It is very hard to detect any difference in quality between the more recently made recording of the E minor and the earlier Sonatas Nos. 21 and 26. There is a touch of hardness in the sound all through on both the LP and CD versions, but this did not worry me, my mind being distracted (if that is the word, and it isn't) by the music and the playing. Quick semiquavers low down in the bass clef are sometimes a little confused, for instance just before the recapitulation in the first movement of the Waldstein, but then they are almost bound to be on a modern grand and I doubt if Beethoven would have minded. You could hardly hope for a better performance of the finale, beautifully relaxed early on, reserves of brilliance held back till the end, and Ashkenazy finds every ounce of charm in the delicious final bars of the E minor, both movements. If the CD is the preferable version, it is by very little.'