As I imagine Beethoven

The more we listen to different versions, the harder it is to express a preference. Take the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven, of which there are already many interpretations. Not that we should choose one, sometimes they are complementary. For example, I grew up with disks Ashkenazy, which can be an atypical Beethoven, but I always liked the tone frank, male, lyrical and formal perfection. Then there Brendel, who marked me a lot, but if I had to choose a version, it would Claudio Arrau, specifically the version of the 60s.
For me it is simply the authentic Beethoven. In fact, Arrau studied with the last pupil of Liszt, who had studied with him Czerny, who was a pupil of Beethoven, the lineage is well and truly present. The Chilean master impresses not only with its powerful sound, carved in bronze, but with absolute fidelity to the text. With some pianists, we seem to hear "more" of notes with others, Horowitz, Cherkassky, Michelangeli are prime examples. At Arrau is the same: we must simply listen as Arrau highlights the low piano, for example in the fugue Opus 110, where we really mean "everything", where a lot of colleagues of blur notes with the pedal. There are many other memorable moments, the coda of the Waldstein where Arrau has once again wonderful effects of his piano glissandos right hand never sounded so as fluid. Or sound agreements in the early Farewell .. Suffice to say that in each sonata, there are magical moments.
Arrau said in the fascinating book "Conversations with Arrau" Joseph Horowitz that for him, music was "ever humorous". Indeed, his Beethoven is serious, probably too seriously, some will find the deterrent. For me, Arrau is certainly not alone in Beethoven, I would not pass me pianists mentioned above, or Gilels and Richter, or Nat, but he is the one to which I return every time!