Robin L
Master Contributor
Seeing as I already have the Naxos transfers of Artur Schnabel's groundbreaking complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas on disc, buying this recent (2016) remastering from Warner Brothers classics (they used to be EMI) is a bit excessive. However I wanted to see what advances in transfer work have been achieved in the 14 years between Mark Obert-Thorn's work for Naxos and this most recent attempt. EMI's previous attempt in the 1990s was widely and justifiably dismissed as excessively filtered. There's plenty of surface noise audible on the Naxos transfers, though not as much as the Pearl transfers. I've also owned multiple LP editions including the Seraphim set and the German EMI pressings, also individual discs of Angel's and RCA's. I've read differing opinions of the Warner Brothers transfers, some saying these are the best, others complaining that these are too filtered. Interesting, but a number claiming the Warner Brothers transfers are too filtered preferred the Pearl discs, which I found far too noisy. The surface noise of the Warner Brothers transfers is as low as any I've heard (the old RCA LP transfers also have low levels of surface noise, FWIW) but, unlike the earlier EMI transfers, there's no lack of treble energy in the Warner Brothers transfers. They also seem to have the greatest dynamics I've heard in these recordings so far. Every now and then one can hear some surface noise peeking through the music but for the most part there are few distractions.
The music making, of course, is about as good as it gets. Schnabel captured the impetuous energy of Beethoven, sometimes pushing tempos but always with a clear idea of how this music moves. I'd have a hard time letting go of the Naxos discs, but when I want to hear these performances, I'm most likely to reach for the Warner Brothers transfers.
The music making, of course, is about as good as it gets. Schnabel captured the impetuous energy of Beethoven, sometimes pushing tempos but always with a clear idea of how this music moves. I'd have a hard time letting go of the Naxos discs, but when I want to hear these performances, I'm most likely to reach for the Warner Brothers transfers.
