Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90

"It is, aside from two passages, one of Beethoven's easiest; but as far as the performance of individual passages and its whole spirit is concerned, requires every kind of care," thus wrote a contemporary critic. And it is for this reason that Beethoven's Sonata op. 90 is extremely popular today, both with piano students and also with professional pianists. It provides enough challenges: for example the notorious tenth figures in the left hand and - in the words of a contemporary - "uniqueness, striking twists and turns and an unfamiliar, yet no less stringent, composition." Murray Perahia's remarks and fingerings provide assistance in all of these areas from a very practiced hand.