★★★★★
Pollini's Deutsche Grammophon output has been all over the label's numerous lines and reissue programs. Hence the most valuable part of this "original jacket" package might just be the two final Mozart discs, which took forever to reach the domestic market and are fine testaments to the pianist's Mozart credentials. The rest of the set is devoted to Beethoven and Brahms, and with the exception of the Abbado/Berlin cycle, show the artist at his early best...
- www.classical.net
2015-02-17
★★★★★
Maurizio Pollini is among the more probing and eloquent pianists of our day, and it's clear that he's thought deeply about the issues surrounding Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" - about the expressive range of these pieces, the possibilities and constraints of counterpoint and the textural challenges of Bach on the piano. But in this new recording, he struggles to organize those ideas into anything like a sustained train of thought...
- www.sfgate.com
2010-01-28
★★★★★
Because Beethoven's late piano sonatas are universally revered, performances of these works often invite passionate disagreements about the proper way to interpret them. Such was the case with Maurizio Pollini's recordings (1975-1977), and the controversy surrounding them has never fully abated. While these performances are polished to an extent seldom realized on other recordings, it was this pristine quality itself that invited criticism...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
This disc contains the complete piano works of Arnold Schoenberg, perhaps the twentieth century's most important musical iconoclast. Schoenberg's evolution as a composer may be easily traced through the music on this CD, which is presented chronologically, and spans twenty-two years of his career. Schoenberg used the piano to experiment, and one can easily see that stylistic innovations appearing in works of other genres were often first worked out in the piano music...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Pollini's recording of Beethoven's final masterpiece for the piano excels even in comparison with the familiar greats. Schnabel? His musical depth can't be denied, but his pianistic technique is lacking. Brendel? His recordings -- one early, one late -- are technically superb, but the earlier emphasizes the virtuoso element at the expense of the humanity and the latter wants humor and pathos. Richter? His three recordings are undeniably great, but all are live and all have grievous flaws...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Masterful and wholly individualistic, Pollini's 2002 recordings of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas ,Opp. 10 and 13, is absolutely essential and completely transformative. Pollini's playing is as it has always been technically impeccable, but his interpretations have grown individualistic over the years. In the past, Pollini's Beethoven interpretations have been objective yet expressive, a part of the great tradition of Beethoven players yet still his own man...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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