Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110 & 111

Steven Osborne navigates the strikingly different universes of Beethoven’s three late piano sonatas like an intrepid explorer ever ready to do battle with giants and dragons and stand in awe before the mighty wonders of creation. He sets the bar high with heroic readings of the opening two movements of the Sonata in E major, Op. 109 and prepares the way for the transcendent lyricism of the Sonata in A flat major, Op. 110 with a floating account of the work’s meditative finale. The Scottish pianist, enhanced by Hyperion’s spacious yet powerfully present recorded sound, lets loose an immense fireball of impassioned pianism in the opening movement of the Sonata in C minor, Op. 111 and appears to suspend clock time as the variations of the work’s towering “Arietta” finale gradually unfold.