Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Alfred Brendel :: Piano Sonatas

A hidden jewel

Pav | Prague, Czech Republic | 06/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own the original Philips recording - there is no difference except of the lower price. The music is wonderful. Although Haydn's piano sonatas are less known than his symphonies or quartets, they do merit attention. I think there is much higher variety of musical ideas than in Mozart's piano sonatas. Brendel's choice is excellent - if you don't want to own the complete sonatas, this is the first choice. There exists a 2CD compilation by Glenn Gould, which is interesting too. But Brendel's playing is technically flawless and inspired, often revealing the magic behind the apparent simplicity of Haydn's music(listen to the opening of the E flat sonata on disc four)."

Exceptional Haydn from Brendel

jsa | San Diego, CA United States | 09/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I started listening to classical music nearly forty years ago, it was Brendel's Mozart concertos that I bought on the budget Turnabout label. Brendel eventually moved to Philips devoting his attention to recording all the Mozart concertos, Beethoven sonatas (twice) among many other things; but I didn't purchase any of these records, having instead acquired Geza Anda's Mozart concerto cycle, Arrau's Beethoven and so forth. And when it came to Haydn, I had sonatas brilliantly performed by Richter scattered across several discs as well as outstanding recitals by Evgeny Koroliov and Maria Bergmann. A few years back I picked up the excellent two-cd set by Andras Schiff & with this felt that my Haydn piano collection was complete.



Then I bought a Brendel disc of three Haydn sonatas along with the Fantasia in F & Adagio in C that received the prestgious Rosette designation from the Penguin Guide. While I am not usually persuaded by this type of thing, in this case Penguin's opinion is justified as this is some of the best Haydn playing on disc, period.



While there were three other Brendel/Haydn discs combined with the aforementioned Haydn recital disc available in a Philips box set, also lauded by both Penguin & Gramophone, it was available only as a special import at an absurdly high price - until now. Universal Music Group, which now owns Philips, Decca, DGG etc, recently reissued the Brendel/Haydn box set under the Decca label, still rather expensive but more within reach especially if purchased through one of Amazon's resellers, which is what I did.



Why these sides are being labeled "Legendary Recordings From the Decca Catalogue" is anyone's guess since they were Philips, not Decca recordings. Even the discs themselves are imprinted with Decca LP look-alike art. In any event, what counts is the music, which is wonderful stuff, and the performances which are equal to the music in every way.



The four discs in this set were recorded between 1979 and 1986, so the sound is fine but not consistent given the different sessions. The remastered sound is a little brighter compared to the Rosette collection disc, which is not to say that it has been improved; & I assume that the other discs have undergone similar treatment.



My highest recommendation!"

Duplicate import CD? Still excellent.

William Gibbs | 03/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1. This appears to be the same recording as the 4 disc Philips set, but the used/"new" Decca sets are less expensive than the Philips (which Amazon also has).



edit: Not to mention the even larger price difference between a fully new copy of either label.



2. I've just played through disc one, and the Decca import mastering of these CDs are about as good as it gets for CDs. :)



edit: Currently on disc 3. :)



3. My 2007 copy of Gramophone (reviews of CD DVD & downloads), shows this as a "Great" recording, and I agree. However, they only mention Philips, which made me wonder if the Decca is the same recording/mastering. I'm fairly certain now that the recording is the same, and Decca did a good job with the mastering. :)"