Brought to England from Rome as a child prodigy, Muzio Clementi became a notable figure in the musical world as a pianist, composer, piano maker, music publisher, and teacher. Beethoven admired him and gave him publishing rights to all his music in Britain. As a composer, Clementi is best-known for his keyboard studies Gradus ad Parnassum; nevertheless, much of his other music is influential, fascinating, and rewarding. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s dazzling recording on his rich, captivating album The Beethoven Connection includes Clementi’s Piano Sonata in A Major, Op. 50 No. 1, in which the musical cross-fertilization with Beethoven is audible from the start. Other composers included here—who all knew Beethoven and each other well—are Hummel, Dussek, and Wölfl. Their music captures the spirit of an age that gave us one of the undeniable greats, but it also provides an enriching context. Needless to say, Bavouzet invests everything he touches with his vibrant musical personality.