Weber: Piano Sonatas

Garrick Ohlsson (piano) Hyperion Dyad CDD 22076**** (2 CDs for the price of 1)

Carl Maria von Weber’s best-known piano piece, the Invitation to the Dance, is now mostly the preserve of orchestras playing the work in the orchestration by Berlioz. The composer’s four piano sonatas, written between 1812 and 1822, have attracted attention from some great pianists (Arrau, Cortot, Gilels and Richter among them), but are long gone from the standard repertoire. They require a player with the fleetest of fingers, as well as an interpretative spirit that responds fully to the often flighty romanticism of Weber’s piano writing. Garrick Ohlsson meets these requirements in good measure, and his 1988 recordings, originally issued on Arabesque, make an attractive proposition in Hyperion’s two for the price of one reissue. See url.ie/4qdb