Haydn: Piano sonatas Vol 2

"This second volume in Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's Haydn sonata cycle is every bit as outstanding as the first. As previously, he ornaments repeats liberally and observes second-half repeats, playing the codas (if any) only the second time around--a very intelligent decision. Indeed, it works so well that I would be surprised if this doesn't turn out to be one of those "authentic" performance practices that no contemporary sources discuss because it's so obvious on purely musical grounds.

Highlights include the splendid D major sonata (No. 50), the quick outer movements of which Bavouzet invests with irresistible energy. He's equally adept in the slow, songful adagios, particularly the one that begins Sonata No. 19 (in E minor). It's also remarkable how much like updated Scarlatti Sonata No. 32 (in G minor) sounds in Bavouzet's hands. Also as before, the sonics are as brilliant and natural as the playing. A wonderful recital, from first note to last." (10/10 ClassicsToday April 2011)

The multi-award winning and ever-popular Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is back with Volume 2 of Chandos' highly acclaimed Haydn Sonata series. This new release follows Bavouzet's complete Debussy cycle and a number of recent concerto recordings - all of which have been extraordinarily well received by critics and audiences alike, picking up numerous awards along the way.

Many leading pianists have tackled these at times technically challenging classical sonatas by Haydn, but in Bavouzet's own words, this is a composer who always left the door open for new interpretations:

'One often forgets how little information Haydn left in the text of his keyboard works: few instructions on nuance and phrasing, and very minimal tempo indications. Playing them is all the more fascinating for that, but it is also arduous and even risky for the performer, who must, even more than usual, create his or her own world and internal logic, only hoping - in the absence of tangible proof - that he or she is not straying too far from the composer's intentions, forever out of reach.'

For the recording Bavouzet brought in a specially selected Yamaha piano which he feels gives the sort of tonal quality he is looking for, and it shows in the programme for Volume 2 which includes the elegantly virtuosic Sonata in E minor, No. 19; Sonata in B flat major, No. 20; Sonata in G minor, No. 32; Sonata in C major, No. 48, and Sonata in D major, No. 50.