Piano Sonatas - Moonlight/Pathetique/Appassionata - Beethoven

Very good performance from 1987 of three early Piano Sonatas by Beethoven from Jeno Jando, The Moonlight, The Pathetique and The Appassionata.They couldn't be better played or recorded. It is a pleasure to listen to them, one after the other.I'd also like to recommend Jando's performance of the last three Sonatas, op 109-10-11. also recorded in 1987. If possible they are even better than these three!Particularly desirable is to have them played in sequence on the same CD, as Naxos does. This shows how Beethoven's ideas developed from one to the next.Other recordings split them between CDs and you lose that development.Well done to Naxos and Jeno Jando!

Great music

Full, brilliant, powerful and dynamic perfomances; full, brilliant, powerful and dynamic sound (compare through headphones to Igor Levit's recent (fine) late sonatas on Sony in 2014 - the immediacy and life of the Naxos recordings makes a far greater impression!). As an owner of complete sets by others (including Brendel's latest digital cycle) and as a player of the scores; this is still to my ears the best all round bet. Jando's energy and effervesence epitomises a time when central European countries began to emerge from Soviet stagnation, and digital recording technology meant 12-inch LPs could be carried for the first time in a pocket. On top of that Jeno Jando is, along with Zoltan Kocsis, Deszo Ranki, and Istvan Szekely, the product of a Hungarian piano school that traces its style and roots from Liszt - who in turn revered Beethoven to the extent of transcribing his symphonies for solo piano. These records need only to communicate the music of the composer in his various periods from student to sage, which they do with a firmness, poise and excitement that has few comparisons. Add to this the status of the works themselves and despite the claims of Brendel, Barenboim, Goode - this is the one to save for posterity and send into space for the aliens to interpret.

I agree with the above.is it just me, or is jeno jando a hugely underrated performer? I started listening to naxos CDs only recently on the recommendation of BBC R3's CDmasters, and have been hugely impressed.I gather Jeno Jando was a rival (and friend) of Andras Schiff at the budapest conservatory.All this is subjective, of course, but if you enjoyed his playing in this, try his interpretation of Brahms Piano Concerto no.2 (Naxos 8.554678). You get Joseph Banowetz giving an equally flawless rendition of Liszt's 2nd concerto on the same CD.Over the years I have owned several recordings of this work, and I rate this one of the best.When one thinks of great pianists, one thinks of Murray Perahia, Schiff, Ashkenazy et al., and it is totally justified, but surely this apparently self effacing man deserves to be mentioned in the same breath? His output of recordings is huge, he has stuck with a budget label (although naxos can claim to be "big Boys" these days), knowing it would bring his playing to a wider audience in a bigger repetoire, and his playing draws comparison with the best. The only thing he lacks, is recognition! I sincerely hope he receives it some day.When you can listen to him at this price, who can complain?

This CD, played by Jeno Jando is one of the best Cds I have listened to so far this year. The 'pathetique' is played with great fire and strength, the 'moonlight' with calm and integrity, and the 'appassionata' with joy, all doing justice to the superhuman composer in Beethoven.