You wouldn’t think at first glance that these recordings of Beethoven’s last three sonatas have more than a few points in common; for instance, the unusually distinct timbre of each instrument. Ronald Brautigam uses a Paul McNulty fortepiano based upon the specifications of an 1819 Conrad Graf model, while Elisabeth Leonskaja plays a 1901 Steinway featured on many MDG piano releases, a concert grand boasting unusual registral differentiation from top to bottom. And although each pianist’s style markedly differs, both play with freedom and flexibility, albeit with varying degrees of success. Brautigam takes more trouble to articulate and characterise Beethoven’s carefully marked contrasts in articulation, as Op 101’s first movement and Op 109’s Prestissimo clearly bear out. While many pianists hold back during the motoric, low-lying chords of Op 110’s first movement, Brautigam takes Beethoven on faith and shoves them to the fore, pedalling sparely. Op 111’s Allegro con brio is incisive and clear via Brautigam’s focused fingers but the briskly paced Arietta is overly loud, compared to the way Peter Serkin’s Graf fortepiano traversal unfolds the music’s peaceful fragility in far slower, more dynamically contained terms. Likewise, Brautigam gauges to perfection the tricky tempo relationships between episodes in the final movement of Op 110, but Serkin’s equally commendable navigation digs deeper. Compare, for example, Brautigam’s matter-of-fact transition from the repeated G major chords into the fugue subject’s inversion to the way Serkin’s tone moves from darkness to blinding light in the chords, and then assiduously slips back into the Fugue.

Leonskaja’s broad tempi, rounded phrases and generous ritardandos might satisfy those who’d like a suaver Barenboim or a less intense and harmonically complex Arrau. These characteristics ultimately soften the impact of each finale’s cumulative trajectory, while imparting an episodic, rambling quality to Op 109’s Vivace ma non troppo and the Op 110 finale’s Adagio. Yet nothing ever sounds indulgent or pretentious, and Leonskaja’s vibrant sonority consistently communicates rapture. If you don’t believe me, just sample the gorgeously disembodied trills in the finale variations of Op 109 and Op 111. That’s where the instrument, the composer, the pianist and MDG’s roomy ambience merge and commune. In sum, Leonskaja turns in some of her most heartfelt work on disc here, while Brautigam completes the sonata leg of his integral Beethoven piano music cycle to satisfying expectations, if not quite at the revelatory level achieved in previous volumes.