Jenö Jandó's Beethoven cycle reached something of a climax with this sixth volume, which contains five of Beethoven's lesser known sonatas: the comparatively easy numbers 9 and 10 from the late 1790's; the pleasant but otherwise relatively unremarkable number 24 from 1809; sonata number 27 from 1815 with its introduction of German-language tempo markings; and the much longer, more complex number 28 from 1816, in which it becomes obvious that the composer is searching for a new pianistic language: here one gets a foretaste of what was to come in the `Hammerklavier' sonata or in Opus 111. Jandó plays, as always, very directly, with finesse but not in an over-refined manner, laying bare Beethoven's intentions in a way which, although it could possibly be done with slightly more feeling, is enough to acquaint the listener with both body and soul of this music. The recording quality is, strangely, better than on the previous volume, although both were recorded more or less at the same time and in the same place (January 1988 at the Italian Institute in Budapest). It is only during Sonata No. 28 that I thought I could occasionally hear Jandó humming along, but this was neither loud enough nor constant enough to disturb my listening pleasure.
