Beethoven’s late piano sonatas burst open known boundaries. Challenge the listener. Demand the pianist to give his all. And open up new horizons to both of them. For there is a very special aura clinging to these works; an aura that one attempts to capture with terms such as esotericism, mysticism, spirituality, or radicalism. For otherwise, words fail us. This recording presents a combination of his Op. 101 and Op. 106, perhaps the boldest giants in Beethoven’s late works for the piano. And at the same time, it is the final release in Mari Kodama’s integral Beethoven cycle, which is now available.

Thus, on this recording Mari Kodama performs his late works, part 2 (part 1, con- taining Op. 109, Op. 110 and Op. 111, has already been released on the Pentatone label, PTC 5186 389). In both these sona- tas, Beethoven makes a powerful entrance into a new “sonata domain” and a novel world of expression, which ruthlessly and uncompromisingly dispenses with exist- ing conventions and rules. He expands the well-established sonata form; one could even state that he basically “disintegrates” it. Siegfried Mauser refers to this as the “radicalism of musical translation,” which untilthisverydaycontinuestopresentone  open known boundaries. Challenge the listener. Demand the pianist to give his all. And open up new horizons to both of them. For there is a very special aura clinging to these works; an aura that one attempts to capture with terms such as esotericism, mysticism, spirituality, or radicalism. For otherwise, words fail us. This recording presents a combination of his Op. 101 and Op. 106, perhaps the boldest giants in Beethoven’s late works for the piano. And at the same time, it is the final release in Mari Kodama’s integral Beethoven cycle, which is now available.