Papa Haydn
I’ve written several times before about Haydn, mainly about his symphonies, e.g. here (Ottavio Dantone) and here (Giovanni Antonini).
Overall, I’m not such a big fan of this composer. He had a very important role in music history, but I’d much rather listen to Mozart than to Haydn most of the time.
However, exceptions confirm the rule. For example, this excellent album by Paul Lewis:
Haydn: Piano Sonatas 32, 40, 49, 50 – Paul Lewis (Harmonia Mundi 2018)
Paul Lewis is one of the most famous pupils of the legendary Alfred Brendel. He’s already recorded quite a bit, and has often focused on a very similar repertoire to his master, e.g. Schubert and Beethoven (his complete Beethoven cycle is very nice).
You can hear a lot of his Schubert and Beethoven in this recording. The playing is always thoughtful, often energetic, but never too much, very nuanced, and overall extremely enjoyable. It is very clear that Lewis has learned a lot from Brendel, I’d use very similar adjectives for him.
What suprises me is that I keep going back to this album on a very regular basis, and in a way this is probably the one Haydn album I’ve listened to the most in my entire life of classical music listening.
Gramophone agrees and gives this an Editor’s Choice in their May 2018 issue (although they tend to be quite friendly to UK artists in general).
Overall, very much worth having.
My rating: 4 stars (5 star playing, 4 star repertoire)
You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prostudiomasters)
Really interesting post! I also prefer Mozart to Haydn, but I do like listening to the latter occasionally because his music is just so intelligent and fun. I recently hear Paul Lewis performing Haydn live, and while blown away by his technical command, found it a little heavy and (as you said) “Beethoven-esque”. I thought some of the more light-fingered wit was lost somewhere between the dramatic fortes and stretched-out legato. I’ll have to check this recording out however! 🙂
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Thanks for your feedback. I hear your concerns. My reference to Beethoven was to the early sonatas which are obviously quite close to Haydn in both style and approach. I don’t find Lewis to be particularly heavy here. I‘d be very interested in your opinion about this album.
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