Haydn Piano Sonata

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.1: Nos. 59-62 (1993)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.1: Nos. 59-62 (1993)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 187 Mb | Total time: 61:38 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.550657 | Recorded: 1992

Naxos began its Haydn series with his last four sonatas, perhaps to tempt listeners into investigating the series. Jenö Jandó, the house pianist for Naxos, has maintained a surprisingly high standard in his many previous recordings, but in Haydn he outdoes himself. He has obviously studied these pieces well, and he plays them as individual works, with intelligent and meaningful characterization of each and a good appreciation of Haydn's sparkling wit. This is indeed a good place to start investigating Haydn's piano sonatas, since each one on this disc is a masterpiece. But so are many of the others in this series.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10 (2022)

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10 (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 192 Mb | Total time: 71:31 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 20191 | Recorded: 2021

His multi-award-winning recordings and dazzling concert performances have long established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation. This latest album – the tenth – in his cycle of the complete Haydn sonatas is built around the Grand Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 50, a late work the first movement of which is one of the most highly developed that Haydn ever conceived for the keyboard. Bavouzet has surrounded this with less well-known works: Two very early sonatas (Nos. 3 & 4) provide a stark contrast to the later works (Nos. 28 & 45). The album ends with the Arietta con 12 Variazioni. Bavouzet notes ‘ The Variations in E flat major and the Sonata in A major, Hob. XVI: 30, were for me the marvellous revelations of this programme.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.2: Nos. 42-47 (1993)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.2: Nos. 42-47 (1993)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 228 Mb | Total time: 72:01 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.550844 | Recorded: 1993

Naxos isn't recording Haydn's piano sonatas in order, but the first three volumes are all devoted to his late sonatas. These are generally shorter than the ones in Volume 1, which is why there are six sonatas here instead of four. Otherwise, the same comments apply to this disc as to the first. Just because Haydn's forms here are somewhat more compressed than in the last sonatas doesn't mean these are inferior pieces, just that they are shorter. And once again, Jenö Jandó never sounds as though he is just reading through the music; he knows each piece and gives it its own character.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.4: Nos. 36-41 (1994)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.4: Nos. 36-41 (1994)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 211 Mb | Total time: 66:31 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553127 | Recorded: 1993

Jando is confirming his reputation as a fluent Haydn interpreter, wholly in sympathy with the composer's musical language.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.3: Nos. 53-56 & 58 (1993)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.3: Nos. 53-56 & 58 (1993)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 218 Mb | Total time: 70:00 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.550845 | Recorded: 1993

This disc, Volume 3 of the series, contains five sonatas and the work usually known as Andante and Variations in F Minor, here with the early title Un piccolo divertimento. Whatever you call it, it's a highly unusual piece, variations on two themes each so long that they are varied only twice. It's also one of Haydn's most deeply emotional piano works, and contrasts nicely with the quirky two-movement sonatas that make up most of the disc. As before, Jenö Jandó's performances treat each work as an individual and characterize each one convincingly. These are among the best Haydn piano discs in the catalog.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.5: Nos. 48-52 (1994)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.5: Nos. 48-52 (1994)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 193 Mb | Total time: 62:09 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553128 | Recorded: 1993

The exquisite, classical balance evident in these six sonatas makes them rewarding examples of Haydn's exploitation of the piano's broad expressive range and rich textural variety. This volume in Jenö Jandó's complete edition presents these pieces in a compelling, moderninstrument version. For example, there's brilliance and sparkle in the opening movements of the D major and E flat Sonatas; warmth and dramatic intensity in the slow movements (most notably in the Baroque echoes of the Sonatas in C major and D major), and an appealing blend of wit and elegance in finales such as the third movement of the D major Sonata.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.10: Nos. 1-10 (2001)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.10: Nos. 1-10 (2001)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 240 Mb | Total time: 70:47 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553824 | Recorded: 1996

Haydn’s first 10 keyboard sonatas are unpretentious, inventive little gems. While they were written with the harpsichord in mind, Jeno Jando makes them sound perfectly pianistic without touching up the scores. On paper the left-hand parts don’t look terribly stimulating or special. Jando, however, shapes them in a way that articulates harmonic motion so that the steady rhythm never feels square. Fast movements are taken at dangerous clips, yet the scales and runs don’t smudge or misalign one iota. Add Naxos’ superlative engineering and you’ve got the finest volume so far in Jando’s Haydn cycle. Highly recommended.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.7: Nos. 29 & 33-35 (1998)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.7: Nos. 29 & 33-35 (1998)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 197 Mb | Total time: 60:44 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553800 | Recorded: 1995

This is, like the others in the series, deserves the warmest possible recommendation.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.6: Nos. 20 & 30-32 (1997)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.6: Nos. 20 & 30-32 (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 190 Mb | Total time: 60:30 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553364 | Recorded: 1995

This is, like the others in the series, deserves the warmest possible recommendation.
Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.9: Nos. 17, 19 & 28 (1999)

Jenö Jandó - Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol.9: Nos. 17, 19 & 28 (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 217 Mb | Total time: 60:50 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553826 | Recorded: 1996

This is a beautiful, atmospheric performance with evocative, church-like (but not mushy) sound…