These performances are strongly characterised, clearly etched and full of life and drama. The account of the D major Sonata’s great, sombre Adagio is powerfully eloquent, sustaining a very slow tempo, with Müller-Schott demonstrating a breathtaking control of subtle changes in tone and dynamic level. This approach of drawing out the music isn’t quite as successful in the WoO46 Variations, where the minor variation is already much slower than the theme, and the Adagio, burdened with frequent expressive hesitation, becomes almost static. I find that Perényi and Schiff (ECM, 12/04), for instance, are able to create a more beautiful effect by sustaining an ongoing sense of line at a flowing tempo.

In the first Allegros of both sonatas, Schiff and Perényi create an urgent momentum that suits Beethoven’s impulsive character. Hewitt and Müller-Schott, in contrast, are keen to highlight every expressive point, often to dramatic effect but, overall, tending to weaken Beethoven’s narrative drive. A case in point occurs right at the start of Op 102 No 2, where Müller-Schott’s consoling answering phrase is taken at a considerably slower tempo than Hewitt’s forceful opening. Angela Hewitt’s touch favours bright, crystalline sonorities; I’d have welcomed more in the way of softer sounds, the sort of palette that Menahem Pressler deploys with such artistry.

In short, these are striking, accomplished, highly individual performances, well worth hearing, but for a top recommendation among recent recordings I’d go to Schiff and Perényi, or the mellower accounts of Meneses and Pressler (Avie, 8/08).