Diabelli Variations
Even Alfred Brendel may not approve of the Beethoven performances heard on these  discs. Brendel is several decades older and wiser now, and may well find these products of his  relative youth as callow as I do. The magnificentDiabelliVariations, one of Beethoven's  greatest compositions, is trivialized by this undercharacterized playing, which lets so many  important moments go by without saying anything special about them. It's worth the extra money to  spring for a great performance of this music, like Richter on Praga PR 254 023 or Oelbaum on  Bridge BCD 9010. The smaller pieces also sound bland. Even at a low price this set is no great  bargain.--Leslie Gerber