Sonata In F Minor Op 2 No 1 - Beethoven

Sonata In C Op 2 No 3 - Beethoven

Sonata In C Minor Op 13 (PathΘtique) - Beethoven

Sonata In E Flat Op 31 No 3 - Beethoven

The two all-Beethoven recitals Hugh Tinney gave at the RDS last year - originally announced as a one-off exercise pairing sonatas of contrasting familiarity - are now being described as the first instalment of a cycle of all 32 sonatas.

The second instalment, another pair of recitals, began at the RDS on Monday, and will conclude on October 22nd.

The Sonata In C Op 2 No 3 is one of the most extrovert and overtly virtuosic of Beethoven's early sonatas, yet, like the Sonata In F Minor, which opens the Op 2 set, it has at its heart a slow movement of remarkable depth.

Tinney approached both works with youthful vigour, sculpting contrasts with sharp accentuation and painting a picture of a young composer straining at the leash.

His manner in the PathΘtique after the interval was no less exciting, but the results were achieved through playing that seemed to strive less after immediate effect. It wasn't just that the manner seemed that bit more reflective; the tone also hadn't quite as much of an edge to it.

The Sonata In E Flat Op 31 No 3 is an oddity, a four-movement piece that gets by without a real slow movement, having instead a scherzo and a minuet between two fast movements of striking individuality.

Tinney, who had to endure a wind-rattled door during the PathΘtique, suffered a slight lapse of concentration in the final work, but this hardly detracted from a performance that conveyed a sure grasp of this most warmly distinctive of Beethoven's sonatas.