Following his critically acclaimed recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas and Diabelli Variations, made between 1992 and 1996, the pianist and conductor Alfredo Perl is now scaling this summit of classical-romantic piano music for the second time. His concept, developed through intensive artistic and pedagogical work, this time applies to the whole of Beethoven: all preserved original compositions for solo piano, including works for piano four-hands.

The recordings, which in the case of the piano sonatas are based on the edition by Jonathan Del Mar, will be released in three box sets and, in addition to the stereo downloads, will also be available in Dolby Atmos on all relevant platforms.

The edition is structured around Beethoven’s three creative phases – 1791-1800, 1801-1814 and 1816-1825 – and his main works: sonatas, variations, bagatelles and remaining individual pieces. The last box set also contains youthful works written during his Bonn period, the dances and other individual pieces as well as the works for four hands. This allows listeners to follow Beethoven’s development as a piano composer, and to trace the links to the piano works of his role models and successors, including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Brahms.

The opening volume contains the first 13 sonatas (Op.2 nos.1-3; Op.7; Op.10 nos.1-3; Op.13; Op.14 nos.1-2; Op.22 as well as the short sonatas Op.49 nos.1-2), with which, after his move to Vienna, Beethoven revolutionised this genre. The sonatas are combined with twelve important variation works (WoO64-66, 68-73, 75-77), still only rarely heard in the concert hall, as well as the Allegretto in C minor, WoO53, the two rondos Op.51 and the Capriccio “alla ingharese”, Op.129, better known by the title “Rage over a Lost Penny”.