There are many great Waldstein recordings/performances. What speaks to me in Kempf's hands is the balanced, honest and pure ethos. I have never heard a Kempf recording that drew attention away from the music and on to himself. He was a peerless master of Beethoven and his performances always deeply satisfy. This is a great recording.
I come back to this recording because I have never heard any better one of this sonata, and I have heard hundreds. PERFECT technique, PERFECT style, PERFECT recording. This is also the one Beethoven must be listening all the time, wherever he is!
When I was a child there was a LP record of Kempff Beethoven piano sonata (together with Appassionata). I listened to it innumerable times. Now I found this recording. It was exactly what I remembered.
Same here. I played my cassette tape with this recording over and over as a kid, 30 years ago and today recognize every note. The magic of music, I guess.
My father was a Beethoven aficionado and Kempff was his favorite pianist, so I had all the sonatas in his interpretation available as a kid. That shaped my interpretation of the pieces a lot when I learned them (never mastered the Waldstein though).
I was 15 years old and fell in love with this music listening to Kempff. I had this very record and wore it out from listening. Always such reasonable tempos and great use of the pedal. Wonderful musical playing.
There are many great recordings of this sonata. I particularly like this one because it is so measured, yet so expressive using the most refined resources of the piano. What a MASTER of the piano Kempff was!! I will hear more of his interpretations.
The Waldstein really reveals Beethoven’s exploration of the trill and tremolo effect. He is also starting to push the limits of the space between the upper and lower registers of the piano.
don't care who wrote it who played it how hard or soft its played or what pedal they used when. i'm here to have my spirit ignited and feel an emotional connection to appreciate how beautiful music can touch me on an emotional level. and for that i'm truly grateful.
It is all very well for people to go on and on about timing. Such seems to be the case of some of the younger pianist and I blame their tutors. Kempff, during a career in excess of 60 years, completely immersed himself in the German piano repertoire, more particularly Beethoven, and was able to reveal the "soul" of the music. The keyword here is "Interpretation" not timing to be followed slavishly.
Sign of the times. We live in an era of pedagogy that emphasizes grades, certifications, digital perfection, etc. Soul is what’s missing. Listen for example to Cortot interpret Chopin. Most folks today would dismiss it as riddled with tempo deviations, wrong notes, etc, completely missing a transcendent musical experience.
Whilst Kempff is know for his Beethoven recordings - he is a magnificent with Schubert, Schuhmann and Brahms as well! And his Mozart concertos with Leitner - are simply marvelous!
Not for me! I clearly prefer Solomon, Gulda or Backhaus! :P Schnabel, Fischer, Brendel are also much better than Kempff, IMHO. xD By the way there is no such thing as "synonymous" in music! :D
Good comment, we all have the right to our opinion, especially concerning music. I do really enjoy Kempff playing Beethoven though, but again, it's all opinion.
For me personally, Beethoven's piano works (particularly the concertos and sonatas) are the greatest with all due respect to Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, etc. I especially like this interpretation of the Waldstein sonata by Kempff. The tempi are just perfect and he takes time in a lot of places where the music warrants it. Thank-you for posting!
There is no perfection in music! What one likes another dislikes! I simply don't like Kepff with Beethoven at all. I prefer Solomon (Cutner), Wilhelm Backhaus or Friedrich Gulda. :D
IMHO this is a realistic tempo with today's pianos. This music wasn't written on or for huge Steinway grands but for proto-pianos with much much, much lighter touch
@@ignacioclerici5341 Try Solomon (Cutner) simply the best IMHO. Solomon isn't that powerful at Beethoven but let you hear Beethoven's structure what no other pianist can do! Then Friedrich Gulda (woh mainly played only three composers Beethoven, Bach and W. A. Mozart). With Gulda you get tempo and power! As third Wilhelm Backhaus who was probably one of the oldest Beethoven pianists who recorded all sonatas. For the Appassionata you can listen to Artur Rubinstein, too. A very slow but intense Wladstein and a no. 31 by Krystian Zimerman, who explained at the no. 31 that he had experimented what Beethoven still could hear with a hearing stick and a helmet with earplugs and pajamas ("Who would you call?" he asked with a smile). Really something very special. (By the way IMHO Krystian Zimerman's Patetique interpretation is simply wonderful.)
