Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 'Pastorale'

“a powerful reminder that nobody plays this music more authoritatively and eloquently...he is in his element, responding wholeheartedly to the extreme physicality that Beethoven brought to music...But the wit and delicacy of the playing are also remarkable.” Sunday Times, 7th March 2010 ****

“Almost violent dynamic contrasts are frequent, but Ohlsson takes them as far as is idiomatic but no further. Even more important, there are no 'bridge passages' in these performances, everything is melodic or dramatic.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2008 *****

“exquisite playing wedded to a deep understanding of this music. Ohlsson's concentration and dynamic control are mesmerizing...and it is beautifully recorded.” Fanfare

“The stand-out performance here is Op. 109, where Biss is never less than compelling and at times profound. The way he dissolves the sonority of the Andante's final variation before coalescing for the theme's final return is a magical moment of great emotional force.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2007 ****

“Many people are high on Jonathan Biss, the young American pianist, and they are not wrong…..Jonathan Biss is a musical fellow” New York Sun

“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. In the first movement, her accompaniments are full and resonant, yet convey a murmuring, disembodied aura, while she gauges the development section's silences and transitions to particularly dramatic effect. She also plays the central movements well, although the Andante's staccato left-hand lines are more characterfully bassoon-like in Stephen Kovacevich's hands, and some might prefer Richard Goode's more impetuous, angular fingerwork in the Scherzo. Yet Hewitt's conversational give-and-take between the droning left-hand ostinato and the main theme at the Rondo finale's outset is quite wonderful.
Having enjoyed Hewitt's edgy, fervent Appassionata, her Pathétique seems underplayed and studio-bound by comparison. Her fastidious, occasionally rounded-off execution softens the outer movements' ardour and momentum.
Hewitt's way with the C major Sonata, Op 2 No 3, boasts considerable profile and personality.
Her tempo fluctuations in the first movement (the lyrical G major theme, for example) illuminate rather than detract from the structure, while the Andante appears more internally animated than one would guess from its nearly eight-minute timing. The contrapuntal acumen that distinguishes Hewitt's Baroque interpretations brilliantly comes to the fore in the Scherzo. In contrast to the pouncing scintillation Kovacevich and Richter bring to the Allegro assai, Hewitt evokes Rubinstein's urbane poise and patrician control, and treats the display passages in the manner of rapid melodies. Small wonder that Hewitt considers this one of Beethoven's most fulfilling sonatas to perform. In addition to Hyperion's superb sound, Hewitt, as usual, provides her own penetrating, vividly articulate annotations.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010