These two late Beethoven piano sonatas—among the greatest of the composer’s piano works—were new additions to Angela Hewitt’s repertoire when she recorded them in 2020. Her interpretations reveal her to be a natural Beethovenian. She brings energy and vitality to the first movement of the “Hammerklavier”, Op. 106, despite her moderate tempo, capturing the unconventional, slightly deranged character of the music with drive and spontaneity. The epic slow movement is played with heartfelt sensitivity, the long lines magnificently sustained, while the uncompromising demands of the closing fugue are met with unflappable control. If anything, Hewitt is even finer in the two-movement Op. 111, Beethoven’s final sonata. Again, she takes her time, bringing a measured grandeur to the first movement and a cumulative sense of hypnotic concentration and spirituality to the “Arietta”.