Celebrating Beethoven’s birthday in 2020 this 2CD set presents piano works by the master which don’t belong to the monumental Sonata-canon but to other forms in which the composer poured out his genius: Bagatelles and Variations.

The three sets of Bagatelles (Opp. 33, 119 and 126) show Beethoven the improviser, a mind overflowing with ideas, experiments and jokes, but also capable of penning down the most tender and intimate miniatures, infinitely touching in their sincerity and deep feeling.

The Eroica and Diabelli variations are masterworks of his middle and late period respectively, towering achievements of invention and expression. As a “bonus” we also hear the exquisite Op. 34 Variations and the Rondo Capriccioso Op. 129 (Rage over the Lost Penny).

Italian pianist Vincenzo Maltempo, one of the most interesting pianists of the young generation, made his name in his staggering recordings of unjustly forgotten romantic repertoire: Transcendental Studies by Lyapunov (Piano Classics PCL0124) received 5 stars in several classical magazines (a.o. the French Diapason).