Recordings of Beethoven Piano Cycles (Update)
prepared by Jens Laurson

Part 1 30s, 40s & 50s

Part 2 60s

Part 3 70s & 80s

Part 4 90s

Part 5 00s

More 00s

	Gerhard Oppitz 2004 - 2006 - Hänssler Oppitz' Beethoven cycle flew under the radar, compared to those of Schiff and Lewis, but it is, along with those two, one of the most notable to have been produced in this decade. I've not come across anything fancy in this cycle, but some astonishingly fine playing. Availability (previously in eight individual volumes, now also as a box): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Hänssler Yes Box Yes Box Yes Box Yes Box
	Garrick Ohlsson 1992 - 2007 - Bridge (Arabesque) Availability (in eight individual volumes): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Bridge Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Idil Biret 1994 - 2005 - IBA This sonata cycle is part of a Beethoven Edition that launched Idil Biret's own label, Idil Biret Archive. It's practically a sub-label of Naxos, the company that has brought her from relative obscurity to becoming a household name. The Beethoven Edition will include not only the sonatas and concertos but also Liszt's Symphony transcriptions which are being re-released on CD for the first time since Biret took them down on LP for EMI in the mid-eighties. Availability: Country / Label USA UK France Germany IBA Yes Yes Yes Yes
	András Schiff 2004 - 2007 - ECM Schiff used a Boesendorfer and a Steinway Grand for these recordings, taped live (except for the last three sonatas) and played in sequence. Availability (in eight individual volumes): Country / Label USA UK France Germany ECM Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Paul Lewis 2004 - 2007 - Harmonia Mundi Availability (in vour volumes): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Harmonia Mundi Yes Yes Yes Yes
	Kun-Woo Paik 2005 - 2007 - Decca (Korea) Perhaps Decca sent up a test-balloon in the West when they released one volume of this cycle world wide. After that it was back to releases for the Asian (Korean?) market only. Availability of Sonatas 16-26 (complete set only in Asia): Country / Label USA UK France Germany Decca Partial Partial Partial Partial

Below follow those cycles that I have overlooked. Many of them were only ever distributed on the Asian market. Any further information about these would be much appreciated. The same goes for anyone who can confirm the existence of an alleged cycle by a Michael Steinberg (apparently on Elysium LPs, possibly recorded in Germany).

	Shoko Sugitani ???? - 2007? - IDC Classic Not available as far as I know. (Volume 11 found on HMV.co.jp)
	Kazune Shimizu 1995 - 1997 - Sony (Japan) Live recordings. Out of print as a set with individual copies hard to find at HMV.co.jp. (Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6)
	Daniela Varinska ???? - 2009? - Diskant Available (9 of 11? volumes) from Slovakia or in Japan:
	Ikuyo Nakamichi 2002? - BMG Japan Ikuyo Nakamichi studied under Mitsuko Kinpara, Phyllis Rappaport (Michigan), Kazuhiko Nakajima and Prof. Klaus Schilde at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich on a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Cultural Affairs. In 1982 Nakamichi won first and the Masuzawa Prize at the 51st Annual Japan Music Competition. Available from Japan.
	Akiyoshi Sako 2003 - 2005 - Camerata Available (partially?) from Japan.
	Takahiro Sonoda I 1968-69 ?? - Denon Apparently one of the grand figures in Japanese music and someone of whom I hitherto, somehow, knew nothing. He is to have recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas three (!) times, as only Barenboim and Brendel have. I cannot track down the third (there may be confusion on this point, as he also issued an edition of the Beethoven sonatas as scores), but this one on Denon can still be found.  Available from Japan, Germany, and France.
	Takahiro Sonoda II 1993 - 1996- Evica Available in 12 individual volumes from Japan

This concludes the listing of all Beethoven Sonata Cycles that are currently complete* and finished^. There are, however, 14 (or more!) cycles under way, of which Ronald Brautigam's will most likely be the next complete one (and one of the most important, at that).

In the next instalment, I will list all cycles that are under way, as well as a selection of historically important attempted cycles that were never finished but include more than 20 sonatas.

* If you count, as I did, Backhaus II and Arrau II as complete, despite one and two (respectively) missing sonatas.

^ This includes Idil Biret's cycle which has been all recorded but won't have been issued in its entirety until later this year or early 2010. 

This survey was originally published on the Ionarts blog.

If you have additional information about recording dates, availability, cover art -- or corrections and additions -- your input is much appreciated.

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