Idil Biret’s slightly clipped, intimately scaled, thoughtfully detailed Beethoven playing yields some fine performances, abetted by dry yet clear and agreeable sonics. While Biret takes Op. 10 No. 3’s first movement at a little less than a true Presto, the music flows forward by virtue of her biting accents and occasional subtle animation of pulse (the second subject, for instance). By contrast, she convincingly plays the Largo as an Adagio, imbuing the heavy left-hand chords with a sense of the long line, while eloquently spacing the right-hand cantabile. The fluid, graceful Menuetto and humorously timed Rondo abound with character, color, and lightness of being. Biret brings clear, forthright fingerwork to the Waldstein, but little bravura or nervous energy (her basic tempo for the Rondo slightly but noticeably broadens over time). Happily, she serves up the little Op. 79 sonata’s rude dynamic shifts, playful cross-rhythmic manipulations, and disarming melodic qualities to near perfection. I also should mention Bill Newman’s excellent, informative booklet notes.
