Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes presents here a sampling of Franz Joseph Haydn's piano sonatas. Haydn was composing at the time when the piano had recently been invented and had not yet eclipsed the harpsichord. Most of his sonatas, then, are for keyboard--piano or harpsichord--rather than for one of the other specifically. To appreciate them fully, they cannot be viewed in light of the sonata's history since Beethoven. These works predate the sonata as grand Romantic utterance as developed by Beethoven and continued by Chopin and Liszt. Haydn's sonatas are works for a new instrument in a new form, drawing on older traditions to develop a distinctive voice.
From the sound of this disc, Andsnes has recognized the historical position of Haydn's sonatas and allowed them to sound on their own terms. His readings are never unduly ponderous, never too heavily touched. At the same time, however, he has not reduced them to mere trifles, precursors of truly great things to come. He allows the nobility and romance and variations of color to shine, bringing his impeccable technique to each phrase. In his hands these works sing and dance as Haydn intended.

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