Haydn: Piano Sonatas Vol 5

Haydn Piano Sonatas Vol 5
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Artist: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Franz-Joseph Haydn
Genre: Classical
Label: Chandos

If you like to hear Haydn sonatas crisply delivered, i's dotted, t's crossed, with good fingerwork, and in a clean recording, then the Chandos cycle by French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet should have a strong appeal. Bavouzet is more middle of the road as a Haydn player than, say, Marc-André Hamelin in his survey on Hyperion. Bavouzet likes what you might call high-stepping fingerwork, brilliance, and a kind of rhyming-couplet balance. He doesn't always get to the bottom of Haydn's inventiveness, forsaking wit in favour of high spirits, and sometimes even downplays interesting quirks. The selection on this volume is a nice mix of favourites and less often heard pieces, Nos 12, 13, 22 and 40-42 in the Hoboken numbering. url.ie/f1f2

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor