Beethoven's complete piano sonatas played by Annie Fischer (1914-1995).


Fischer's Wikipedia Biography :

Fischer's playing has been praised for its "characteristic intensity" and "effortless manner of phrasing" (David Hurwitz), as well as its technical power and spiritual depth. She was greatly admired by such contemporaries as Otto Klemperer and Sviatoslav Richter; Richter wrote that "Annie Fischer is a great artist imbued with a spirit of greatness and genuine profundity." The Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini praised the "childlike simplicity, immediacy and wonder" he found in her playing. Her interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Schumann, as well as Hungarian composers like Béla Bartók continue to receive the highest praise from pianists and critics.

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Her greatest legacy, however, is a studio-made integral set of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas. She worked on this set for 15 years beginning in 1977. A self-critical perfectionist, she did not allow the set to be released in her lifetime but, since her death, it has been released on compact disc and widely praised.


Critical Praise :

"The current issue of Opus lists 20 complete sets of the Beethoven sonatas, and none of them is entirely satisfactory. This is not surprising; these 32 extraordinary compositions range from strict classicism through passionate romanticism to the most austere expressions of the composer's thought, from quite simple pieces to those demanding the utmost virtuosity, and nobody can be equally effective in all of them. But some come closer than others, and Annie Fischer comes closest of all." Copyright © Alexander J. Morin, 1999.

"Shortly after Fischer's death in 1995, the Hungaroton label issued a complete recording of Fischer in the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Fischer had been working on this set for the better part of two decades, but prior to that time she had not seen fit to release these recordings. Fischer was an intense and powerful pianist who responded most strongly to her own inner sense of inspiration and drive. In works where this approach was an advantage, such as the "Hammerklavier" Sonata of Beethoven, Fischer was second to none."Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide