Gulda does it again!—A review of Friedrich Gulda's
recording of Beethoven's piano sonatas.
Friedrich Gulda's recording of the so-called Old Testament of classical keyboard in the shape of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier almost instantly became my definitive interpretation of the preludes and fugues contained therein, short of recording them all myself.
Having never until now found a satisfactory Beethoven piano cycle, I naturally looked to Gulda's recording, despite it not being available for digital download, once I was made aware of its existence—which was no mean feat.
To be succinct, I will say that just as Gulda mesmerised me with his Old Testament rendering, so his performance of the New Testament in the shape of Beethoven's piano sonatas is now my go-to favourite.
I have explored interpretations of these sonatas for many years, owning the cycles by Artur Schnabel, Wilhelm Kempff (mono and stereo), Maurizio Pollini, Richard Goode, Alfred Brendel (second cycle), Paul Lewis, Annie Fischer, as well as odd sonatas played by Glenn Gould, Rudolf Serkin, and Emil Gilels.
None of the above was I truly happy with, for the reason that many of the lesser known sonatas made me feel bored and I was often in disagreement with the way the greater sonatas were played.
Moreover, the quality over the entire cycle either wavered (Pollini and Goode) or failed to captivate (Brendel and Kempff), and listening to the whole corpus was, in the case of these aforementioned interpreters, more of a chore than a pleasure (the sound quality of the Schnabel set is too poor for me to be fully happy with it, much as I adore his playing and spirit).
Not anymore.
Gulda's fiery, immediate, un-belaboured, non-deferential, un-romantic, quick-witted approach to these piano monuments has made them all a pleasure to listen to, almost without exception, and his performance of the named sonatas is also much to my liking, e.g. the first movement of the Waldstein.
Gulda was called a 'terrorist' pianist for a reason in so far as he was keyboard maverick with little time for the ostentation and preciousness (not to say pretentiousness) of the classical music world, openly preferring jazz in some cases, and having the decency to also compose which is not the case of many pianists schooled in the classical tradition.
In my opinion, these elements of his pianistic temperament are perfect for Beethoven, a keen improviser himself with little time for common public perception, and, unlike the ponderous Kempff or the uneven Pollini, Gulda makes these works exciting and arguably as fresh as when they were first conceived, which is quite an achievement given how familiar I am with all of them.
Now I am aware that this is a matter of taste as I doubt Gulda will be to everyone's liking, but it is a joy in my case to finally find a pianist who corresponds largely with my musical sensibility and has managed to deliver the goods in the case of giants Bach and Beethoven (I do also like his Mozart).
I have not taken the trouble to listen to the concerti included in this box set as they were not the reason I purchased it, but rest assured that the piano solo works covering the first nine discs are brilliantly done justice, if of a vigorous and irreverential kind.