Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op.109, 110 & 111

Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas have long been regarded as the Mt. Everest of the form, heights that can be scaled only by pianists who possess the keyboard technique to realize the depth of the composer’s vision. By those standards, if Uchida isn’t the equal of such giants as Arrau, Kempff, and Schnabel, she certainly comes close enough to make this an outstanding release. Her pianissimos are feathery-light; her fortes are as powerful as one might wish, and her trills are analogues of Beethoven’s spiritual ideas. She renders Beethoven’s full dynamic palette with nuances that make every shading register. Uchida never makes an ugly sound. Her tone remains warm, colorful, and full-bodied. More important, her interpretation encompasses the inward, contemplative slow sections as well as the energetic ones, and she plays Beethoven’s contrapuntal passages with a clarity that makes every musical strand count. She’s helped by outstanding engineering, too. Not all of the transcendental Beethoven is captured here, but Uchida comes a lot closer than most pianists can aspire to. That alone makes this disc a must-have. -- Dan Davis 理屈では当然の展開として、“旧”ウィーン楽派を制すると宣言して以来悠然と歩みを進めてきた内田のソナタ全集録音第1作、それは最後期の3曲から。自身で詳細な解説を寄せるまでの微細な作品分析と、それを意識させない美音の濃厚な連なりが成す自然体。