This new album by Benjamin Hochman, an Israeli-born pianist who studied with Claude Frank and Richard Goode, imaginatively juxtaposes two Beethoven sonatas with earlier as well as more recent works. The affinities of the pieces are suggestive and the approach is free of didacticism. This quality also applies to Hochman’s thoughtful interpretation of both sonatas. In the opening pages of Op 109 every detail of Beethoven’s score is observed yet is made to sound part of a free fantasy, the contrasting of tempos and dynamics all part of the flow. The second movement is driven but never rushed. The last movement’s variations are well characterised, alternately expressive and forceful, with perfect balances between the hands at every point.

Hochman’s light touch also enhances the arpeggios of the opening pages of Op 110 and the movement’s intense lyricism is conveyed with perfect restraint. The last movement is perhaps the highlight of the album, the various tempos never dragging, the doleful Arioso supported by tender pulsations in the left hand, the fugues perfectly paced, the voices ideally balanced and the build-up to the final page riveting.

The placement of the three short contrasting pieces between the sonatas is effective. The initial intervals of Josquin’s serene motet are similar to those of the opening theme of Op 109 and Dowland’s lamentation is heard as a distant relative of Beethoven’s Arioso. Of George Benjamin’s short atonal pieces, composed in 2001, No 4 stands out for its vivid drama and No 5 for its colourism. Hochman is an engaged and engaging musician and I look forward to hearing more from him.

This review originally appeared in the SPRING 2025 issue of International Piano