Though not the first recording “to place this particular masterpiece firmly in the sound world of the early 1820s”, as Gary Cooper believes, it is the first to use an instrument made during Beethoven’s lifetime. Edmund Battersby recorded the work in 2005 on a copy of an 1825 Graf (coupling it with a performance on a modern Steinway, a two-disc release from Naxos). Cooper uses a restored 1822 Walter und Sohn fortepiano. Its tonal character is not one to which the ear readily warms, confirming my perhaps simplistic belief that musical instruments were developed in order to improve them.

The fortepiano can shed new light on colour and texture – witness Ronald Brautigam’s magnificent BIS survey of the sonatas – but here, with what comes across as a keyboard with uneven regulation, one strains to catch some of the notes. As early as Var 3 the left-hand quavers in the second part appear as a mysterious wash, while in Var 22 (and nowhere else) the Walter creates a buzzing sound akin to blowing a paper and comb. Despite my admiration for this fine musician and his laudable integrity, such concerns distract from one’s involvement with and enjoyment of the music.

Cooper completes the disc with the Six Bagatelles written shortly after the Variations. Again, the brighter, more incisive character of Beethoven’s own 1817 Broadwood, in the hands of Melvyn Tan (Virgin) proves to be a friendlier companion.