I had put off buying any of Haydn's piano sonatas for the simple reason that I had read (in several quarters) that most of the top flight pianists do not take them seriously. Indeed, other than Gould (not exactly the best roadmap at times) I have yet to see names in the league of Perahia, Brendel, Kovacevich, etc. attached to a Haydn recording. Well, as I am a fan of Jeno Jando, I finally took the plunge and bought this disc. My regret is that I waited so long. As a non-musician, I cannot comment on the relative worth of this music other than to say it pleases me greatly, bringing all the attributes I have grown to love about Haydn's music. Jando's performances are clear and well paced...nothing drags or seems rushed, and the Naxos recording is unusually good for that label. I see more purchases of this cycle in my future.

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.

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.

Robin Friedman

Rather irritatingly, Naxos do not offer the Haydn sonatas as a set.

Haydn was a truly remarkable man. He bridged the divide between the Barok - he was 18 when Bach died - and what later became known as the Classical period (which has no evolutionary difference from the Romantic epoch but we are required to respect these often silly semantics) and he did this almost single handedly. The lengthy span of this bridge is measured, at least in part, by the development of his keyboard compositions and his expansion of the sonata form from probably before 1760 to 1794 - the year in which he, with almost seamless musicality (and neatly bypassing the likes of Clementi and Mozart in the process), passed the baton to Beethoven who accepted the Haydn legacy in his Opus 2, Nr1 Sonata but barely completed the second movement before he was off in pursuit of his own unique destiny! I am reminded of the oft-quoted observation that Brahms's first Symphony was Beethoven's tenth; here Beethoven's first Sonata might have been Haydn's twenty-third.

Joseph Haydn did not write any more piano sonatas after the publication of Beethoven's first; I suspect he might have felt that anything further to be said on the subject would be better coming from the young prodigy and former pupil who, even then, was recognised as the herald of a different future.

Although the Naxos volumes are not numbered sequentially with the Hoboken listings, within the constraints of time available on each disc, it is possible to chart the inventive progress of Haydn's writing from the relatively simple construction of the early works to the sophistication of those written at the dawn of the 19th. century. This was a period of rapid musical development; that Haydn kept up where others fell by the wayside is creditable. That he was in many respects the "pace setter" in this evolution is remarkable. I think it a pity that he is better known for his symphonies than for much-less-appreciated but more innovative contributions like the piano trios, string quartets and these 62 piano sonatas which are of great charm and quality.

Naxos are to be commended for publishing this collection which is unlikely to be a huge money spinner for them but, thanks to the really excellent readings, is a valuable contribution of historical importance to the recorded piano inventory. It also happens to be very good fun!

It is evident that Jeno Jando has devoted as much preparation to the performance of the earlier, simpler works as to the later and more complex compositions. I find his playing immensely satisfying.

Naxos can be relied upon to provide above-average quality recordings - this one from the Czech studios is really excellent.

Wholeheartedly recommended.