Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op.109, 110 & 111 – Steven Osborne

   in Piano International (May, 2019)
Steven Osborne follows his superb Hammerklavier Sonata with this third Beethoven recital for Hyperion.

Osborne’s nuances and shading are so fine as to be barely perceptible. At the outset of Op 109 his limpid sonority and transparency convey precisely the undertow of tensile strength beneath this music’s outer warmth and lyricism. Th ere is an unfaltering directness and explosive energy in the following Prestissimo and his refinement in the final variations should never be mistaken for plain-sailing.

His enviable poise in the opening of Op 110 offers a true initiation into the transcendentalism of late Beethoven. By contrast, his Allegro molto is as faultlessly controlled as it is fast and furious. …