As his Beethoven sonata cycle progresses, James Brawn’s lean, dry-point style seems more comfortable in its own skin, with less fidgeting with details and greater expressive economy. If anything, his scrupulous reading of Op 10 No 1’s opening theme could have used a soupçon of fervency and abandon, but the lyrical second subject’s finger legato and well-honed dynamic gradations compensate. Brawn’s hauntingly sustained soft playing holds special interest in the Adagio molto, although his terse, businesslike embellishments and roulades need to sing out more. His fast finale approaches Beethoven’s optimistic Prestissimo directive, yet never at the sacrifice of articulation and voicing.

The unusually bracing alla breve tempo with which Brawn begins Op 10 No 2 quickly settles into a conventional allegro. Still, the music’s witty reserve comes across, notwithstanding a few instances where the left-hand rotary triplet figurations slow down a tad. The Allegretto’s cameo-like intimacy evokes memories of Wilhelm Kempff’s wonderful mono and stereo DG interpretations, while the Presto finale’s lightness and élan contrast with the more assertive rhythmic drive heard from Rudolf Serkin and Seymour Lipkin.

Op 10 No 3’s bracing outer movements stand out for clarity and control within Brawn’s relatively constricted dynamic range. If Brawn doesn’t plumb the great slow movement with the intensity of an Arrau or Schnabel, his pianism still displays sufficient freedom and flexibility. Again, Kempff’s ghost hovers benignly over Brawn’s gracefully clipped Menuetto.

My only half-quibble about Brawn’s imaginative and poetic shaping of Op 14 No 2’s Allegro concerns certain tapered phrases where the final notes virtually disappear. Listeners expecting a muted Andante may be taken aback by Brawn’s brisk militancy, which, to my ears, lessens the stinging impact of Beethoven’s syncopated accents. But the Scherzo finale captures Schnabel’s angular, playful essence, albeit in a less genial, more buttoned-down, modern-day context. MSR’s attractive close-up sonic perspective befits Brawn’s conceptions. This is the finest release so far in Brawn’s Beethoven cycle, and I look forward to the remaining instalments.