Edwin Fischer plays Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (live in 1948)

If you wish to support The Piano Files, please consider membership at my Patreon page: A September 14, 1948 Besançon concert performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata by Swiss pianist Edwin Fischer. Although he was well known for his Beethoven performances and recorded several of his sonatas for Electrola/HMV from the 1930s to the 1950s, this work is one that Fischer never recorded commercially. This live recording was issued only once (incorrectly labeled as a 1949 Paris performance) on a Music & Arts 2-CD set featuring a collection of Beethoven broadcast recordings of Fischer, and its relative rarity makes it of great interest to fans of fine piano playing. Fischer plays here with his usual luminous tone (appreciable despite the poor sound quality of the discs), a wonderful sense of line in the left-hand accompaniment, marvellous balance between hands, refined pedalling, and remarkable dynamic control. If you wish to support The Piano Files, please consider membership at my Patreon page: