The god of inspiration sprints hand in hand with Garrick Ohlsson as the pianist nears completion of his Beethoven sonata cycle. The present disc opens with one of Op. 2 No. 3’s finest recorded performances. Ohlsson’s lean, propulsive first movement incorporates distinctly contrasted themes and subtle tempo modifications. Everything hangs together so well that when Ohlsson leans on the accelerator for the movement’s final octave outburst the effect is conclusive rather than vulgar.
Ohlsson also plays Op. 14 No. 1 beautifully, bringing a refreshingly terse quality to the Allegretto by underlining its sudden dynamic shifts. The pianist’s genial, expansive account of Op. 14 No. 2’s opening movement evokes memories of Claudio Arrau’s likeminded mid-1960s recording, yet Ohlsson stresses different details, such as the left hand’s chromatic broken octaves. Ohlsson’s crisp yet full-bodied shaping of the second movement’s detached chords brings out the music’s Haydn-like wit, to say nothing of the finale’s aptly timed, elegant fingerwork.
Op. 79 finds Ohlsson not quite at his best. He lays too heavily on the first movement’s downbeats, while the finale, though appropriately brisk, is comparatively prim and foursquare next to the more winged, utterly dissimilar accounts from Schnabel, Goode, and Backhaus. Even Stephen Kovacevich’s markedly slower interpretation manages to “swing” more. Still, one miss and three hits is not a bad average. Excellent sound and notes.
