Jeffrey Hall enthuses over Brendel's Beethoven piano sonatas. I'll weigh in with the following observation. I have a recording Brendel playing a few of the sonatas, and I have John O'Conner's complete cycle of the sonatas. While I might give a more detailed description at some point, I'd have to say I prefer Brendel. I think, through subtle variations in timing (eg. "pregnant pauses") and small fluctuations in balance, he manages to impart a greater sense of meaning to certain passages. On the other hand, I half suspect O'Conner performs these sonatas more in a classical mode, so that purists like Joyce Maier might prefer O'Conner. But on the strentgh of several hearings, I think Brendel enjoys a slight edge. FYI, I elected not to buy the complete Brendel cycle because it was almost twice the price of the O'Conner performances. Larry Sherwood