This thought-provoking recital unites three sharply contrasted Beethoven sonatas. For David Wilde, the “irrepressible optimism” of the Waldstein is opposed by the “despair” of the Tempest, which is in turn distinct from the “spiritual aspirations” of Op 110. His own descriptions in his finely detailed essay are eloquently expressed in performances of an exceptional individuality. The Waldstein’s opening Allegro con brio advances like a river in full spate, its urgency and exuberance ideally offset with strongly characterised pauses for reflection. Wilde resists the impressionistic haze favoured by, say, Radu Lupu at the start of the finale (a radiant outpouring and, for the French, an evocation of the dawn), achieving a special sense of wonder and with nothing forced or pushed beyond its natural limit.

In Op 31 No 2 all such brightness is clouded in a performance as doughty as it is inward-looking. Beethoven may have advised his puzzled listeners to read Shakespeare’s The Tempest but in Wilde’s hands this Sonata is more a reflection of the contemporary and tragic “Heiligenstadt Testament” than a tale of rebirth and regeneration. Wilde’s way with the opening Largo and subsequent recitatives are dark and hypnotic, and he gives us a finale of unusual weight and substance. I could have wished for greater vigour in Op 110’s Allegro molto and a more joyful homecoming in the exultant final pages, but the Arioso dolente in particular finds this pianist deeply sensitive to Beethoven’s other-worldliness. Speculative and original, these performances prompt all listeners to reconsider and think again, and they have been excellently recorded.