Beethoven: Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106 and Eroica Variations, Op. 35

French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is a Beethovenian of distinction, and here he offers two of the composer’s greatest piano works with real authority. Featuring the same theme as the finale of Symphony No. 3, the Eroica Variations are done with a wonderful sense of detail and a superb feeling for the work’s narrative (theme and variations being a form that always fascinated Beethoven). The mighty Hammerklavier is, again, beautifully detailed, with a magnificent display of the piece’s huge and imposing architecture. The slow movement, a degree or two cooler than how it is performed by many other pianists, has a lovely sense of poetry.