Excellent comments and excellent versions of this great work. Not to disagree with any of them since we all have our favorites and reasons why, but simply food for thought:
While much is sometimes made of the sudden and dramatic dynamic contrasts being indicative or symbolic of the composer’s own personality, I think it is relevant to keep in mind that when Beethoven composed this work, no piano existed that would allow a player to take those contrasts to the extremes that some modern interpretations of the work take them. Beethoven’s instruments simply did not have the power of a modern Steinway or Bosendorfer. In that context, some of the choices made in some interpretations sometimes strike me as a bit of dynamic excess.
While much is sometimes made of the sudden and dramatic dynamic contrasts being indicative or symbolic of the composer’s own personality, I think it is relevant to keep in mind that when Beethoven composed this work, no piano existed that would allow a player to take those contrasts to the extremes that some modern interpretations of the work take them. Beethoven’s instruments simply did not have the power of a modern Steinway or Bosendorfer. In that context, some of the choices made in some interpretations sometimes strike me as a bit of dynamic excess.