It almost goes without saying that this is piano playing of the highest calibre, to which the recorded sound does full justice. Yet I do have reservations about his choice of repeats...Lewis's is by far the best realisiations of [the slow movement off D959] that I have ever heard.

Lewis is one of the best pianists I know for delivering both explosiveness of drama and the kind of melting expressiveness which draws you in, but without losing that inner core of strength which raises Schubert from genteel picturesqueness into an artist of granite stature.

While there's no doubt about the virtuosity and authority of Lewis's playing, there's certainly nothing superficially flashy about his performance either...throughout these sonatas I sensed a deeply considered performance where the primary concern was merely letting this extraordinary music speak for itself.