The Complete Beethoven Sonatas – Vol. 1

The Complete Beethoven Sonatas by pianist Peter Takacs features 11 DSD albums that include not only Beethoven’s well-known 32 sonatas, but all of the early piano sonatas that remained unnumbered as well as the only sonata that Beethoven wrote for four hands.

The albums were recorded in 5 Channel Surround Sound DSD 64 by Soundmirror at Concert Hall of the Music and Mass Communication Department of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee in December 2001 through early September 2004. Peter Takacs played the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano at the Concert Hall.

Embarking on a life-long project, pianist Peter Takacs presents all of the composer’s sonatas for the first time in one package. When asked why he initiated this ambitious project, Takacs commented, “I have lived with these magnificent works, as performer and teacher for many years. I find in them a record of a great composer’s development from his youth as a brilliant virtuoso to the peaks of musical maturity. One recurrent aspect of these sonatas is their strikingly modern relevance as universal statements about the human condition – about struggle and suffering, healing and transcendence. In them one gleans a mind intent on surprising and delighting the listener, pushing the envelope of accepted rules, and being inspired by nature both in its pastoral serenity and its turbulence (reflecting inner turmoil as well).”

About Peter Takács
Hailed as “a marvelous pianist” by The New York Times, Peter Takács has established himself as a distinguished performer, teacher, and lecturer. Winner of the William Kapell International Competition, he has appeared in recite, chamber music, and with orchestras in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has given master classes throughout the world and has been an adjudicator in many prestigious international competitions.

In 2015-16, he inaugurated a new recital series entitles “Key Pianists,” performing three all-Beethoven programs at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. His recording of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas was released on the Cambria label in July 2011 to critical acclaim.

Recorded in 5 Channel Surround Sound DSD 64 by Soundmirror, the albums are now Available in Stereo and 5 Channel Surround Sound DSD 256. DSD 128 and DSD 64 plus Stereo DSD 512, exclusively at Native DSD.

A Note From the Artist
For many reasons, I feel strongly that the musical text should not act as a final destination, but rather constitute a point of departure for the interpreter. First, there is no such things as “the text,” since what we see on the printed page of even fully dependable editions is a composite of many, often contradictory, source materials and editorial decisions. Second, musical traditions have changed over the centuries, and we have to reconstruct the original intentions of composers by immersing ourselves in historical and artistic contexts, which may entail implications not found on the printed page. Third, we have to search for narrative truth by empathetically divining what my great teacher Leon Fleisher calls “the wisdom of the material,” the unspoken essence that lies beyond the notes.

This music is centuries old, and while some of its meanings may have changed over time, I fervently believe it carries the same evocative power today as it did at its conception. In that spirit, at every point, I have tried to create a sense of naturalness and inevitability in my interpretive choices, in an attempt to fulfil Beethoven’s words: “Von Herzen Möge es wieder zu Herzen gene!” (From the heart, may it return to the heart!).

Peter Takács – Piano