Franz Joseph Haydn, Jenö Jandó Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1: Nos. 59-62 Genre:Classical 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 man... more »y 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. --Leslie Gerber« less
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. --Leslie Gerber
CD Reviews
Haydn's glorius music for the Esterhazy Court .
KSG | New York, NY United States | 01/14/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Haydn was born during the Baroque era, wrote in the Classical form and as he matured, he set the ground work for the Romantic style. His music, like Mozart's, represents the pinnacle of the classical music style.
The piano soantas are pure magic. They can be highly dramatic at times, but they are always grounded in melody. Here they are played by Hungarian pianist, Jeno Jando, with insight, feeling and precision.
Contrary to "kek5"'s review, the sonatas have been recorded by some of the greats, Ptetnev, Schiff and Brendel come to mind.
Naxos needs to be thanked in their efforts to bring the music of Haydn to the public in such high style and at such value driven prices.
If you enjoy the music of Haydn, you may want to check out his string quartets performed by the Kodaly Quartet on Naxos. The Opus Nos. 76 collection includes the "Sunrise" quartet which is one of his most joyful compositons."
Part of a whole body of work awaiting rediscovery.
darragh o'donoghue | 10/27/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Poised midway between those of Mozart and Beethoven, Haydn's last piano sonatas (written in the 1790s) have the elegance and intelligence of the former, and, perhaps unexpectedly, the passionate vigour of the latter. The last sonata on this CD especially has the expansive stridency that pushes classicism to its limits as much as Beethoven. what Haydn brings of his own sensibility is a profound wit. Where his more familiar symphonies and quartets are full of surprises, jokes and musical puns, they do not upset the balance of these works. Here, playfulness is the defining artistic credo, and much of the sonatas' pleasure lies in Haydn's willingness to sidestop the listener, taking him/her in constantly unexpected directions, abruptly changing tempo, following the least likely lines of development. The long adagios are seductively lyrical. Some may find Jando's playing a little too frenetic or Romantic, but it's refreshing to hear a Haydn that so thoroughly rejects his reputation for gentility."
What a pleasant surprise: Haydn which really *sparkles*!
Mark S. Carpenter | Austin, TX USA | 08/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I heard a performance of one of the Haydn sonatas on our local classical station, and it was one of the very few performances of a Haydn keyboard work which caught and kept my attention. After the performance, the announcer stated that the performer was Jeno Jando.
I looked up the name in Amazon, and found his recorded collection of the sonatas of Haydn. Out of curiosity, I ordered them -- and I'm very glad I did!
I've heard a lot of Haydn in recitals, often played in a very mediocre way -- and I have to say Jando's Haydn recordings are a real surprise: we have Haydn which sparkles, lilts, has terrific sense of phrasing and a sense of movement which propels throughout each piece; is profoundly musical and impeccably played.
I'm still listening to the CDs, and I have yet to listen to a performance I haven't absolutely loved. I really can't say enough good things about Jando's Haydn: I give it my strongest and most enthusiastic recommendation!"
Exploring the Haydn Sonatas -- Nos. 59 -- 62
Robin Friedman | Washington, D.C. United States | 10/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Haydn's last four piano sonatas are intertwined with the stories of two women, Anna von Genzinger and Therese Jansen. These four sonatas also constitute the climax of Haydn's writing for the solo piano with their emotional depth, virtuosity, and clangor. Haydn wrote these works for an instrument with a much stronger sound and larger range than he had available of his earlier piano music. He used the resources of the new instrument to the utmost, together with the learning and understanding resulting from nearly 40 years of composing for the keyboard. These sonatas constitute an extraordinary achievement.
The three-movement sonata in E-flat major Hob. 59 dates from 1789-1790. It was written for von Genzinger even though Haydn dedicated it to another woman who was a housekeeper in the service of his Esterhazy patrons. With his own long and unhappy marriage, Haydn frequently was lonely for female companionship. He was likely in love with Maria von Genzinger who was the wife of a nobleman. In his correspondence, told von Genzinger that the sonata and its deeply emotive character was hers. He wrote to her about this work: "This sonata is in E flat, entirely new and forever meant only for `Your Grace'". Von Genzinger died in 1793.
The opening allegro of Haydn's sonata to von Genzinger begins with a short, abrupt four note phrase which Haydn develops into a movement of expansive lyricism. Haydn, as were Bach and Beethoven, was a master of taking simple phrases and developing them. The second movement of this sonata is remarkable for its emotion. It begins with a slow, flowing and ornamented theme which is interrupted mid-course by a theme of great passion. It is tempting to take this movement as Haydn's outburst of feeling for von Genzinger. He described the movement to her as "somewhat difficult but full of feeling." The sonata concludes with a lively minuet that relieves the intensity of the opening two movements.
Haydn's final three piano sonatas were composed in 1794-95 for Therese Jansen. There was no romantic attachment here. Instead Jansen was a teacher and brilliant performer. She had studied with Muzio Clementi, the famous pianist and composer. Most of Haydn's earlier sonatas were probably composed as teaching pieces and are frequently attempted by amateur pianists. But these final works for Jansen are virtuosic and expansive. The piano writing is of a large-scale, orchestral character.
The sonata no. 60 in C major, Hob 50 begins with a lengthy opening movement based as was the E flat major sonata on a short theme that initially seems unimpressive. The theme is subject to variation and development over the entire range of the piano with long passages of counterpoint, flashy runs, large rolling chords, and harmonic changes. For all the bravura of the movement, there are two famous passages played una corda (with the soft pedal) briefly creating a remote, distant texture to the music. Haydn had composed and published the adagio of this sonata somewhat before the outer two movements. Haydn takes a singing melody and subjects it to extensive elaboration and ornamentation. The finale is a short highly rhythmical and humorous rondo characterized by sudden stops and odd changes in the direction of the movement.
The two movement sonata no. 61 in D major, Hob. 51 is short (about five minutes) and less frequently performed than its two famous companions. The opening movement consists of a lyrical theme and two embellished variations. The sonata concludes with a short, syncopated scherzo.
The final sonata, no. 62 in E flat major, Hob, 52, is the most celebrated of Haydn's piano sonatas. This is a work of many themes and moods and of brilliant orchestral coloration. The opening movement is concerto-like in character with its flamboyantly beginning material in chords followed by contrasting materials. There is a lengthy virtuosic and imaginative development section. The sonata shows a great deal of harmonic originality with the slow songlike second movement in the key of E major, far removed from work's E flat major home key. (Haydn had to do some highly creative harmonic writing in the opening movement to make the transition to E major in the second movement make musical sense.) The finale of the sonata is again brilliant and difficult with a rhythmic theme using many repeated notes.
This CD is the last of Jeno Jando's outstanding recording of the complete Haydn sonatas. It is available individually or as part of a box set of ten CDs. I have enjoyed getting to know Haydn's sonatas more fully through listening to each of the individual CDs in Jando's Haydn cycle as well as through sharing my thoughts about the sonatas with readers here on Amazon.
