Absolutely serious, BR; I've got about a thousand classical CDs, and of course it's the music that's really the bottom line. If you search old posts for a topic such as "classical" you'll find me(along with the sorely-missed sushi)as a frequent contributor. Unfortunately there hasn't been much traffic in that area recently.
On the Pathetique, my favorite is Arrau on Philips(along with Appassionata and Moonlight), stately and dynamic in turn, with good sound from the '60s. I've listened to others and borrowed some from libraries, of course. The Brendel that I heard and liked was his digital re-make from the '90s.
