Beethoven Sonatas - A Survey of Complete Cycles
Part 10, 2017 (ff)
Incl: L.Williams • I.Levit Honma...
   | Llŷr Williams 2014 - 2017 - Signum Recorded live between 2014 and 2017 as part of a nine-recital Beethoven cycle at the Wigmore Hall. The cycle (apparently or roughly?) keeps the order of the sonatas in the recitals, spans 12 discs and includes several solo piano pieces beyond the 32 sonatas. Availability:
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 | Igor Levit 2013 - 2019 - SONY Like or love it or not, this is undoubtedly the most notable, most "important" set of Beethoven Sonatas to have come out since Pollini's was finished and before that those of Ronald Brautigam, Paul Lewis, and András Schiff. Levit likes to accentuate, he aims at major contrast, he delights in springing surprises on you. There's, as a generalization, a "fast-is-faster/slow-is-slower" approach to this, which could be considered self-involved... but he also does a pretty good job at pulling it off. There are those, for whom this set has surpassed all their previous favorites... and perhaps a few more, who think that pianist and set are likely overrated. But overrated doesn't mean "not good" or even "not great"... so it remains a tempting discographic achievement, indeed. Availability:
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 | Tamami Honma 2019 - 2023 - Divine Arts From the label's website: "While core repertoire is not our main priority, sometimes an interpreter comes along with fresh perspectives as well as technical skill, and we hear ‘the divine art of music’ in reality." It's been released in 2024. The set spans 10 discs labeled A through J, presenting the works in chronological order, with "A" containing the "Kurfürsten-Sonatas and the "Andante favori". Very extensive and thoughtful notes by Julian Brown. It probably isn't the first set to contain all "35" Sonatas on the modern piano, as Honma suggested it might in an interview, but at the very least it's one of very few. Tamami Honma is a student of Byron Janis at the Manhattan School of Music before moving on to London to the Royal Academy of Music. She is a Music Faculty Lecturer at Stanford University. Availability:
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This listing of all Beethoven Sonata Cycles will continue as more sets reach completion or as I find more information about sets already completed.* There are certainly plenty sets under way that should or may reach completion soon: Among them Angela Hewitt (Hyperion), Igor Tchetuev (Caro Mitis), Jonathan Biss (Onyx), Akihiro Sakiya (DPIC Entertainment), Martin Roscoe (Deux-Elles), James Brawn (MSR), Paavali Jumppanen (Ondine) [Completed & Added], Yusuke Kikuchi (Triton) [Completed & Added] et al. I will also add a selection of historically important attempted cycles that were never finished but include
* If you count, as I did, Backhaus II and Arrau II as complete, despite one and two (respectively) missing sonatas. I do not count Walter Gieseking (tapes of 4, 5, 7, 20, 22 for a radio cycle are lost, a studio cycle for EMI was missing seven sonatas when he died), Wilhelm Kempff "0" (Polydor, opp.2/3, 22, 27/1, 28, 31/2, 101 missing).
** Invaluable research on this end done by Todd, resident Beethoven-Sonata expert (and addict) at the Good Music Guide Forum.
Part 1: 1935 - 1966
Part 2: 1967 - 1975
Part 3: 1977 - 1989
Part 4: 1990 - 1996
Part 5: 1996 - 1999
Part 6: 2000 - 2005
Part 7: 2006 - 2009
Ronald Brautigam Special
Part 8: 2010 - 2013
Part 9: 2014 - 2016
If you have additional information about recording dates, availability, cover art -- or corrections and additions -- your input is much appreciated.
This survey is meant to list all complete sets of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and their availability in different markets, not to review them. If you are looking for recent releases, like the Ponelle-filmed cycle of Barenboim's Beethoven Sonatas, or his "Beethoven for All" set, they are included with the sets of which they are actually re-releases.
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