The two sonatas featured on this release charted unprecedented paths of sonority and virtuosity, although the musical and pianistic aims radically differ. Vladimir Ashkenazy re-recorded them both, the 'Hammerklavier' for his complete Beethoven sonata cycle, and the 'Waldstein' as a digital remake for a separate CD. The rare and much sought-after 1967 recording of the 'Hammerklavier' - Vladimir Ashkenazy's first of any Beethoven sonata for Decca - is sharply delineated and full of tensile energy, the fugal finale's gnarlier sequences more incisively articulated than his later remake.