Paul Lewis plays Beethoven (on Radio 3)

Dear Tam

I thought you knew, that a complete cycle is planned on French Harmonia Mundi. The first CD was released last year (op. 31 no.1-3) and Todd reviewed it 4.1.2006 in this forum. So our hopes may (be)come true.

Regards,

Dear pe-zulu,

Thanks for pointing this out (I must have missed it at the time - however it was before Lewis won me over in the concert hall).

Todd's review is here.

More details of his recordings on the Harmonia Mundi website. Apparently he is finishing the cycle in concert next year (with any luck he'll be doing so at the Queen's Hall).

regards, Tam

Should have bumped this earlier - however, you can hear the op.31 no.2 being played rather wonderfully on Radio 3 as I type this.

However, it does bug me that Radio 3 can't seem to get some parity in live concerts between the volume of the announcer and the concert performer (with the result that I always have to jump up and turn it down when the music stops). Surely this sort of things isn't that difficult to get right (especially when you are not even broadcasting 'live').

regards, Tam

I listened to Lewis' Op.31 CD again last night--very fine playing. I'd say his approach in general to these great sonatas is a little more expansive than most other performers. I found them very enjoyable and look forward to the rest of the sonatas. My FM radio won't pick up BBC 3 here in the states, unfortunately.......

The Lewis CD of the op.31 sonatas arrived in the post today (at just £4 from the amazon market place, it was too good to pass up). I shall give them a listen (probably at the weekend, after all the concerts), but based on the performances (particularly of numbers 2 and 3), I'm very much looking forward to it.

regards, Tam

Well, I have just listened to the broadcast of the op.79 (tonight's is the programme, though not the exact concert I attended). Often, when I listen to a broadcast of something that I've been to it doesn't quite capture the magic of the concert hall - however, even stuck here at work, forced to listen via the awful quality of the internet it did (fortunately it is being recorded in superior quality at home for a more discerning listen).

The delicacy and sense of drama that Lewis brings this small work is wonderful and, I think, finer than any interpretation I have heard (whether it be in the flesh or on CD).

These have been, I think, a really special series of concerts, and those who haven't been listening have really been missing out. Here is an artist who genuinely has something of his own to say about the works he is playing, and yet not in the current vogue of "I'll play this really loudly/fast/something, simply because I can."

regards, Tam

p.s. As I type this he is playing the pastorale, and very nicely too.

[great big grinning smiley, full of gratitude for the BBC spending my licence fee money unusually well]

Something especially interesting happened listening to tonight's concert: it was one of the rare occasions where something has been finer on the radio than in the concert hall. I think one of the reasons I didn't care for the Hammerklavier in the concert hall was that I was far too close to the piano and it was actually loud enough to hurt my ears in one or two places. Listening on the radio, the volume can be turned down - and what wonderful playing was left behind, quite the most convincing reading of this work I've heard, with some absolutely beautiful playing (I think I now understand a little better why some people love this sonata so much).

These were a magical series on concerts. I wonder how much was down to the concert hall and, possibly over this weekend, I look forward to comparing these readings to the CD of the op.31 sonatas.

regards, Tam

Dear Tam, your words got me trapped, his cycle seems to be a must have when it is released

Dear pe-zulu,

You have e-mail about this.

regards, Tam

Well, I have just listened to the first of the op.31 sonatas on his CD (link above) and very fine it is too. Much of the magic present in his performances is present in the studio. There is a lot of humour to his playing and he holds his pauses well (though not quite so masterfully as I think he did in concert). Which leads me to question the wisdom of studio taping vs live. Still, it confirms, as if I needed it, just what a fine pianist Lewis is. I would be listening to the second two, but have been forced from the living room. [disappointed smiley]

While this sort of thing shouldn't matter, this is one of the finest recordings technically of piano music I've heard in some way. Why? Because it in no way suffers from over-stereo problems where the left and right hands seem to be playing different pianos on opposite sides of the room (an issue I find all to common on recordings these days).

regards, Tam

p.s. Dear Fredrik and pe-zulu. Due to computer woes I'm afraid there will be a delay (pe-zulu - I would e-mail but until the issue is resolved I cannot get at your e-mail address. Long and annoying story).

quote:

Originally posted by Tam:
p.s. Dear Fredrik and pe-zulu. Due to computer woes I'm afraid there will be a delay (pe-zulu - I would e-mail but until the issue is resolved I cannot get at your e-mail address. Long and annoying story).

Dear Tam

I am going to order this CD with my next batch from jpc.

Regards,