This group of four Haydn keyboard sonatas was recorded by the underrated British pianist John Lill in 2000 (in Hong Kong) but was lost in the shuffle of the recording industry and not released until 2007. It was thus made a bit in advance of the remarkable Haydn recordings of Marc-André Hamelin and of a group of others that have gradually been elevating the composer's keyboard music to a level of prominence comparable to his works in other genres. That makes it all the more remarkable, and the recordings taken as a group ...
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This group of four Haydn keyboard sonatas was recorded by the underrated British pianist John Lill in 2000 (in Hong Kong) but was lost in the shuffle of the recording industry and not released until 2007. It was thus made a bit in advance of the remarkable Haydn recordings of Marc-André Hamelin and of a group of others that have gradually been elevating the composer's keyboard music to a level of prominence comparable to his works in other genres. That makes it all the more remarkable, and the recordings taken as a group show something of how Haydn's sonatas, often seemingly slight, have enough in them to stand up to widely varying interpretations. Those interpretations vary especially in regard to the earlier sonatas, which many pianists have treated as light divertissements and Hamelin treats as drastic, edgy experiments. In the Piano Sonata No. 49 in C sharp minor, Hob. 16/36, and the Piano Sonata No. 32 in G minor, Hob. 16/44, Lill finds subtle craftsmanship and a good dose of Haydn's quirky...
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