‘Angela Hewitt brings her trademark intelligence and poise to these fine recordings … in [the Appassionata] she shows a firm grasp of the work's majestic architecture, realising each dramatic climax while steadily sustaining its momentum. But it is in the slow movements of the other two sonatas, especially the D major, that Hewitt is at her most affecting, her depth of feeling equal to the 'great expression' demanded by the composer’ (The Observer)

‘As this impressive new disc shows, it is a mistake to try to pigeon-hole Angela Hewitt’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Clarity, elegance, intelligence, a belief in letting the composer speak: the winner of the Gramophone Artist of the Year award parades her qualities in the first of a new Beethoven series that balances the overfamiliar Appassionata with the connoisseur’s Op 10 No 3 and neglected Op 7. There’s not a dead note anywhere. The largos find her piercing the depths; she’s equally impressive at quicksilver turns and tumbling cascades’ (The Times)

‘In the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, Osborne casts a spell from the very opening, suggesting improvisation yet also a searching harmonic rigour and beguiling the ear with subtle colour and touch’ (Classical Source)

‘Osborne … has that special ability to make music that you thought you knew inside out seem fresh and totally alive’ (The Guardian)

‘The Moonlight, Op 27 No 2, receives a particularly satisfying performance, from the first movement's magically limpid, unhurried mysteries, through the allegretto's sprightly curtseys, to the finale, so deservedly marked presto agitato. It's in this movement that Osborne really hits the heights. He drives the notes forward, stirring excitement without succumbing to the melodramatic … the Pathétique and Waldstein sonatas receive equally refreshing and sensitive accounts. And all are recorded with Hyperion's usual finesse’ (The Times)

‘Performances of exceptional quality … and real stature … this is an outstanding disc’ (International Record Review)

‘Instantly recommends itself as an important addition to the catalogue … this Beethoven disc similarly makes one marvel at the way Osborne's own personality seems able to ally itself with the composer's, in the way he illuminates aspects of style, structure and substance with clarity, subtlety and dynamism’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Elsewhere in this issue I complain about Lang Lang's ego-driven showmanship. Angela Hewitt is his polar opposite: every note she plays honors the composer. Though I sense her technique is every bit as comprehensive as Lang Lang's, her self-effacing artistry puts the focus where it truly belongs, on the infinite variety and depth of Beethoven's genius. I'm happy to add that the sound of Hewitt's 1981 Fazioli concert grand registers both the intimacy and grandeur of her interpretations with a deeply satisfying realism. This is, not surprisingly, the second installment of a projected cycle. Currently other gifted pianists are in the process of recording the complete sonatas—Ronald Brautigam, Paul Lewis and Gerhard Oppitz, to name just three. If you're in the market for a completed cycle, it's always an embarrassment of riches, and there's an interpretive approach to suit any taste. But I suspect that in the end Hewitt's subtle, exacting, and expressive performances will stand comparison with any. Here is Beethoven for all seasons’ (Enjoythemusic.com)

‘In this, the second installment in her Beethoven sonata survey, Angela Hewitt goes from strength to strength. Still early in the game, it already shows promise of being one of the very best … I am finding Hewitt to be the most consistently well played and to have the most interesting things to say about these well-explored works, often in unexpected places and in Beethoven's most unassuming moments’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Hewitt is also someone to be reckoned with … these remain important and excellent readings, and I look forward to hearing more form her, in a set definitely worth collecting, if for no other reason than the absolutely best-ever to-die-for piano sound’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘Angela Hewitt continues her cycle of Beethoven's sonatas with a suitably sombre reading of the Pathétique Op 13, and wonderfully shaped Pastoral Op 28. The early Op 2 no 3 brims with youthful vigour’ (The Northern Echo)