Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas

Winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, at the age of 18, South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim has since established himself as a player of real character. He is a fine Beethoven interpreter, and this album presents the final triptych of the composer’s piano sonatas. Kim’s ability to convey the music’s harmonic tension allied to genuinely uplifting poetry makes him a superb guide to these complex scores—each more challenging, yet, in his hands, more beautifully communicated. Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, compact and intimate, sings wonderfully, while Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat Major is unfolded with a lovely grasp of its architecture. And the visionary Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor is suitably strange and mesmerising.