Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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66 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Haydn and a bargain, too!, 5 May 2005
This is a complete recording of Franz Joseph Haydn's works for keyboard, pieces that span the whole of his long and distinguished career from the 1750 through to around 1800, although the keyboard version of 'Seven Last Words..' is not included. The sonatas, variations and various other works go from the simple galant works (divertimentos) through to mature, expansive and expressive sonatas that point towards Beethoven. Thirteen CDs and thirteen hours of piano/harpsichord music, albeit by a composer that instils every works with the same level of charm and originality, may be too much to take, but these discs make a real effort to offer variety; and, at this bargain price, you can't go wrong.Christine Schornsheim (Andreas Staier joins her for one four hands work) plays the earlier works on two harpsichords; one is a copy of a generic 18th century French instrument (3 discs) which sounds fine, but the second is a fantastic sounding original Kirckman of1777 with a surprising array of different voices used here to great effect (2 discs). CD4 is played on a copy of a late 18th century clavichord and this is the gem of the collection, Haydn's music really suiting the capricious get gentle clavichord sound. Later works are played on a Viennese-type Dulcken fortepiano of 1793 (5 discs) and the final two discs (including Sonatas 61 and 62!) on a Broadwood grand pianoforte of 1804. Both pianos sound excellent and well maintained. Disc 14 is a conversation about the recordings: it is all in German. The standard of the musicianship is really high throughout. This set is excellent in every way: the variety and quality of sound of the instruments used; the recording; and even the playing itself. Then take into account that this is THIRTEEN discs virtually for the price of one, then you have to wonder how the Capriccio label managed such a feat. Thoroughly recommended and not to be missed.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A superb set, 5 Feb 2007
I have little to add to Dr. Large's excellent review below, other than to express my gratitude for the recommendation and to endorse it wholeheartedly. I bought this set on the strength of the review, despite being a little dubious about such a large set sold so cheaply, and by a musician I'd never heard of. I needn't have worried - this really isn't just "never mind the quality, feel the width" stuff. Christine Schornsheim is excellent throughout, and the fact that the great Andreas Steier is willing to partner her is a fine endorsement, too.
If you like Haydn - or the Mozart piano sonatas, come to that - then I strongly recommend that you do what I did: read Dr. Large's detailed and perceptive review and buy the set. It's real treasure trove: delightful throughout with music to match the very best of Mozart, excellently played and an unbelievable bargain. Don't miss it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astonishing recital, 1 April 2008
Way back in September, 1990, I purchased my first two classical CD's, on the Naxos label. Each disc retailed at five pounds each, a modest sum which has since never increased in price, since the label was launched. Even then, I thought they were incredible bargains - so it is perfectly understandable that anyone might approach a box set of 13 discs, for around twenty-pounds in 2008, with a hint of trepidation.
However, there is nothing to fear in this case. It is difficult to comprehend the contrast between price and the performance on this latest release of all the Haydn piano sonatas. The quality and standard is beyond belief throughout this set. One can only marvel at the beautiful shades of light and colour Christine Shornstein brings to these magnificent sonatas.
There are four instruments used throughout the set. In the early sonatas, a standard harpsichord is used; and on two discs, Schornsheim plays an eighteenth century Kirckman. Although the Kirckman has a sharper and more dynamic tone, the standard French Down instrument also sounds wonderful, if anything, it sounds more intimate. A Clavichord is used on disc 4, a fantastic sounding Dulcken pianoforte for the remainder of the set, up until disk 11, where the remaining mature sonatas are played on a Broadwood pianoforte.
The care and attention to detail with regard to performance and recording is quite simply staggering. The music throughout this set is suffused with an other worldly and timeless quality; and I have to disagree with a previous reviewer who mentions the intrusive ambient noise of traffic. I cannot hear it, through a Rotel amplifier, Rotel CD player, and good quality B&W speakers. It just isn't there; or if it is, you'd have to be listening at disco volume levels, or perhaps nit picking if you're a perfectionist, whilst listening through headphones.
Anyway, it is impossible to be dissatisfied with this collection. There is a new sense of re-discovery in this already under-performed repertoire. Too many people feel that Haydn's output is so large that he composed `by the yard'; however, so did Mozart, who only embellished and occasionally improved upon what had already been composed by other masters. Too much importance is given to Mozart, Beethoven and Bach, and yet their music can be relatively boring. However, their names have a certain pretentious ring to them; whilst snobbery amongst admirers of classical music is rife. I know people who regard a composer's importance based on the amount of music they wrote in the minor key. They feel that they can associate with the composer's intense pain and suffering. Some people believe that because Haydn lived a more privileged life than others, his music lacks importance, or an association with a composers 'titanic struggle'. At the end of the day, all that matters is whether the music is pleasing to listen to, not the kudos which is attached to the composer.
It is possible to listen to Haydn's music for hour upon hour, and never be bored. This is not because his music contains less substance than the meatier composers like Beethoven; it's because Haydn knew how to delight and charm his listeners, and he knew how music should rest easy on the ear, particularly during lengthy listening periods. His music is both entertaining and yet profound; perhaps lacking the last ounce of struggle than Beethoven's later works, and yet it is more satisfying because of this. Music should relax and ameliorate, not exacerbate our troubled souls. These keyboard sonatas are a lifetime of listening pleasure, it is one of the greatest additions to the classical catalogue.
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