2. II. Adagio con molta espressione 51. 3. III. Minuetto 52. 4. IV. Rondo: Allegretto 53. Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-Flat Major, Op. 26, "Sonate mit dem Trauermarsch" 54. 5. I. Andante con variazioni 55. 6. II. Scherzo: Allegro molto 56. 7. III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe 57. 8. IV. Allegro 58. Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28, "Pastoral" 59. 9. I. Allegro 60. 10. II. Andante 61. 11. III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 62. 12. IV. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo 63. Piano Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31, No. 1 64. 1. I. Allegro vivace 65. 2. II. Adagio grazioso 66. 3. III. Rondo: Allegretto 67. Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2, "Tempest" 68. 4. I. Largo - Allegro 69. 5. II. Adagio 70. 6. III. Allegretto 71. Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, "La Chasse" 72. 7. I. Allegro 73. 8. II. Scherzo: Allegretto vivace 74. 9. III. Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso - Trio 75. 10. IV. Presto con fuoco 76. Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 1 77. 1. I. Andante 78. 2. II. Allegro molto e vivace 79. 3. III. Adagio con espressione 80. 4. IV. Allegro vivace 81. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2, "Moonlight" 82. 5. I. Adagio sostenuto 83. 6. II. Allegretto 84. 7. III. Presto agitato 85. Piano Sonata No. 19 in G Minor, Op. 49, No. 1 86. 8. I. Andante 87. 9. II. Rondo: Allegro 88. Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2 89. 10. I. Allegro ma non troppo 90. 11. II. Tempo di menuetto 91. Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53, "Waldstein" 92. 1. I. Allegro con brio 93. 2. II. Introduzione: Adagio molto 94. 3. III. Rondo: Allegretto moderato - Prestissimo 95. Piano Sonata No. 22 in F Major, Op. 54 96. 4. I. In tempo d'un minuetto 97. 5. II. Allegretto - Pi? allegro 98. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata" 99. 6. I. Allegro assai 100. 7. II. Andante con moto 101. 8. III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto 102. Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 78 103. 1. I. Adagio cantabile - Allegro ma non troppo 104. 2. II. Allegro vivace 105. Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 106. 3. I. Presto alla tedesca 107. 4. II. Andante 108. 5. III. Vivace 109. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a, "Les adieux" 110. 6. I. Das Lebewohl: Adagio - Allegro 111. 7. II. Abwesenheit: Andante espressivo 112. 8. III. Das Wiedersehn: Vivacissimamente 113. Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90 114. 9. I. Mit lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck 115. 10. II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen 116. Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101 117. 11. I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung 118. 12. II. Lebhaft. Marschm?ssig 119. 13. III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll 120. 14. IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit 121. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" 122. 1. I. Allegro 123. 2. II. Scherzo: Assai vivace - Presto - Tempo I 124. 3. III. Adagio sostenuto, appassionato e con molto sentimento 125. 4. IV. Largo - Allegro risoluto 126. Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 127. 1. I. Vivace ma non troppo 128. 2. II. Prestissimo 129. 3. III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung: Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo 130. Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 110 131. 4. I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo 132. 5. II. Allegro molto 133. 6. III. Adagio ma non troppo - Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo 134. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111 135. 7. I. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato 136. 8. II. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile