Your guide to classical music online

Beethoven: Piano sonatas/Oppitz

Jed Distler

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

Like his one-time teacher Wilhelm Kempff, Gerhard Oppitz plays Beethoven’s Op. 22 sonata wonderfully well. Oppitz’s brisk pacing and characterful accents certainly define the first movement’s “con brio” countenance, emphasizing its almost Rossini-like melodicism and humor. Lyrical warmth permeates the pianist’s amply textured Adagio, and while his curvaceous inflections convincingly enliven the Menuetto, similar gestures convey a slightly arch impression in the Rondo finale. Unfortunately, the diffuse and distant engineering that typifies both this release and others in Oppitz’s Beethoven cycle for Hänssler is anything but easy on the ear. In fact, it often renders the rapid scales, arpeggios, and rotary passages throughout the Waldstein and Appassionata as great big blurry gobs, supplanted by occasional metallic jangling and a foot stomp or two (the Waldstein’s Prestissimo coda, for instance). To paraphrase Mark Twain’s comments vis-à-vis Wagner, the pianist’s stylish, conscientious, and fluent interpretations may be better than they sound. And that’s a shame, because this cycle’s high points represent Oppitz’s finest playing on disc.


Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Op. 22: Kempff (DG), Op. 53: Hungerford (Artemis), Op. 57: Richter (RCA)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN - Piano Sonatas No. 11 in B-flat Op. 22; No. 23 in C Op. 53 (“Waldstein”); & No. 23 in F minor Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)

    Soloists: Gerhard Oppitz (piano)

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the