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Hänssler Classic have just released a boxed set of 16 discs of all the solo piano works of Beethoven, recorded at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Indeed this is a rare project presenting perhaps one of the most significant collections in classical music. The works can be heard in chronological order from Beethoven‘s earliest compositions at the age of 12 right up to the final short pieces of 1825, written some 18 months before his death. This presentation displays the composer’s remarkable development from the influence of Haydn and Mozart in his youthful works to his own idiomatic language of the middle period and, finally, to the heights of great spiritual depth in the works of the final 10 years or so. His journey, made under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, is one of the most astonishing in all music and it is one which very much determined the future direction of classical music. Without Beethoven’s immense influence, who knows what would have followed Mozart? After recording all the works, Martino has concluded that there is a much more human side to Beethoven’s personality than the image that is often portrayed. His kindness, sweetness, humour and romantic fervour are not qualities one readily associates with him, and yet they abound in his music. Perhaps the surprise in this Collection are some of the lesser-known or rarely performed works, such as the Dances, many Variation sets and a variety of single pieces including Preludes, Rondos and Bagatelles. Other pieces, like the inspiring Fantasy Op.77, demonstrate magnificently his extraordinary gift for improvisation.