Richard Goode's first-ever recording of the complete Beethoven concertos, with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and conductor Iván Fischer, was released in a three-disc set on Nonesuch Records last week. The Times of London gives the set a perfect five stars. Music critic Geoff Brown describes Goode as "rigorously dedicated" to his craft, "the pianist revered even by pianists."

And while more than a decade and a half has elapsed since Goode's landmark 1993 recording of the complete Beethoven sonatas, the first by an American, there's no need to fret any longer over the expanse of time that separated these major Beethoven recordings from Goode, now that "lost paradise is regained" from the very first note, exclaims Brown.

"Goode’s special gift has always been his selfless artistry: his penetrating intellect, warm heart and nimble fingers are entirely placed at the composers’ service," Brown explains. "Being Beethoven, Beethoven often makes contrary demands, but Goode knows just how to balance and weigh conflicting elements: argument and repose, dark and light, struggle and wit ... When Beethoven is strenuous, Goode never batters; when he smiles, Goode never clips the notes into topiary."

So significant a part of the canon though Beethoven's works have become, the pianist's approach, never hackneyed, rather breathes into them new life. "Every landmark phrase or interjection pops up freshly felt, as though newly composed," says Brown. "And he’s never led into the superficial."

The reviewer is sure to praise Goode's collaborators as well, calling their work on the recordings "exceptional ... their phrasing constantly alert, and their union with Goode total."

Brown concludes: "Throughout, the recording is warm and natural. Buy with confidence."

Read the complete review at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk.