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Iain Burnside for Building a Library recommends a recording of Beethoven's 'Diabelli' Variations. Hans von Bülow dubbed the 33 variations, which take the best part of an hour to perform, 'a microcosm of Beethoven's art', and Alfred Brendel has described them as 'the greatest of all piano works'. Recommended recording: BEETHOVEN: Diabelli Variations Op. 120 Andreas Staier (fortepiano after Conrad Graf) HARMONIA MUNDI HMC902091 (CD) Other recommended recordings: Below is a shortlist of other recordings which Iain also liked, although we can’t guarantee the availability of these discs. Igor Levit (modern piano) SONY 88875060962 (3CD) Alfred Brendel live from the Royal Festival Hall in 2001 (modern piano) PHILIPS 4758322 Andras Schiff (piano) (One performance on an 1820 fortepiano; another on a 1921 Bechstein) ECM 4810446 (2CD)
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