But--and Levin is likely to find this praise more infuriating than any criticism--had he chosen to play his Emperor  on a Steinway or a Bosendorfer, he might have given us one of the greatest recordings of the piece ever put on disc.
Only Levin can record that piece the way it was originally meant to sound. 
mnli hypothesis: Only Levin can record that piece the way it was originally meant to sound.  premise: But--and Levin is likely to find this praise more infuriating than any criticism--had he chosen to play his Emperor  on a Steinway or a Bosendorfer, he might have given us one of the greatest recordings of the piece ever put on disc.