Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
16 Early Keyboard Sonatas
Chen Xueyuan (piano)
rec. 2023, Haizhiyin Nanjing Concert Hall, Nanjing, China
Reviewed as a download from a press preview
Da Vinci Classics C00807 [2 CDs: 146]
The Haydn keyboard sonatas, with the exception of a handful of the later ones, present a specific kind of challenge for the virtuoso performer since they were never intended for the concert hall but for domestic use. The same could be said about some of Mozart’s output in the same genre but, notoriously, his ‘easy’ sonatas are anything but. Haydn, on the other hand, was superb at scaling his genius to whatever category of music for which he was writing.
For, in their modest way, the keyboard sonatas are works of genius with Haydn providing endless stimulation for the performer of more limited technical means. Herein lies the problem for many professional pianists: how to take the imaginative step back to a world where their prowess at the keyboard is redundant. Too many come at this music trying to find ways of making it more dazzling than it actually is. Playing it at top speed so as to show off finger dexterity is a favourite attempted solution that horribly distorts the generally relaxed nature of most of the sonatas. Equally disagreeable is grotesque exaggeration of rhythmical and dynamic contrasts largely in the name of Haydnesque wit. This tends to overload works in which humour must always be balanced by poise and where the jokes are sly and more like word play than the gag of a standup comedian. Alfred Brendel in his epochal recording of the later sonatas provides the last word in the broader, more theatrical humour of the later sonatas which are much more public facing.
Others have succeeded in working the oracle in these tiny, gem like early sonatas – I have a great affection for Roman Rabinovich’s sets on First Hand Records – but few succeed as well as Chen Xueyuan. He deserves admiration for the bravery of choosing these most unfashionable of pieces. He seems to nail his colours to mast in wanting to share his love of them with us. For affection is the single most attractive quality of this two disc set. There is no special pleading going on here. He is content to present these sonatas just as they are. The result is a set that gets closer to their inner world than any I know.
There is an apparent dilemma here: does music largely aimed at the amateur performer have enough to hold the attention of the listener? In the relatively rare occasions when these earliest of the keyboard sonatas have been recorded, usually as part of complete sets, the answer has been No with the resultant importation of the kinds of extraneous effects I bemoaned in my opening paragraph. In the case of Chen Xueyuan it is a rather magnificent Yes. The irony is that the sonatas become more of an appealing listen without the musical equivalent of too much rouge and mascara.
These unassuming works contain a capacity to evoke whole worlds just as readily as bigger, noisier sonatas aimed at the concert hall. Haydn has a Picasso like ability to need just a few lines to transport the listener somewhere unexpected. As I listen to Chen’s pianism, I was reminded of Voltaire’s “le mondain” – an honnête homme characterised by his virtue, taste, politeness and commitment to the progress of the arts and who, according to Robert Darnton, “enjoyed all the good things in life”. I can’t speak for Chen’s personal qualities but this is the Haydn he brings before us.
There is a temptation to see these early sonatas as Haydn writing music by the yard. Composer as artisan rather than artist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each sonata has its own distinct nature as much as Haydn’s later works. It is worth bearing in mind that at this stage in his career Haydn was known for his capricious, even excessive, strangeness. In the shadow of Beethoven and everything that came after, it is hard to hear this properly but in the world of these early sonatas nothing is ever quite what it seems. Even in the minuets that more often than not round out the sonatas there are always unexpected rhythms, surprisingly abrasive dissonances or minor key trips whose soulfulness and wince of pain catch us off guard. This is like the world of a regal court where the drama takes place in small, surreptitious gestures that bely an elegant surface. I expect the ladies who enjoyed playing these sonatas recognised that Haydn was speaking their language. Not all revolutions are noisy or violent.
As the entertaining notes point out, we don’t know precisely what type of keyboard Haydn had in mind for these sonatas – if in fact, it mattered much to him. In the absence of any specific instrument, Chen elects to use the modern piano. In this instance, a Chinese Yangtse River piano which makes an agreeably appropriate crisp sound in these works, ably caught by the production team. One minor issue with this side of things is that at the end of the sleeve notes in the pdf format I was reading some stray paragraphs from what is presumably another Da Vinci release that have been included in error.
The test for any set of Haydn sonatas is how quickly the listener grows bored. Present them with an identikit, imposed set of interpretative tricks and they quickly all start to sound like ‘once you have heard one you’ve heard them all’. On my first listen to this new recording I listened to both discs right through in one sitting. I do hope Chen can be induced to record the later sonatas for whilst the musical challenges are different, most of the virtues of this set are what are badly needed by them too. For now, the unique, reclusive pleasures of these sonatas beckon at the hands of a consummate servant of the music!
David McDade
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Contents
Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:1
Sonata in B-flat, Hob. XVI: 2
Sonata in C, Hob. XVI: 3
Sonata in D, Hob. XVI: 4
Sonata in A, Hob. XVI: 5
Sonata in G, Hob. XVI: 6
Sonata in C, Hob. XVI: 7
Sonata in G, Hob. XVI: 8
Sonata in F, Hob. XVI: 9
Sonata in C, Hob. XVI: 10
Sonata in G, Hob. XVI: 11
Sonata in A, Hob. XVI: 12
Sonata in E, Hob. XVI: 13
Sonata in D, Hob. XVI: 14
Sonata in C, Hob. XVI: 15
Sonata in E-flat, Hob. XVI: 16
