Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30, 31 & 32

Pianos can convey an emotional depth no keyboard instrument before it could approach, and Beethoven was the first great composer — and great piano player — to have one for his mature work. These three sonatas, the last three of the 32 he wrote for the instrument, make you deeply grateful he had the time on this earth to reach these musical heights and depths, not least because Mitsuko Uchida brings her own considerable musical maturity to the performance. Indeed, the intersection of her acclaimed touch, color, and clarity with Beethoven's last word on the subject — the remarkable variations on a theme unfolding that is the last movement of the last sonata (Opus 111, 2nd movement ) — sets a performance standard none has surpassed and few have equaled. If you want still another reason to lament Mozart's death at 35, listen to his late piano concertos. The piano was still young when he composed them — imagine if he'd had another 25 years.