Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol.1 (op.31 no.1, 2 & 3)

EDITOR'S CHOICE GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE Awards Issue 2005

"Paul Lewis, one of the most talked-about of the younger generation of British pianists, sets out on a long journey: a complete series of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas. Lewis is not a musician to draw attention to himself with ear-catching effects or smart interpretative gestures. Instead he draws his approach self-effacingly from within the score. It's an approach that has paid off handsomely. And what a splendid place to start, the trio of sonatas from 1801-02"
(Gramophone)

"This is a marvellous CD and is recommended to all even if your shelves strain with Beethoven. Volume 2 beckons; I can't wait!"
(MusicWeb May 2006)

"This is one of the most remarkable recordings that I have heard in years. Paul Lewis is a talent for posterity, a pianist of such refinement that he is certain to make a mark in the world that will long outlast his time on the planet. If this recording is any indication, and I believe that it is, we have found our next icon. Viva!"
(Recording of the Month MusicWeb Jan 2006)

'A little more and I would have ended my life. . . . Only my art held me back', says Beethoven in his 'Heiligenstadt Testament'. Partly contemporary with this key document of summer 1802, these three sonatas open up the 'new paths' that were to enable the composer to surmount the prospect of almost total deafness. Paul Lewis has chosen to inaugurate his complete recording of the sonatas by plunging into the heart of this Tempest.