This is the third disc in German pianist
Michael Korstick's cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas; he led off with the Diabelli Variations, Op. 120, before plunging into the early sonatas. That was probably a good idea, for
Korstick's technically precise, rather abrupt style worked well in the dense, abstract, and not particularly emotionally expressive variation set. In this group of early sonatas he sounds a bit strained.
Korstick's readings are distant cousins to the hyper-polyphonic versions by
Andras Schiff, which strip open the inner harmonies of the music. He generates plenty of energy at climaxes (hear especially the final Allegro of the Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26, and the outer movements of the Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 7), and there's no doubting the thought and preparation that went into his recordings. His recordings of the delightful pastoral pair of Sonatas, Op. 14, are unorthodox in the extreme, however, and the gentle quality usually present in the sonatas is lost. The opening movement of the Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1, is taken at a breakneck speed way beyond what its Allegro marking would seem to permit, and the Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2, has a jerky, nervous quality that ties it more closely to Beethoven's rebellious early works than to his mature pastoral language. There's nothing exactly wrong with this, but it's not exactly pleasant. The Funeral March in the Piano Sonata No. 12 is strangely deadpan, and an unemotional quality hangs over the entire recording. The high-tech Oehms sound is perfectly clear, but the buyer should extensively sample
Korstick's unusual interpretations here before committing credit card to Internet, and should also try out
Andras Schiff's versions -- where the Op. 14 Sonatas, unfortunately, are split between two discs.