Like András Schiff, Roberto Prosseda held off recording Beethoven’s piano sonatas until his 50th year. His decision to do so now coincides with his making the acquaintance of a remarkable piano: Graf No 429, dating from 1820 and recently extensively restored – retaining, we are told, its original components, including the leather hammers and dampers. It’s certainly an instrument with a great deal of personality, and if its date of manufacture doesn’t coincide precisely with Beethoven’s Op 2 (1795), then Prosseda contends that it brought this music to life far more persuasively than a range of modern copies of late 18th-century fortepianos that he tried before rejecting.

The Graf’s voice comes closest to the modern piano in its middle range but departs significantly outside of that, developing a throaty twang lower in the range and a veiled quality in the treble region, although with no loss of clarity. Attack grows blunter as volume increases. And the dynamic range is quite remarkable, from susurrating pianos and pianissimos to almost fierce fortissimos: witness the shattering bass notes in the central section of Op 2 No 3’s Adagio, which suddenly pin back the ears like an introvert unexpectedly raising their voice.

Prosseda’s interpretations, too, are notably personal and individual. He is never less than authoritative in slow movements but comes into his own in lighter-hearted passages such as the three scherzos or the capering finale of Op 2 No 3. Rubato is applied liberally but without ever feeling merely applied. And Prosseda’s prolonged contact with the instrument and his profound knowledge of its idiosyncrasies enable him to exploit its quirks and discontinuities rather than trying to paper over them.

Prosseda’s Op 2 is recorded (at the Musicafelix Studio in Prato, Italy) with an intimacy that transmits the instrument’s characterful action, clattering most deliciously in involved moments such as the latter half of the Trio of Op 2 No 1. Equally flavoursome is the slighly gamey tuning, not as a result of any shortcomings of the instrument or its maintenance but due to the use, we are informed, of Vallotti unequal temperament – a tantalising detail in a stimulating recording.

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