The workmanlike quality I've inferred from many of Gerhard Oppitz's recordings hardly prepared me for the sheer inspiration and commitment the pianist displays throughout his...

The workmanlike quality I've inferred from many of Gerhard Oppitz's recordings hardly prepared me for the sheer inspiration and commitment the pianist displays throughout his first installment of a projected Beethoven sonata cycle. Indeed, if Oppitz has made a finer disc, I have not heard it. The Op. 10 No. 1 sonata comes alive with brutal resilience and quivering nuance, capped by a finale whose true Prestissimo pulse never lets up in intensity. Some listeners may prefer a lighter touch in the Op. 10 No. 2 sonata's outer movements, yet you can't take issue with Oppitz's rhythmic equilibrium and sure sense of where the lines are going. Interestingly, Oppitz takes a less iconoclastic, more conventional route through Op. 10 No. 3's four movements (more comfortable basic tempos and symmetrical phrasing). Strokes of individuality--such as his surging scales and roulades in the outer movements--lift Oppitz's solidly played "Pathétique" out of the sonata's "regulation model" box. Perhaps the slow movement is a bit foursquare and downbeat oriented, but not ploddingly so. Keep tabs on this Beethoven cycle, and savor its impressive first fruits, despite a recording that's thinner and more constricted than Hänssler's best efforts.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com