Olli Mustonen - Beethoven: Piano Variations (1993)

This is a much welcomed re-release of a nearly 20 year old recording. Mustonen's performing/recording career contains many Beethoven performances and he is always very thoughtful, fluid and attuned to Beethoven's many moods and structural depth. Some other of his recordings (e.g., his Diabelli Variations) have moments of quirkiness, but this recording is more direct and impressive. One of my favorite items on it is his Eroica Variation performance. It is one of the finest I know of, very few others deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Glen Gould's - but this (rather different) one does. Similarly the 32 Variations in C minor are revelatory. In a different manner, the Rule Brittania and God Save the King Variations are simply delightful. The disc is rounded out by lesser known short variation sets the show Beethoven's inventiveness. Being a composer himself, he brings an appreciation of musical structure to these performances that enriches them mightily.