Album

This is the fourth volume in an ongoing cycle of Beethoven sonata recordings by German pianist Gerhard Oppitz, a series whose outlines are now becoming clearer. Oppitz seems at pains to avoid the imposition or even the emergence of an individual personality on his performances. Yet neither does he strive to be neutral, to give the listener "just the music"; his performances are unusual in various ways. Oppitz thinks through the relationships among the movements of Beethoven's sonatas, reaching conclusions that often differ from the general run. He never addresses the keyboard with Lisztian flourishes, and all the performances here might be called restrained. The attraction of this particular disc for casual buyers will be the "Moonlight" sonata, the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27/2. This sonata, like its E flat major companion, was marked by Beethoven as a sonata "quasi una fantasia," and Oppitz extends the fantasy-like aspect to all four of these works from the end of Beethoven's early period. Movements, such as the first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26, or that of Op. 27/1, that are often taken as artless pleasingly emerge in Oppitz' reading with the quality of slightly free-form romantic dreams. In Op. 26 this results in an unconventional relationship among the movements; the focus of the work shifts to the opening set of variations, while Oppitz breezes quickly through the third-movement funeral march, apparently thinking the form a conventional one in the years around 1800, not taken up out of any specific grief on Beethoven's part. The Op. 27/1 sonata becomes the dominant piece in the Op. 27 pair, with the "Moonlight" opening movement coming as a lovely relaxation of tension. The Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, the "Pastoral," is the weakest one in the set; it lacks warmth, and it's just not very pastoral. Oppitz's set may be of the sort that will appeal more to pianists than to general listeners; the interpretations here do not jump out from the crowd of others available, but they are well considered and offer intriguing insights.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.12 in Ab, Op.26 ('Funeral March') Work Recorded 2005 19:29 Gerhard Oppitz Piano
1	1.Andante con variazioni	8:02			$1.49
2	2.Scherzo and Trio: Allegro molto	2:52			$0.99
3	3.Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe	5:25			$0.99
4	4.Rondo: Allegro	3:10			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.13 in Eb, Op.27, No.1 ('Quasi una fantasia') Work Recorded 2004 15:34 Gerhard Oppitz Piano
5	1.Andante. Allegro	5:35			$0.99
6	2.Allegro molto e vivace	1:59			$0.99
7	3.Adagio con espressione	2:48			$0.99
8	4.Allegro vivace	5:12			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.14 in C#-, Op.27, No.2 ('Moonlight') Work Recorded 2004 16:21 Gerhard Oppitz Piano
9	1.Adagio sostenuto	6:29			$0.99
10	2.Allegretto	2:30			$0.99
11	3.Presto agitato	7:22			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.15 in D, Op.28 ('Pastoral') Work Recorded 2005 25:02 Gerhard Oppitz Piano
12	1.Allegro	10:39			$1.99
13	2.Andante	6:48			$0.99
14	3.Scherzo: Allegro vivace	2:25			$0.99
15	4.Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo	5:10			$0.99