CD 4263 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol.3-(2CDs), Wehr

RECORDING OF THE MONTH

Exquisite Beethoven by one of the finest pianists currently before us, recorded in laboratory quality sound.
…Paul Shoemaker

Although his name may not be familiar to you, Mr. Wehr is a stupendous pianist. One can forget the music and simply listen to the incredible beauty and precision of the notes he plays; it’s enough to make a piano teacher sob from pure joy. One ought to note that these Beethoven sonatas were recorded in a remarkably few hours in the studio; Mr. Wehr really sounds that good, he doesn’t need fifty takes and 100 hours of editing to come out on top. Wehr is the pianist Glenn Gould should have been, the pianist he thought he was.

The sound on this recording — 96kHz digital recording with Sony Super Bit Map mastering — is a thin hair away from an SACD in clarity and definition. Added to the magical skill of E. Alan Silver, one of the truly legendary great recording producers of our time, this is a recording to cherish purely for the sound. You will never come a lot closer to actually sitting next to a piano. Connoisseur Society recordings have been setting a critical standard for many decades, and it is exciting to see new recordings from them with all of the traditional quality, but also using the latest advances.

- www.musicweb-international.com

American Record Guide, May/June 2007

I have praised both earlier volumes in this series (Nov/Dec 2006, Mar/Apr 2007). Wehr continues his series with the heart of Beethoven’s Middle Period compositions. The Op. 31 trio of piano sonatas (16-18) marks the begin­ning of this period, when Beethoven expressly stated that he wanted to “tread a different path” in his compositions. One listen to the Tempest Sonata (Op. 31:2) and you will know that we’re not in classical mold of Mozart, Haydn, and earlier Beethoven anymore. The famous recitatives, played by Wehr exactly as marked by Beethoven, with the pedal held down, are truly original. It is also important to note that Wehr’s dynamic control allows you to hear all of the linear beauty of these parts, in conjunction with the blurred, often dissonant vertical harmonies created by the pedal sus­taining all the pitches together.

Sonatas 21, 23, and 26 are among the best known and often recorded. The Waldstein, Appassionata, and Les Adieux represent the culmination of Beethoven’s Middle Period. These performances, with superb sonics and intelligent notes, are truly for the ages. For the newcomer, I cannot imagine a better place to begin; and for those of us with many sets of Beethoven sonatas, I am comfortable suggest­ing that your investment in this new series is both justifiable and necessary.

     Elsewhere in this issue (under Schumann), I review an Appassionata that I describe as a ‘performance for the moment”. It is very excit­ing and over the top in terms of tempo. Wehr correctly follows Beethoven’s tempo direc­tions, remains fully in control, shapes every musical phrase, and still generates considerable excitement. At the very end, after all of the Presto chords, when the main figuration comes back, listen for the off-beat notes in the left hand. These not only become an intelligi­ble ascending musical line under Wehr’s fin­gers, but by following Beethoven’s explicit accent markings, they help propel the music to its conclusion in a way I have never heard before. All of which, I believe will make this the recording I return to time and time again.

Wehr’s Beethoven will be my reference series for Beethoven’s great contribution to piano repertoire. The more I listen to Wehr, the more I shy away from the term “interpreta­tion”. Many pianists can be said to “interpret” these masterpieces. Wehr plays them scrupu­lously as written, interjecting little else except those minuscule, but critical, gradations in touch and tempo that produce a musical line. I can’t imagine that Beethoven himself could want anything more—or less. Now, all I have to do is wait for the final installment. The late sonatas will complete this journey and should fully establish David Allen Wehr as one of America’s top pianists.

--Harrington

New CD produced by Connoisseur Society

This is a new recording in its original packaging.  It is offered by a recording company that has many years experience in the classical and jazz music publishing industry.

 

For further information about this selection, please visit our on-line catalog at www.connoisseursociety.com

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