Contents:
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Sonata No.11 in B flat major, Op.22
I Allegro con brio

II Adagio con molta espressione

III Menuetto

IV Rondo, Allegretto

Piano Sonata No.18 in E flat major (‘Hunt’) Op.31 No.3
I Allegro

II Allegretto vivace

III Meneutto, Moderato e grazioso

IV Presto con fuoco

Artists:
Earl Wild piano

Recorded Date:
February 1984 at the Church of St.Barnabas, London, piano: Bösendorfer
Producer:
Philip G. Moores
Engineer:
Mike Skeet
Piano Technician:
Michael Marney
It is the clarity and instrumental polish that make these readings admirable. Wild opts for an overall balance that is conveyed with a masterful devotion to detail. Not one note is obscure either in its relative position or in its textural clarity. The slow movement of Op. 22 is a severe test of any pianist’s depth. With his beautifully weighted and velvety touch, Wild tackles it with unaffected poetry. He has the line of the music within his grasp, and the movement comes off much more successfully than with many well-known Beethovenians. The finale has an air of gracious naivety.

James Methuen-Campbell, Gramophone, September 1986