Complete Sonatas for Piano
Download from iTunes Quantity in Basket: None LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Complete Sonatas for Piano TROY1661 - Price: $69.99
play sound file need help?
Go Back >

 

Steven Masi's performances of the Beethoven sonatas belong with the elite.

Acclaimed as an artist of unusual sensitivity and virtuosity, pianist Steven Masi has concertized extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia. As a recitalist and chamber musician he has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, Casals Festival, Chattauqua Festival and Music Festival of the Hamptons, and as a guest soloist with orchestras such as the Atlanta Symphony and New Symphony Orchestra of London. Critic Colin Clarke has written about his Beethoven performances: "It is not exaggerating to suggest that Masi belongs with the elite in the late sonatas, providing as satisfying an experience as the likes of Solomon, Kempff, and Pollini, for example." Producer Joseph Patrych comments that "When Mr. Masi approached me with the idea of tackling this set, I was compelled by the maturity and thoughtfulness of his playing in the ones I heard.…What you have before you represents the fruit of five years of labor, consideration, discussion and a shared passion for this seminal body of work in the piano literature."
Contents:
Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2, No. 1
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Sonata Pathétique"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14, No. 2
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major, Op. 22
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, No. 1
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major "Quasi una fantasia," Op. 27, No. 1
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia," Op. 27, No. 2 "Moonlight Sonata"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 "The Tempest"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 "The Hunt"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major, Op. 78 "à Thérèse"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a "Das Lebewohl"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 "Große Sonate für des Hammerklavier"
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
Steven Masi, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 11
Steven Masi, piano

Review:
"It’s been quite a season for Beethoven piano music enthusiasts. In the past several months, we’ve witnessed the completion of sonata cycles by Paavali Jumppanen and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, not to mention the epic conclusion of Ronald Brautigam’s survey of Beethoven’s complete solo piano works. Then, there was the fruition of a set with whose performer, Steven Masi, I had been absolutely unfamiliar but with which I’ve been having the pleasure of new acquaintance. What sets Masi’s set apart from the others is a sense of voyage, a kind of spontaneous approach to each sonata that charts a singular path of progression through a series of pieces that, all too often, can come off sounding glib, affected or some uneasy combination of both…For breathtaking virtuosity serving safe interpretations well inside established lines, we are spoiled for choice, but much rarer is the offering of insight via a unified vision of this extraordinary body of work. This is Masi’s crowning achievement." (Fanfare)

"A strong recommendation if you're looking to steer clear of the "glossy and manicured" magazine cover type of production. And the packaging by Albany Records is first class. The box opens up like a binder, with each individual CD protected by a plastic sleeve that you can easily flip back and forth over binder rings. Its too bad they don't give out awards for packaging." (Classical Music Sentinel)

"What a distinguished congregation of pianists have recorded a complete Beethoven cycle. It's a virtual universe of pianists, with immense differences, often, from pianist to pianist. What is almost startling about Steven Masi's performances is his almost complete avoidance of the sustaining pedal.…Five years of effort went into this recording of the complete Beethoven cycle and it is a remarkable achievement. It is noting if not distinctive which makes it a Beethoven cycle of major distinction." (Buffalo News)