Piano sonatas nos. 14, 17 & 23

"The thought of another 'Moonlight' Sonata filled me with dread. I needn't have worried. With Kolesnikov playing it, that proves to be a fresh element. It's certainly the finest performance of it I've ever heard ... A fitting climax is reached with the 32 Variations on an Original Theme, WoO 80. I'm very fond of this work ... with Kolesnikov achieving passion and drama in full measure ... There's no doubt in my mind that this young pianist is going from strength to strength with each new recording".

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"This is big boned Beethoven in the grand Russian style. For all the passion and drama in these works, my overriding impression was of imperious calm. Lugansky has iron fingers and an impregnable technique and there is never any sense that these pieces threaten to overwhelm him ... Lugansky's Beethoven has a lot to recommend it: it is direct and fully in tune with the revolutionary nature of the music; his calm demeanour means that everything is done with immense clarity and sense of purpose with nothing sensationalised. These qualities are immensely refreshing in this oft recorded repertoire".

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"As Martin Roscoe crosses the halfway point towards completing his Beethoven sonata cycle for Deux-Elles, his poised and scrupulous playing continues to evoke two ghosts of Beethoven past: Walter Gieseking and Solomon. These luminaries generally favoured clear textures, astute voice-leading, balance and symmetry, discreet use of the pedal and a kind of Classical reserve that contrast with more combative, confrontational interpretations. So does Roscoe ... Listeners whose internal Beethoven sonata barometers read 'intimate' rather than 'cosmic' will respond to the stature and high standards of Roscoe's artistry".

"Kolesnikov ... begins in much more obscure territory with four rarities, which are delightful. He conveys the jokiness of the second piece (probably intended as a scherzo for Op. 10 No. 1) without labouring the point, while the fourth contrasts a quiet playfulness, sudden outbreaks of ire and an otherworldly dreaminess ... The G major Sonata, Op. 14 No. 2, also suits Kolesnikov well ... And he gives a sparkling account of the playful and perky finale, if not quite finding the level of wit of, say, Richard Goode".

"This is the second volume of NIkolai Lugansky's Beethoven to come my way and the ruggedness that coloured his accounts of the late sonatas are in evidence here, too, in these three nicknamed works. He strenuously avoids the superficially beautiful in the first movement of the "Moonlight", instead lending it a dragging quality ... His "Tempest" ... has a craggy, dramatic persona, the ire to the fore ... [In] the "Appassionata" ... there's a certain lack of subtlety in his approach ... If you find [Paul] Lewis too slow in the finale ... then Lugansky might be more to your taste, rounded off with a dazzlingly nihilistic Presto".