It's a long way from music like Chopin/ Godowsky (which Berezovsky has recorded so superbly) to Hindemith's large-scale cycle of 12 fugues alternating with 11 interludes, the whole topped and tailed by a Prelude which returns, in retrograde inversion, as a Postlude. So how does he fare in Ludus tonalis (1942)? In a word, impressively. There's no attempt to beef up Hindemith's contrapuntal sobriety with spurious expressiveness, but a searching sense of line and a feeling for polyphonic give-and-take make the quieter fugues absorbing, while the extrovert ones positively sizzle with attitude. As for the more freely composed Interludes, dexterity and fantasy combine to project maximum energy and atmosphere, especially in the cheeky cross-rhythms of Interlude 4. While Berezovsky doesn't quite convince that Ludus tonalis embodies the white heat of inspiration from beginning to end, he comes as close as any pianist could, or should.
Hindemith's early Suite '1922' offers the player more conventional digital rewards, which Berezovsky clearly relishes, with even the rather pallid central 'Nachtstück' revealing unexpected depths. In its riotous 'Shimmy' and 'Ragtime' movements, 'prodigies of virtuosity' are there in abundance, helped along by an exceptionally vivid recording.

While Berezovsky doesn't quite persuade me that Ludus tonalis embodies the white heat of inspiration from beginning to end, he comes as close as any pianist could… Hindemith's early Suite '1922' offers the player more conventional digital rewards, which Berezovsky clearly relishes... In its riotous "Shimmy" and "Ragtime" movements, "prodigies of virtuosity" are there in abundance, helped along by an exceptionally vivid recording.