Often known as ‘the Mount Everest of the keyboard’, Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata poses every conceivable problem, musically and technically (though the two are indissoluble). Even Myra Hess, a great Beethoven pianist, was daunted by its demands, leaving it to others for public performance. For Alessio Bax the challenge remains, but is superbly resolved in a reading of a formidable pace and impetus yet leaving ample time for expressive resource. His opening Allegro is like a river in full spate (though sharply focused rather than, as in Schnabel’s case, a frenetic race against the clock). At the same time the great Adagio sostenuto, appassionato e con molto sentimento is just that, finely shaded and tautly disciplined, while Bax’s final fugue, rapid and resolute, is, as Stravinsky put it, ‘contemporary forever’. Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists.

Bax’s Moonlight Sonata opens with a fast-flowing andante rather than adagio, yet the playing is so fine-toned and poetically responsive that it creates its own classic sheen. His central Allegretto is bright and perky (quite without, say, Arrau’s over-emphasis) and in the finale he creates a furious tempest of sound, with sforzando chords at the apex of each phrase like pistol shots. For a step into the light there are two Beethoven-Bax encores, the Chorus of the Whirling Dervishes and Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens, both as dazzling as they are witty (the former with an Alkanesque turn of mind). Finely recorded, Alessio Bax is clearly among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public.