Beethoven: Sonatas "Quasi Una Fantasia" - Maria João Pires
Maria-João Pires's poetic pianism has won admirers for her lyric Chopin and sensitive Mozart performances. She brings similar romantic sensibility to these Beethoven sonatas, using a wide dynamic range, strong tempo contrasts, and her usual sober interpretive stance. Beethoven's music is so strong, it can take an enormous variety of approaches, and many will find Pires's versions of these sonatas enthralling, given the beauty of her tone and her obvious involvement in the music. But her approach often verges on mannerism. The slow movements tend to be too slow, as in the dreamy opening movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata, which subordinates the argument of the piece to mere prettiness. Compared with such master Beethoven pianists as Arrau, Kempff, Schnabel, and Yves Nat, the great Op. 109 sonata seems superficial, its dragging opening a microcosm of what's objectionable in her approach to Beethoven. Pires's fans will not be disappointed, but Beethoven buffs will have reservations. Excellent sonics, but the packaging is puzzling, and the booklet could be mistaken for a real estate ad for Pires's Portuguese estate.--Dan Davis