It has been recorded by everyone from Geza Anda to Dieter Zechlin. Forward-looking, iconoclastic modern pianists record it; so do classicists, and big-name stars give it a try. With more than 80 available recordings, pianists continue to return to Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata.
"Surely I've written better things," Beethoven said of his Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, No. 2. So why does everybody play the "Moonlight"?
Beethoven specified that the piece's famous first movement should be played "Quasi una fantasia" — almost a fantasy — and it has certainly inspired many a fantasy, passion, and parody. But maybe the answer lies somewhere in the 13 different versions heard here.
Note: This essay was first broadcast in 2000.
Five 'Moonlights,' 1st Mvt.
Artur Schnabel
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4c2cbc8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/75x64+0+0/resize/880x751!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fimages%2Famg%2Fclass%2Fcov75%2Fcl000%2Fl055%2Fl05594vw24f-0a0c84ee9f08f3c35897ae44dfcbc9795552947e.jpg)
Artur Schnabel's recordings of Beethoven sonatas still remain definitive; his brisk "Moonlight" was waxed in 1934.
Annie Fischer
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/48af72f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/75x75+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fimages%2Famg%2Fclass%2Fcov75%2Fcl000%2Fl007%2Fl00707111p8-f3da04efaf00deecacc2c8ec9c407a97dfa1a8da.jpg)
The Hungarian pianist Annie Fischer recorded this enduring version in late 1958 and early 1959.
Emil Grigoryevich Gilels
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/85caf56/2147483647/strip/true/crop/75x74+0+0/resize/880x868!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fimages%2Famg%2Fclass%2Fcov75%2Fcm000%2Fm055%2Fm05531edmgd-d8dd71ced3b0016c1483790cacd2e2a6e16c8391.jpg)
Originally from the Ukraine, Emil Gilels performed this slower interpretation live in Moscow in 1968.
Vladimir Ashkenazy
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2282530/2147483647/strip/true/crop/75x75+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fimages%2Famg%2Fclass%2Fcov75%2Fcl300%2Fl335%2Fl335889iu5m-4c9586fa597c8449bf94f5ff6fabfea7e6af7118.jpg)
Before Russian pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy branched out into conducting, he cut this classic 1978 study.
Maurizio Pollini
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/938be7e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/75x72+0+0/resize/880x845!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fimages%2Famg%2Fclass%2Fcov75%2Fcl800%2Fl821%2Fl821225it02-5af13cc75b3acf4dd49d079ba2bd2427cb3e0176.jpg)
The Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini ventured this version of Beethoven's Opus 27, No. 2 in 1991.
Copyright 2008 WNYC