Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 21, 23 and 26 Mari Kodama

• 1 I. Allegro con brio 10:49
• 2 II. Introduzione: Adagio molto 03:18
• 3 III. Rondo: Allegretto moderato - Prestissimo 09:30
• 4 I. Allegro assai 09:07
• 5 II. Andante con moto 06:17
• 6 III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto 05:11
• 7 I. Das Lebewohl: Adagio. Allegro 06:43
• 8 II. Abwesenheit: Andante espressivo 04:01
• 9 III. Das Wiedersehn: Vivacissimamente 05:02
• Total Runtime 59:58

Info for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 21, 23 and 26

These are beautifully conceived, technically polished renditions of three of Beethoven’s best-known piano sonatas, and beautifully recorded. The playing is lucid and tonally controlled, admirably free of the bombast and banging that some pianists confuse with expressivity. To be honest, I’m not sure what else to say about this recital. Mari Kodama is an Osaka, Japan-born, Paris Conservatoire-trained pianist with loads of chops, and she is utterly respectful to the composer’s directions. If I were hearing this music for the first time, I suppose I would be dazzled (indeed, I still respond to the joyousness of op. 53, when others are jaded). Collectors who treasure recordings of these great pieces by the likes of Schnabel, Arrau, Gilels, Richter, et al, need not apply. Kodama conveys Beethoven’s genius with great skill, but she does not cross over to the magic realm of the aforementioned masters, who draw us into this world with endless insight and supple manipulations of the score. A telling example is the transition from the brief Introduzione, Adagio molto to the grandiloquent closing movement in the “Waldstein.” Our masters express this bridge with poetry invested in every moment, finding the music in between the notes, as Schnabel put it. Kodama just plays the notes. But as I said, she plays them extremely well, and honestly, and PentaTone’s recording captures the range of color and tonalities with uncanny realism. (Peter Burwasser, FANFARE)

'intelligently measured power and passionate conviction' (Los Angeles Times)

'Ms. Kodama's playing is superb throughout - her timing, phrasing, and intonation are absolutely drop-dead gorgeous - every aspect of the playing here is absolutely of the highest order.' (Tom Gibbs, Audiophile Audition)

Mari Kodama, Piano

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