Jenö Jandó - Beethoven: Bagatelles and Dances, Vol. 1 (1999)

You will find four CDs in the Naxos catalogue in which Jenö Jandó plays Beethoven bagatelles. The earliest to be released features the marvellous three sets to which opus numbers were given. This CD is the first of the three others, comprising miscellaneous short piano works of Beethoven. Some bagatelles are here, including the well-known "Für Elise" which opens this collection. Once you've heard "Für Elise", you'll listen in vain for anything here with any spark or substance. Beethoven would probably turn in his Viennese grave if he knew that there was a pianist like Jenö Jandó who would devote 57 minutes to playing them to a 21st Century audience. Naxos's regular note-writer, Keith Anderson, provides a scholarly and objective essay.