'Pires gave the Beethoven with a directness and confidence that were of a piece with Haitink’s own contribution. But Pires packs a big keyboard personality in that small frame, and the vigorous clarity of her articulation was the stand-out characteristic' (The Guardian)

'A revelatory account of the Beethoven' (Classical Source)

‘As one would expect, the performances by The Nash Ensemble are exemplary—in the Quartet, the superb Ian Brown is as ever the epitome of how a pianist should approach the performance of chamber music (listening to colleagues and integrating with them), but his string-playing colleagues are every bit attuned to the music and each other, Lawrence Power and Paul Watkins enjoying the domesticity of the "royal duo"’ (Classical Source)

‘The Nash musicians play everything so delightfully, with such perfect control and subtle shadings … the String Quintet offers the best music: as for playing, the crown's won by Lawrence Power and Paul Watkins in the Duo’ (The Times)

‘Angela Hewitt's Beethoven is like no one else's … the sense of Beethoven’s music unfolding against a series of harmonic peaks and troughs is at its most poignant in the two-movement E minor Sonata Op 90. Not since Hans Richter-Haaser’s unsurpassed 1960s account for EMI (originally coupled to the 'Hammerklavier' and still, as far as I’m aware, awaiting issue on CD) has the tantalising compression of this priceless, iridescent gem been so exquisitely revealed’ (International Piano)

‘Hewitt's pristine articulation and clarity of thought, line and feeling are, as ever, inimitable … I am still surprised at just how expressively, and romantically, the great Canadian plays this music’ (The Herald)

‘The great A flat major Sonata and the later E minor Sonata receive emotionally contained, affectionate performances with exemplary attention to the score (I love the cushioned tone and rhythmic bounce Hewitt brings to Variation 2 of Op 26) … she plays the Allegretto of the 'Moonlight' with a delightful lilt while observing Beethoven's dynamic requests to the letter’ (Gramophone)

‘A very promising start to another Beethoven cycle … if Hewitt continues on this trajectory, her Beethoven sonatas should be as enriching as her Bach has proved to be’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Hewitt meets Beethoven head on. It will not do to call her a woman pianist. She is a pianist's pianist, period, pure and simple, capable of holding her own with any number of brilliant men who have recorded this music. She has formidable finger strength. Her pianissimos have elegance and discretion, but her fortisssimos and sforzandos are clarion calls to rouse lovers of romanticism. Her response, say, to those familiar knuckle-crunching demands of the Appassionata's last movement is gasp-inducing, yet she never blurs a note or lets a chord get crowded or ugly’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘She throws herself into it body and soul, giving the disc the frisson of a concert performance (without so much as a smudged note), the thrill of a first hearing’ (International Piano)

‘After a magnificent series of Bach recordings, star pianist Angela Hewitt now turns her attention to Beethoven's piano sonatas and if future releases are anything to go by this first disc, we are in for one of the most rewarding cycles of modern times. Her choice is well judged with Op 10 No 3 and the F minor Appassionata paired with the fiery Op 7, a lovely cocktail if there ever was one’ (Classical.net)

‘There's red-hot fire in Hewitt's belly as she tackles these three Beethoven masterpieces. The two earlier sonatas … glitter with adroit wit. The 'Appassionata' is startlingly explosive—as it should be’ (Classic FM Magazine)