Clementi: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 5

Howard Shelley (piano) Hyperion CDA 67814 (2 CDs for the price of 1) ***

This fifth volume of Howard Shelley’s Clementi survey contains the music most people will recognise as Clementi’s. Clementi may have faced Mozart head-to-head in a musical contest, and prefigured aspects of Beethoven’s piano writing. But it’s the six Progressive Sonatinas of his Op. 36 that are what he’s best remembered by, works for beginners that remain popular teaching material more than two centuries after they were written. You won’t often hear them played as skilfully as here.

Along with his best-known works, the 12 on this set include some of Clementi’s best, the two sonatas of his Op. 34, pieces that attracted the attention of pianists of the calibre of Horowitz and Gilels before the clear and disciplined Shelley. Prepare to be surprised by the strength of musical argument. See hyperion-records.co.uk