This incomparable recording made in 1969/70 on the occasion of the bicentenary of the composer is the much-acclaimed version of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas by Badura-Skoda, who plays on an Imperial Bösendorfer, and probably one of the most successful of the discography. It had been released in a box of 11 LPs by Musical Heritage Society which had the distribution rights then almost forgotten until it was reissued under the Viennese label Gramola in this new remastered edition featuring as bonus two additional unpublished performances of the « Hammerklavier » Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 : a 1976 concert recording in Warsaw and a studio recording made in Vienna in 1980 on a well-preserved instrument from Beethoven's time (an original fortepiano by Conrad Gral, 1824). Comparing the three interpretations, we perceive what can be unique in the performance of a passing moment.
The whole album is magnificent, especially as the sound recording captured the beautiful resonances of the piano. For this complete works, the choice of a Bösendorfer was essential because, says the pianist, "the instrument has a sound quite Viennese". The humanity of Badura-Skoda and his understanding of the musical text does the rest, giving us a Beethoven in his purity, both poetic and smiling, absent from demonstrative sentimentality. (© Qobuz / GG)