Musical Concepts is pleased to return to general availability Peter Serkin's provocative, acclaimed recordings of the final six piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven played on a restored Ludwig Graf fortepiano of the same vintage as the music itself. Originally released on the pioneering American independent label Pro Arte as the LP era came to a close, these recordings represented a major deparure for an artist best known for his probing approach to twentieth-century repertoire, with the result a startlingly "new" sound for some of the most challenging landmarks of the piano repertoire.
Beethoven: The Last Six Piano Sonatas
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Hearing the Hammerklavier Sonata played on a wellrestored Graf fortepiano and hearing its first two movements played, very properly, at speed, is an alltoo extraordinary experience.
— Gramophone
Very stimulating. There's something so committed, so urgently experienced about [Peter] Serkin's way with the music that even if certain things cause a raised eyebrow you can still shut your eyes and somehow feel the composer very close.… [T]he recording is truthful. The playing has splendid bravura and dash to it and the instrumental sonorities in the great slow movement are revealing and occasionally sublime.
— Gramophone
Provocative period instrument recordings by Peter Serkin
Beethoven: The Last Six Piano Sonatas
Peter Serkin
Musical Concepts MC-122
Number of Units: 2 CDs
EAN: 851950001223
Peter Serkin
Published in
Distinguished Artists