@@MusikPiratCH cool, i heard them all, i hate gulda, backhaus is boring for Beethoven, Zimmerman i don't like him, Rubinstein is good, but Glenn Gould and Kovacevich are to me the ones who play Beethoven with strenght and passion
Such a difficult sonata. One of my peers In school thought it would be a good idea if she would learn this while she was still an undergrad. Wrong...sad thing is she performed it at our piano area recital and I don't know if it was nerves, but she didn't just miss notes, she completely messed up or skipped phrases entirely and went off the best several times in the allegro movement. Not for the unskilled pianist!! Bravo me kempff!
Yes, along with backhaus arrau solomon serkin fischer, Youtrube has given us them all. Beethoven sonatas played by these people are the ultimate in recorded [iano music. Kempff is proabably the winner with op 53.for today anyway.
Yet temperamentally so different. I have never liked Schnabel although he possesses a virtuoso technique and therefore technically superior. Kempff on the other hand in my opinion is musically superior. I tend to feel that Schnabel rushes through passages.
Ok, 2nd begins 10:55 3rd begins 14:00 (because duration of 2nd is 3min5sec.. - I calculated it and checked it, it works correctly) Queen Cure Sky, could you please change it in the description, where you wrote the durations, what doesn't make much sense here in yt, where every time number written as a:bc works as a link to the minute of the video...
Thanks for posting. My Kempff LP's are too scratchy to listen to any longer. (Unlike Angel or Columbia Masterworks records which have held up remarkably well). I wonder: if when commentators complain about the tempi are they saying that Kempff violates Beethoven's extensive ms. markings (the autograph copy exists for Sonata No. 21) or that relative to performers they prefer Kempff plays too rapidly (or too slowly)? For the life of me I can't find anything to grouse about in Kempff's reading of this great sonata. Isn't there more to a performance than tempo? Taste? Restraint? Feeling? (Kempff rates not a word in Harold Schonberg's Great Pianists,, which I find perplexing).
Harold Schonberg has been highly overestimated as a critique, he was indeed quite a mediocre one. Most of the time his sight was toward the past instead of anticipating the future (or at least correctly reading the present). Kempff was certainly not the best from a technical point of view, but he certainly was (and is) a great pianist with many admirable qualities that many so-called great virtuosi of the keybord do not possess at all.
@@daniele8716 I personally think his touch sets him apart from (most of) the others, there are hundreds of pianists who are impeccable from the technical point of view, whereas only a handful can play with such maturity. What I admire most about Kempff is that he plays slower than the typical pianist, and as a result I find his interpretations a lot warmer, and more musical
Kemff is to Beethoven, as Glen Gould is to Bach. Any criticism, I suggest you attempt before you judge. I do not think in my life time I could execute such perfection.
Kempf is a pianist who uses Bechstein well. Technically I don't know how. There are times when I feel that the chord he strikes is a little louder after it plays without decay. It's like a string ensemble. This is strange. But music demands so. I'm listening to the illusion. Also, the chords of the played piano are equal temperament, not pure tone. However, the chords played by Kempf may sound pure. It is the time when one note is weak enough not to play with a triad. This is the impression of an oriental Japanese person.
Kempff on the late Brahms pieces is fabulous. However, I don't care for the glaring sloppiness on some of the passages in this brilliant sonata. Example starting at around 18:05 .
