Album review: Einav Yarden, Oscillations: Piano Music by Beethoven & Stravinsky (Challenge Classics)

This is an unusual juxtaposition of seemingly incongruent composers, not least because of their contrasting attitudes to piano music – such an integral aspect of Beethoven's work, virtually an afterthought for Stravinsky, despite the instrument's centrality to his compositional process.

But the sonatas chosen here by Einav Yarden – Beethoven's 6th and 10th framing Stravinsky's sole sonata from 1924 – share an exuberance of spirit skilfully evoked in Yarden's bright, inventive playing. The Stravinsky has an almost impersonal, mechanical bustle compared to Beethoven's more languid refinement, but their shared joviality and polymorphism help bridge the distance implied by time and style.

Download: Sonata No 10 in G major; Sonata for Piano; Sonata No 6 in F Major