Title: extraordinary 109
Product review: I have not been knocked out by Grimaud's Bach and Rach, and I have not heard enough of her Brahms and other Beethoven to say; but this reading of op 109 is extraordinarily fine, to my mind. (Heard it on the radio.) Effortlessly powerful, clear, nonetheless inward but still unflagging throughout (which is not so common in this sonata). I don't think I have been so taken by a 'new' Beethoven pianist since Kovacevich, especially his first round in the late 1960s and early 1970s (as Stephen Bishop). And I'm not sure he ever did 109, though his 110 and 111 remain at the peak, in my view. Indeed, Grimaud resembles Kovacevich in any number of ways, including that clanging tone and color range. I must check out her 110 and the Brahms PC 1; can't take more Beethoven piano concertos, not at the moment anyway.
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