The Piano Sonatas Volume 8: Sonatas opp. 109, 110 & 111 [30, 31, 32]

"The quality of the playing and the recording are such that collectors of the complete edition are unlikely to be disappointed. As ever, the presentation is gorgeous, with a few nice facsimiles of Beethoven's original sketches and the usual informative and highly readable interview-style notes from Schiff."
(MusicWeb Jan 2009)

Three years after the release of the first volume, András Schiff's highly acclaimed Beethoven cycle is now complete. In his afterword to the eighth installment he described the challenges he faced with this project: "Like picture restorers, we performers have to scrape off the layers of convention, have to remove the dust and dirt, in order to reproduce the work in all its original freshness."

The last stage on a long journey: It was a jour fixe for all major newspapers and music critiques in Germany and Switzerland when András Schiff's Beethoven cycle reached the famous triptych of his very last sonatas in the concert halls in Zurich and Munich in November 2006. "This was a Beethoven which transfixed the audience with its Apollonian balance, its subtly hued sonic and dynamic differentiation, depth of thought and technical command…The three sonatas sounded like a quintessence of pure late style, otherworldly as if made from precious marble", wrote Julia Spinola in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The booklet for the final volume of this cycle that is very likely to set new artistic and editorial standards will include not only an extensive interview with the pianist on the recorded sonatas but also a performer's note about his personal approach to and experiences with Beethoven.