Customer Reviews

Haydn: Piano Sonatas (33, 38, 58, 60)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I was in high school, I spent my summers working with my father in his microscope service and repair business out of Forest Hills, New York. Wherever there were microscopes to be cleaned or adjusted or replaced, in hospitals, schools, doctors' offices, we were there... doing, and dad ALWAYS brought his "transistor" radio with him... and we'd ALWAYS be listening to his favorite classical radio station, WQXR (out of NYC). I didn't have much say in the matter.

Dad was strictly a "classicist": Mozart and Haydn, with strong leanings towards the latter, especially the piano sonatas played by Rena Kyriakou, Walter Klien, Martin Galling on those exceptionally inexpensive and wonderful Vox "Box" recordings. He just adored them. [In fact, Sonata No. 33 (Hob. XVI:20), which Ax plays so well here, was the first Haydn sonata I ever heard.] He would lend me records, ask me what I thought... and soon enough I went out and bought these very same Vox sets, myself.

I still own them to this day. Wouldn't part with them.

At any rate, the reason I've gone off on a tangent about all this is because Emanuel Ax comes as close as possible to playing the Haydn sonatas as I love them played.One has the feeling that Ax loves playing these Haydn works. He is warm, gentle, lyrical and, yet, never fails to capture the easy humor in these sonatas. I suppose if I were to tackle these myself, I would play them just like this.

The recorded sound, it's true, is far too ambient, and with good reason this is a definite caveat.

[Running time: 63:57]

I love Emanuel Ax and his playing, but there is a glaring flaw on this CD that cannot be overlooked. The recording quality of this CD is terrible! I first noticed it with the Rondo: Presto in the Sonata XVI:48 in C. Ax plays it wonderfully, but unfortunately, you can't hear it!!! The microphone sounds like it was hundreds of feet away, and all of the detail in his playing is lost in the endless reverberations you hear. Essentially, it sounds like he's holding the pedal down the entire time. Overall, this is not a good recording, and it distracts from Ax's wonderful playing.