Mitsuko Uchida, a fine Mozart player and a more than acceptable Schubert player, is seriously out of her depth and sinking fast in this 2005 recording of Beethoven's last three sonatas. She has enough lyricism to make the music sing -- listen to her flowing "Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung" from the E major Sonata's closing variations or her melancholy Arioso dolente from the A flat major Sonata slow movement or her unadorned Arietta that starts the C minor Sonata's finale -- but nowhere near enough to make it soar -- listen to her sloppy runs covering the theme at the climax of the E major Sonata's finale or her poorly voiced fugue concealing the structure in the A flat major Sonata's finale or her shoddy trills obliterating the theme at the climax of the C minor Sonata's finale. She has just about enough technique to get through the easier hard pages -- she can handle the two-part writing of the E major Sonata's Prestissimo, the muscular sforzandos of the A flat major Sonata's Allegro molto, and the heavy chords of the C minor Sonata's Maestoso -- but nowhere near enough technique for the truly hard pages -- listen to her smear the arpeggios in the E major Sonata's Vivace, ma non troppo, fudge the rhythms in the A flat major Sonata's closing Fugue, and confound the structure of the C minor Sonata's Allegro con brio ed appassionato. In the past, there have been plenty of pianists who lacked the technique to met Beethoven's superhuman demands -- one thinks immediately of
Artur Schnabel -- but some were able to compensate for technical deficiencies with consummate musicianship --
Schnabel may smear arpeggios and fudge rhythms, but in his hands, the music soars to the gates of heaven. Despite rich, deep, and warm Philips' piano sound,
Uchida's performances are entirely earthbound.