CD: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10 Nos 1 - 3; Op 13: Maurizio Pollini

Pollini's Beethoven cycle has been taking shape for more than two decades, in a chronologically haphazard sequence. This is his foray into the early sonatas, and in many ways it is far more successful than one might have expected, for Pollini's intensely serious, sometimes hard-edged playing would seem better suited to the weightier statements of the final sonatas.

But his care with rhythmic details and with ensuring that every texture is crystal clear pays dividends even when some of the wittier moments in Op 10 are presented in a rather po-faced way. The occasional explosive climax or accent seems unnecessarily assertive, but the class and intellectual clarity of the playing are never in doubt.