Customer Reviews

Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Other individual performances may "grab" you more than these, but as a whole I could not find fault with these performances. They are particularly satisfying if you follow with a score - you get to see the choices in ornamentation, dynamics, etc. that McCabe makes compared with what is on the printed page. I did several comparisons with other performers (I own 4 complete sets of these sonatas and several smaller compilations), and McCabe consistently comes out on top overall, in my opinion. Haydn's best sonatas are consistently more inventive, witty, and daring than Mozart's and are definitely worth your attention.

McCabe offers unforced readings which sparkle and at the same time let the music speak for itself. Here is a Haydn full of his special wit, humor and sometimes drama on a par with Beethoven. First-rate cd transfers throughout. This set actually offers twelve CD's, a complete and consistently lovely journey through the under-appreciated world of Haydn's piano music.

This is a truly beautiful set, suitable for desert island listening. Anyone who does not respond to this music and the inspired way it is played by John McCabe has no blood in his body. The London recording of the piano is perfection. The Seven Last Words of Christ by itself is worth the money for the whole set. Haydn rules!!

Who is John McCabe? This was the very first impression I had when I first came accross this box-set. I don't think I have ever come accross any other recordings performed by this pianist.

I love Haydn's Piano Sonata, and I personally find that it is more pleasant and beautiful then Mozart's Piano Sonata. Prior to this purchase, I owned a few recordings by Horowitz, Brendel, Kissin and Jeno Jando and decided to keep a complete collections. "Unfortunately" there are only 2 options, either this box set by London Decca or the 10 Discs (available seperately by Jeno Jando under the Naxos label). As it is not easy to acquire all the 10 CDs, and also partly I trust Decca's recordings, I bought this box-set without second thought.

Just completed the entire listening yesterday, I have no regret and wish to give my highest recommendation if you are looking for a complete collection. Excellent recording! Excellent playing! I don't care who is John McCabe now ...:-)

These performances of the Haydn piano sonatas by John McCabe are essential: wonderful recording quality, informative liner notes by McCabe, extremely compact packaging (12 CDs take the space of a standard double CD jewel case thanks to nicely notated envelopes that hold each CD). The price is exceptional for the quality of this set. I cannot find any faults with it. Essential for Haydn, piano, and chamber music fans!

I first heard this music on five Decca boxes with three discs in each and those LPs still lift the heart. For me McCabe brings bottomless magic to Haydn, with music seemingly written just this morning. McCabe mixes up early and middle and late Haydn sonatas on each disc so that we never fall into thinking we can categorize the period we are hearing. This device brings even more life to the earlier works which take on a glow from the mature works surrounding them. And while Haydn himself has a heartbreakingly mellow inventiveness throughout these discs, McCabe and his engineers bring to bear an equally mellow pumpkin moon quality, a harvest night with plump orange notes, soft notes that never ring with treble but plunk into your ear like the plucking and pizzicato on the Dreamworks movies logo with the fishing line plunking a cork into a stream. For me this is marijuana music that needs no cannabis to enjoy its full bloom in the imagination and on the ear. If I keep making synesthetic comparisons it's because these wonderful discs still take me right out of myself even after a quarter century of hearing them. Do yourself a favor. Give up some other goody and buy this box instead. You'll go to your grave reaching up to take this box with you.

This set is by-far the best collective set of Haydn's Piano Sonatas available. Sure, you can possibly find better individual versions of some of these sonatas, but why spend all that money piece-mealing your collection together; my suggestion is to buy them all. This set has a remarkable consistence about it. McCabe's interpretations are neither too fast or slow. They are true to the music, as Haydn would have intended. I believe using a modern piano gives these performances an extra texture which would be missing with a forte piano. I find fortes chimey. As an owner of other London Box Sets, they are the best available; just wish some of them were not out of print so everyone could enjoy them.

I recently attended a 'Keyboard Conversations' concert given by Jeffrey Siegel during which he played several pieces by Haydn. He talked about the sixty-two piano sonatas that Haydn composed, and later that day I decided to purchase a set on Amazon. I was able to get this twelve CD set from a Marketplace seller for less than $50 new. I have listened to most of it, and I'm impressed. The piano is not 'twangy' as one reviewer stated. I find the sonatas and variations fascinating and a pleasure to listen to. The set is compactly packaged, and the discs are placed in envelopes with the work titles on each. This set is well worth the money, and I must say I enjoy John McCabe's playing. In short, this set is highly recommended!

These performances of the Haydn piano sonatas by John McCabe are essential: wonderful recording quality, informative liner notes by McCabe, extremely compact packaging (12 CDs take the space of a standard double CD jewel case thanks to nicely notated envelopes that hold each CD). The price is exceptional for the quality of this set. I cannot find any faults with it. Essential for Haydn, piano, and chamber music fans!

This delightful and moving collection of Haydn's piano sonatas is a wonderful addition to the available corpus of Haydn's work. McCabe's playing is thoughtful nd moving, and the recording itself good enough never to interfere with what is most important: conveying as transparently as possible the beauty of these lovely pieces.

The set is loosely arranged in chronological order, with some of Haydn's simplest pieces very early in the set. These "simpler" pieces were used by Haydn to teach piano, but it is only a master's hand who can compose such simple educational pieces while still having enduring musical value. But as we move forward into the set, we begin to be exposed to the greater complexity that Haydn infused into his work over a lifetime, but the cheerfulness and happiness with which it is said that Haydn lived his entire life is never abandoned at any point.

These pieces are bright, sunny, and cheerful. They stand up to repeated playing, and they are perfect for when one does not want to be inundated with complex polyphony from a large scale orchestra (there is a time and place for everything!). I can easily recommend the compositions, the playing, and the recording here as an easy five stars.