Evgeni Koroliov - The Koroliov Series, Vol. 16: Beethoven – Sonatas, Opp. 109, 110 & 111 (2014/2020)

Evgeni Koroliov, the master of nuance, announces himself again with another recording of the Late Piano Sonatas of Beethoven, this time with op.109, 110 and 111. A heavy, powerful touch is not his thing. Of course he plays loudly where it should be loud, yet he captures the listener in a different way. He seduces him with the beautiful sound of his touch and with an almost all-absorbing intensity, to engage in small and even minuscule agogic phrasing, slurs or accentuation, in the flow and tumble of the subtle beauty of the score, which often simultaneously develops its powerful undercurrent and yet urges us to grant it our awareness. Thus out of many endless, small treasures emerges an unimaginably beautiful and great whole.
Beethoven was not the powerful antagonist he is often portrayed as in loud but superficial interpretations. His creative force erupted in hieroglyphic ink blots on the paper; only in this way was he different to you and I. A mystery.