“The exploration of Beethoven’s piano works still continues to astonish me,” wrote the Viennese pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in 2014, introducing his book Mein Beethoven: Leben mit dem Meister. “Even pieces that I have performed hundreds of times never lose their freshness to me.” Buchbinder recorded this collection of Beethoven’s complete works for solo piano – which includes a number of rarities – between 1973 and 1981. At its heart, of course, are the sonatas. As Buchbinder has said: “There are, I believe, no more personal statements of a human being than those we find in these 32 piano sonatas, which are also the crowning glory of Beethoven’s oeuvre.”
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-32
Beethoven: Bagatelles (7), Op. 33
Beethoven: Bagatelles (11), Op. 119
Beethoven: Bagatelles (6), Op. 126
Beethoven: Bagatelle in C major, WoO56
Beethoven: Bagatelle in C minor, WoO52
Beethoven: Variations (9) on a March by Dressler, WoO 63
Beethoven: Variations (6) in F major on a Swiss Song, WoO 64
Beethoven: Variations (24) on Righini’s Arietta ‘Venni amore,’ WoO 65
Beethoven: Variations (13) on the Arietta ‘Es war ein alter Mann’, WoO 66
Beethoven: Variations (12) on the ‘Menuet à la Vigano’ by Haibel, WoO 68
Beethoven: Variations (9) on the Aria ‘Quant’ è più bello’, WoO 69
Beethoven: Variations (6) in G major on the duet ‘Nel cor più non mi sento’ from the opera La Molinara by Giovanni Paisiello, WoO 70
Beethoven: Variations (12) on a Russian Dance, WoO 71
Beethoven: Variations (8) on the Romance ‘Une fièvre brûlante’, WoO 72
Beethoven: Variations (10) in B-flat major on the duet ‘La stessa, la stessissima’ from the opera Falstaff by Antonio Salieri, WoO 73
Beethoven: Variations (7) on the Quartet ‘Kind, willst du ruhig schlafen’, WoO 75
Beethoven: Variations (6) on an original theme ‘Die Ruinen von Athen’, Op. 76
Beethoven: Variations (6) on an original theme in G major for Piano, WoO 77
Beethoven: Variations (7) on ‘God save the King’, WoO 78
Beethoven: Variations (5) on ‘Rule Britannia’, WoO 79
Beethoven: Variations (32) on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 80
Beethoven: Variations (6) for Piano on an Original Theme in F major, Op. 34
Beethoven: Eroica Variations, Op. 35
Beethoven: Variations (6) on an original theme ‘Die Ruinen von Athen’, Op. 76
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
Beethoven: Variations (8) on the song ‘Ich hab’ein kleines Hüttchen nur’ in B-flat major for Piano, Anh. 10
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas WoO 47 ‘Kurfürsten Sonatas’ Nos. 1, 2 & 3
Beethoven: Rondos (2), Op. 51
Beethoven: Two Movements from a Sonatina in F major WoO 50
Beethoven: Allegretto in C minor,WoO 53
Beethoven: Bagatelle in G minor, WoO 61a (Allegretto quasi Andante)
Beethoven: Allegretto in B minor, WoO 210
Beethoven: Bagatelle in C major, WoO 54, ‘Lustig-Traurig’
Beethoven: Für Elise (Bagatelle in A minor, WoO59)
Beethoven: Bagatelle in B flat major, WoO 60
Beethoven: Prelude in F minor WoO 55
Beethoven: Waltz in E flat major WoO 84
Beethoven: Waltz in D major WoO 85
Beethoven: Andante Favori in F, WoO 57
Beethoven: Menuets (12), WoO 7
Beethoven: Ländlerische Tänze für Zwei Violinen und Bass
Beethoven: Two Preludes, Op. 39
Beethoven: Rondo in A major, WoO 49
Beethoven: Rondo in B flat major, Anh. 6
Beethoven: Rondo in C major, WoO 48
Beethoven: Fantasia in G minor, Op. 77
Beethoven: Polonaise in C major, Op. 89
Beethoven: Ländler (6), WoO 15
Beethoven: Deutsche Tänze (12), WoO 13
Beethoven: Allemande in A major WoO 81
Beethoven: Ecossaises
Beethoven: Contredanses (12), WoO 14
Beethoven: Piano Sonatina No 37 in G major, Anh. 5, No. 1
Beethoven: Piano Sonatina No. 38 in F major, Anh. 5, No. 2
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in C major, WoO 51
Beethoven: Rondo in B flat major, Anh. 6
Beethoven: Minuet in A flat major, WoO 209 (Hess 33)
Beethoven: Three Marches for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 45
Beethoven: Minuets (12), WoO 7
Beethoven: Deutsche Tänze (12), WoO 8