Francesco Piemontesi presents here Schubert’s last three sonatas, all recorded in February 2018 in the same Swiss venue, though the B flat is live, whereas the C minor and A major are not. There’s such a consistency of sound and approach that the applause at the end of the last sonata comes as something of a shock.

Piemontesi is an artist who very much puts the music first and the abiding sense of these readings is their naturalness. There’s no lack of imagination either – for instance in the contrast between the driving first idea and the gentler second subject in the first movement of the C minor (D958), while in the exposition repeat he subtly varies colours and dynamics. Some may find his development section a little underpowered but in its place there’s a sense of musical finesse. He paces the slow movement sensibly, lending it a hymnic quality without dragging, though some find a more haloed beauty of sound here, not least Uchida and Andsnes. And the Menuetto has a straightforward air, with a nicely soothing Trio, whereas Paul Lewis is altogether more quizzical. Piemontesi’s finale is slightly on the steady side for my taste, a little lacking in desperation – certainly compared to Uchida, who emphasises the sense of imminent catastrophe to wonderful effect.

Those qualities inform the A major Sonata (D959) too, and while Piemontesi’s playing is always classically classy, I sometimes hungered for more drama. Andsnes bring a greater sense of contrast between the fraught chordal opening and the almost playful response. And no one can rival Uchida for sheer range of colours, alongside whom Piemontesi is just a little pale. But he does come to life in the development, which is imbued with drive and fire, and again his sense of detail is very telling. In D959’s second movement again, his pacing is just so, but the infamous ‘nervous breakdown’ passage is a little too studied and reined-in. The Scherzo, on the other hand, is a highlight of the disc, nicely airborne, contrasting vividly with the sudden incursions to the bass register, and as he leads off into the finale you’re confident you’re in the safest of hands – for Piemontesi is a master when it comes to traversing Schubert’s epic plains.

That quality of pacing also informs the B flat Sonata (D960) and the word ‘naturalness’ again comes to mind. Piemontesi is at the furthest possible remove from Buniatishvili’s breathlessly reactive reading. As the music dips into the minor he conveys its agitation but again without exaggeration, and the exposition repeat is full of little variants, easing into the development with subtlety. That informs the rest of the sonata, with the contrasting elements from which Schubert builds the slow movement well judged, the dotted figure casting an ominous note but not overstated, and he’s alive to the way the composer re-colours phrases through harmonic shifts. Personally, I like the Scherzo a little more flighty than here, as witness Uchida, though Zimerman is equally fascinating in the way he ties Scherzo and Trio together.

Piemontesi’s finale is always purposeful, with a relatively brisk tempo (far better this than one that drags), and he fully incorporates the bare octave into the narrative, rather than letting it bring matters to a halt. In sum, a set that impresses for its finesse, though for me Piemontesi doesn’t quite plumb the depths of the greatest accounts.