Here's an ideal way for computer-savvy music lovers to acquaint themselves with Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas--and save considerable shelf space. Newport Classic's MusicPlayByPlay CD-ROM (compatible with both PCs and Macs) offers Seymour Lipkin's performances of the entire cycle as Real Audio digital MP3 files, together with the complete sheet music in the form of Adobe Acrobat pdf files that you can scroll down on your computer screen, or else print out. If your computer is hooked up to decent loudspeakers or has a headphone jack, you can easily play the audio files and follow the scores at the same time. A cogent, extensive essay by Ted Libbey discusses each work. In addition to computers, most DVD players, as well as many of the newer home and portable CD players, will be able to play the MP3s. In and of themselves, the Real Audio MP3 files, all transferred at a bit-rate of 128, sound superb and bear none of the "swishing" artifacts you often hear as a result of compression. To be sure, there's more brightness and presence to Lipkin's piano tone via the recordings' conventional audio CD incarnation, plus a little more clarity and definition in regard to repeated notes (Op. 7 is a case in point) and dynamic extremes.

As an experiment, I converted several of the original AIFF (standard 16-bit audio) files to MP3s via Itunes, using higher bit rates, and found that my 160 and 192 BPS transfers yielded marginally fuller sonics than the 128 BPS MP3s, though still not quite AIFF quality. But what's most important is Lipkin's impressive, seasoned technique and stylish, penetrating command of Beethoven's keyboard idiom.

He generally favors fast tempos and uses the pedals sparingly, yet he still cultivates a full-bodied legato touch by virtue of exacting fingerwork and arm weight. Lipkin makes the most of the composer's idiosyncratic subito dynamics and accents, and if he doesn't quite match Hungerford's astringent bite, Schnabel's unbridled abandon, or Goode's songful inflections, his salient virtues are totally in sync with Beethoven's wide-ranging expressive agenda.

The early sonatas especially benefit from Lipkin's feathery brio, and his steady, sustained, headlong energy enhances heroic middle-period works like the "Tempest", "Waldstein", and "Appassionata". And while the catalog may boast more personalized accounts of the last five sonatas, you cannot fault Lipkin's polished trills and thoughtful voice leading (Op. 109's variations and Op. 111's gnarly introduction, to cite a few examples). Be it CD or MP3, Seymour Lipkin's Beethoven cycle stands as a major achievement in a crowded field. And if Newport Classic targets this product to Ipod users, it'll surely be a hit.

--Jed Distler