Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2 No. 3

“The F minor and C major Sonatas outer movements nearly fly off the printed page…. This is Pollini's most arresting Beethoven release since he set down the late sonatas 30 years ago.” Gramophone Magazine, Janurary 2008

“Of Beethoven's earliest published set of sonatas, it's the F minor first work that seems best suited to Pollini's somewhat austere style. Here, he conveys all the music's darkness and urgency, with the prestissimo finale hurtling by like the wind.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 ****

“Angela Hewitt is on characteristic top form in three of Beethoven’s iconic sonatas … Hewitt’s intelligent planning gives it [Pathétique] a hardcore makeover. The extremes of dynamic range are deftly realised, and she’s fearless at articulating with a brittle touch where necessary” Classic FM Magazine *****

“The Pastoral sonata leads off Angela Hewitt’s second Beethoven sonata cycle instalment, and she taps into the music’s overall geniality while also paying heed to its darker corners … I love Hewitt’s conversational give and take between the droning left-hand ostinato and the main theme at the Rondo finale’s outset … in addition to Hyperion’s superb sound, Hewitt, as usual, provides her own penetrating, vividly articulate annotations” Gramophone Magazine

“This series of recordings from more than a century ago is remarkable: actual performances recorded on mechanical reproducing pianos, preserved on piano rolls, and re-presented on a new concert grand, with digital sound. And this Polish-American pianist was one of the greatest virtuosi of his age, as these pieces of Liszt, Chopin, and Schumann testify.” The Independent, 23rd February 2008 Album of the week

“The god of inspiration sprints hand in hand with Garrick Ohlsson as the pianist nears completion of his Beethoven sonata cycle… Ohlsson plays Op. 14 No. 1 beautifully, bringing a refreshingly terse quality to the Allegretto by underlining its sudden dynamic shifts.” Classics Today

“As a pupil and disciple of Claudio Arrau. Ohlsson cultivates a richness of tone which some listeners might find too Brahmsian. But besides the depth, Ohlsson plays crisply, and is never in danger of giving this music airs that it doesn’t have.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2008 *****

“But my goodness, here was a boy – I remember it as if it happened yesterday – with a mass of red hair and freckles, who played …I can’t describe it. All I can say is, if he ever comes to America, I may as well pack my bags.” (Artur Rubinstein’s famous salute to the young Emil Gilels, prompted by a visit which Rubinstein made to Odessa, Gilels’s birthplace, in 1931.)