CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE INSTRUMENTAL DISC OF THE MONTH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Angela Hewitt is on characteristic top form in three of Beethoven's iconic sonatas … Hewitt's intelligent planning gives it [Pathétique] a hardcore makeover. The extremes of dynamic range are deftly realised, and she's fearless at articulating with a brittle touch where necessary' (Classic FM Magazine *****) 'The Pastoral sonata leads off Angela Hewitt's second Beethoven sonata cycle instalment, and she taps into the music's overall geniality while also paying heed to its darker corners … I love Hewitt's conversational give and take between the droning left-hand ostinato and the main theme at the Rondo finale's outset … In addition to Hyperion's superb sound, Hewitt, as usual, provides her own penetrating, vividly articulate annotations' (Gramophone) 'Throughout, Hewitt maintains her trademark clean tone. Colours are beautifully controlled, forms coherently shaped' (The Sunday Times) 'Hewitt punches out the dramatic opening chords of Beethoven’s Pathétique sonata with stinging vehemence, but otherwise plays the three sonatas here with a light touch. She often lingers deliciously over the Pathétique’s rich dissonances, while the adagio cantabile sings under her featherweight fingers and the rondo surges with spritely abandon at each return of the theme' (The Times) 'Hewitt's fluent pianism … There's no shortage of imaginative touches in Hewitt's performances of the Pastoral sonata' (BBC Music Magazine) 'Quietly dazzling … In the Scherzo [Pastoral] the B minor trio is also marvellous - fleet, shadowy, all taken in a single breath … Next, the Pathétique, which suits Hewitt very well. In the first movement, I particularly like the way in which she projects the Sturm-und-drang quality of the main Allegro di molto e con brio without turning it into the Appassionata … [Op 2 no 2] Hewitt sounds completely happy playing it, and she finds just the right balance between its extrovert bravura and its lyricism' (International Record Review) 'Recordings of Beethoven sonatas are hardly rare, but performances of such subtletly and care definitely are … What distinguishes Hewitt's playing is precisely her careful use of dynamic, excellent fingering technique and a focus on key … Great music, beautifully played: a definite best buy' (Scotland on Sunday *****) '[Pathčtique] An uncluttered, clear-focused, Perahia-like poetic overview whose intellectual acumen is almost Kempf-like in its clarity. By keeping the opening movement on a firm rein, the finale, for once, doesn't emerge as a temporal and expressive anti-climax, but appears to grow quite naturally out of what had gone before … [Pastoral] Again Hewitt has her finger on the pulse of this elusive work, easing us into the opening movement with a beguiling warmth that radiates exactly the right degree of genrle reverie … Such expressive and structural clarity' (International Piano Magazine) 'Angela Hewitt continues her cycle of Beethoven's sonatas with a suitably sombre reading of the Pathčtique Op 13, and wonderfully shaped Pastoral Op 28. The early Op 2 no 3 brims with youthful vigour' (Northern Echo)