BEETHOVEN - Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 14, 23, 31 (Sealed) (2LP)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No. 8 C minor op. 13 ("Path?tique"), No. 14 C sharp minor op. 27 No. 2 ("Moonlight Sonata"), No. 23 F-minor op. 57 ("Appassionata"), No. 31 A-flat major op. 110 - Elly Ney (p). Her face is unforgettable; here, surely is wisdom and a matured sense of values such as we seldom find, and that view is supported by her playing. In the final movement of the "Moonlight Sonata" does she perhaps overdo the little hesitations on the barlines? Is the middle movement too slow? Perhaps, but after all it is marked allegretto, and this slow tempo, which may well be right, grows on you ... She is best in the variations, where her playing takes on an almost mesmeric quality. The finale is not polished, but effective enough, and, like Browning, she makes the long repeat in the second half, a repeat which Fischer says is always disregarded. In her hands the repeat seems meaningful and well worth making.