나는 희빈 장씨니라 꺄아하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하하
희빈 장씨(1659∼1701) : 조선 19대왕 숙종의 후궁. 본관은 인동(仁同)이다. 역관 장현(張炫)의 종질녀이다. 어머니의 정부(情夫)였던 조사석(趙師錫)과 종친인 동평군 이항(東平君 李杭)의 주선으로 궁녀로 들어가 숙종의 총애를 독차지했다. 1686년(숙종 12) 숙원(淑媛)이 되었다. 1688년 소의(昭儀)로 승진하고 왕자 이윤(李昀: 뒤의 景宗)을 낳았다. 왕은 기뻐하여 세자로 봉하려 했다. 그러나 송시열(宋時烈) 등 당시 정권을 잡고 있던 서인이 지지하지 않으므로 남인들의 원조를 얻어 책봉하려 했다. 이에 서인의 노론·소론은 모두 왕비 민씨(閔氏)가 나이가 많지 않으니 후일을 기다리자고 주장하였다. 숙종은 듣지 않고 1689년 정월에 이윤을 세자로 봉하고, 장소의는 희빈으로 승격했다. 이 때 송시열이 세자로 봉하는 것이 아직 이르다고 상소하였다. 왕은 이미 명호(名號)가 결정된 다음에 이런 의견을 말하는 것은 무슨 일이냐고 진노했다. 이에 남인 이현기(李玄紀)·남치훈(南致薰)·윤빈(尹彬) 등이 송시열의 상소를 논박하며 파직시켜 제주도로 유배하게 하고 다시 사사(賜死)하게 하였다. 그러나 송시열은 중로 정읍으로 이배(移配)되었다가 사약을 받았다. 이 밖에 서인의 영수들도 파직 또는 유배를 면하지 못했다. 반면에 남인의 권대운(權大運)·김덕원(金德遠) 등이 등용되었다. 이 정권의 교체를 기사환국 또는 기사사화라고 한다. 이 해 5월에 민비를 폐하고 장희빈을 왕비로 삼으려 할 때 서인 오두인(吳斗寅)·박태보(朴泰輔) 등 80여 명이 상소하여 이를 반대했다. 그러나 이들은 참혹한 형문을 받게 되니 이후 정국은 남인의 세상이 되었다. 기사환국 후 시간이 흐르면서 숙종은 폐비사건을 후회하게 되었다. 그러던 중 1694년 서인의 김춘택(金春澤)·한중혁(韓重爀) 등이 폐비 복위운동을 꾀하다가 고발되었다. 이 때 남인의 영수요 당시 우의정이었던 민암(閔黯) 등이 이 기회에 반대당 서인을 완전히 제거하려고 김춘택 등 수십 명을 하옥하고 범위를 넓혀 일대 옥사를 일으켰다. 이 때 숙종은 폐비에 대한 반성으로 옥사를 다스리던 민암을 파직하고 사사했으며, 권대운·목내선(睦來善)·김덕원 등을 유배했다. 이어 소론 남구만(南九萬)·박세채(朴世采)·윤지완(尹趾完) 등을 등용하고 장씨를 희빈으로 내렸는데 이것을 갑술옥사라고 한다. 또한, 이미 죽은 송시열·김수항(金壽恒) 등은 복작(復爵)되고 남인은 정계에서 물러나게 되었다. 소론이 들어서고 남인이 물러날 때 장희빈의 오빠 장희재(張希載)가 희빈에게 보낸 서장(書狀) 속에 폐비 민씨에 관련된 문구가 있어 논쟁이 벌어졌다. 여러 사람이 장희재를 죽이자고 했으나 세자에게 화가 미칠까 염려하여 남구만·윤지완 등이 용서하게 했다. 그런데 왕비 민씨가 죽은 다음에, 장희빈이 취선당(就善堂) 서쪽에 신당(神堂)을 설치하고 민비가 죽기를 기도한 일이 발각되었다. 이 일에 관련된 희빈과 장희재는 처형되고 궁인(宮人)·무녀와 그 족당(族黨)도 화를 입었다. 이것을 무고(巫蠱)의 옥(獄)이라고 한다. 이 때 장희빈에 대해 관대한 태도를 취한 남구만·최석정(崔錫鼎)·유상운(柳尙運) 등 소론의 선비들도 몰락하고 다시 노론이 득세하였다. 숙종은 이후 빈(嬪)을 후비(后妃)로 승격하는 일을 없애는 법을 만들었다.
I don't know why but usually I dislike Wilhelm Kempff renditions of Beethoven, especially is godawful Op 13 "Pathetique", but this rendition of the Waldstein sonata is just perfection.
I cannot help this is absolutely not "my taste"! Kempff and Beethoven just doesn't fit! Kempff is much better at Schumann. I prefer Solomon (Cutner; best IMHO), Friedrich Gulda or Wilhelm Backhaus at Beethoven's sonatas! :D
It's very unfortunate that so many people blindly call Kempff the 'master of Beethoven'. He's probably the worst interpreter of the great German composer. First movement, muddy, unclear and no painsimo to be found anywhere. Third movement trash pure and simple, not to mention the presto/coda he doesn't play the glissandi correctly. This is just one of the many tragic misinterpretations of the 32 sonatas. What's worse is that the arrogant pianist recorded two cycles. Leaving the terribly misinformed novice listeners to marvel at his self proclaimed glory. If you want a true master of Beethoven you'd better listen to Andras Schiff
It’s far from undisputed the octaves have to be played glissando. Apart from Kempff, Horowitz also plays them normally. But good to know you are in possession of the absolute truth whereas Kempff and Horowitz are just bumbling idiots. (Also Lisitsa who also plays them normally.)
