Album: David Wilde, Wilde Plays Beethoven (Delphian)

David Wilde follows his solo piano albums dedicated to Brahms and Schumann with these masterly interpretations of three of Beethoven's most imposing sonatas, in which he aims to show the composer's progression from despair at losing his hearing, through optimism to spiritual aspiration.

Wilde brings maturity to his treatment of the "Sonata No. 17 in D minor": the melancholy fatalism of the adagio is alleviated by his thoughtful touch. And there's a brilliant momentum to the opening allegro of the "Sonata No. 21 in C", which is replaced by the almost completely static Adagio Molto, which hangs like a sea-mist through which the concluding Rondo is approached. Superb.

DOWNLOAD THIS Sonata No. 21 in C; Sonata No. 17 in D minor