William Youn is a pianist of great sensitivity, as previous reviewers of his Mozart sonata cycle have noted (5/14). But more than that, he is a Mozartian of complete naturalness, which is no mean feat. He offers a beguiling reading of K281, its closing rondo given due playfulness.

He’s notably gentle in the opening movement of the G major Sonata, K283, in terms of both touch and tempo. That does, however, mean the contrasting octave passage is slightly undercharacterised compared to Uchida and Hamelin, both faster and suitably military-sounding in that passage. However, I have no argument with Youn’s slow movement, which lets the music unfold with complete inevitability, Marc-André Hamelin sounding a tad self-conscious by comparison; in the finale, though, the French-Canadian’s easy virtuosity is exquisite, alongside which Youn sounds a little more cautious.

Youn imbues K333’s Allegro first movement with a pleasing lilt, though I find others more compelling as the music takes a darker turn in the development. Andreas Haefliger is particularly fine here, reacting with great agitation before good humour is restored. But Youn is once again eloquently poised in the Andante cantabile and his way with the finale, playful but with occasional darker undertones, is also finely done, though compared to Alfred Brendel’s deliciously tart reading Youn’s sounds just a tad uncomplicated. For my taste, K576’s opening Allegro is a little too soft-edged – the dissonances in its first-movement development sounding a tad mild (Uchida really nails these), but I like the exuberance of his finale, which is strong and self-confident. He gets the contrast between the extrovert and the tiptoeing elements compellingly, and the throwaway ending is just so.