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Track(s) taken from CDA67710

Piano Sonata in E minor, Hob XVI:34

composer
published in London in 1783; probably composed in the late 1770s

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Recording details: August 2008
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: August 2009
Total duration: 13 minutes 8 seconds

Cover artwork: Portrait of Joseph Haydn engraved by F A Andorff by Carl Jäger
The Cobbe Collection Trust, UK / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘One of the outstanding releases of the Haydn celebratory year’ (International Record Review)

‘A marvellously polished collection of performances … he is a model of correctness, with enough wit, exuberance and the most exquisite lightness of touches to keep the music buoyant’ (The Guardian)

‘Hamelin is most associated with virtuoso fireworks for piano, but he can also miniaturise himself exquisitely to suit Haydn's wit and elegance … the spring in his fingers is delightful’ (The Times)

‘As always, Haydn's originality astonishes and delights in his piano music as much as in his symphonies and string quartets. Hamelin revels in the tongue-in-cheek high jinks of the finale to the E minor sonata (No 34) … and is especially compelling in the great C major (No 48) … works that rank with the finest creations of the Viennese Classical period. An unmissable bargain at two-discs-for-the-price of one’ (The Sunday Times)

‘The continuous outpouring of beautiful tone; it's mesmerizing … these performances are beyond criticism’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘They sound absolutely superb, in the right hands, on the modern grand piano. And Marc-André Hamelin has the right hands, as his first two-disc set showed … playing of crisp clarity and deep feeling, superbly recorded’ (Dominion Post, New Zealand)

‘This Hyperion double set contains some of the finest performances of Haydn sonatas I have heard. Hamelin's playing overflows with ardent lyricism and I especially enjoyed his naturalness of rubato. The close sound quality from the Henry Wood Hall is impressive and the booklet essay by Richard Wigmore is helpful too’ (MusicWeb International)
The E minor sonata, No 34, was one of three sonatas (including No 39) published in London in 1783, though it probably (that word again) dates from the late 1770s. The superb 6/8 opening Presto worries at its laconic main theme with cussed obsessiveness, rising to a splenetic climax in the coda before the opening phrase vanishes into thin air. Only the G major second theme, sounded in dulcet thirds and sixths, offers momentary relaxation. The G major Adagio, extravagantly embellished with rococo arabesques, leads via a passage of quasi-operatic recitative into the finale, whose folk-like theme lives up to its innocentemente marking. This is another Haydnesque amalgam of rondo and variations, with a recurring E major episode closely related to the main, E minor, theme.

from notes by Richard Wigmore © 2009

La Sonate no 34 en mi mineur parut avec deux autres (dont la no 39) à Londres en 1783, même si (là encore) elle date probablement de la fin des années 1770. Le superbe Presto à 6/8 initial harcèle son laconique thème principal avec une persistante obsession et s’élève jusqu’à un apogée atrabilaire dans la coda avant que la phrase inaugurale ne s’évapore. Seul le second thème en sol majeur, énoncé en suaves tierces et sixtes, offre une éphémère détente. L’Adagio en sol majeur, orné à l’excès d’arabesques rococo, enfile un passage de récitatif quasi opératique pour accéder au finale, dont le thème folklorisant rend justice à son indication innocentemente. Voilà un autre amalgame haydnesque de rondo et variations, avec un épisode en mi majeur récurrent étroitement affilié au thème principal en mi mineur.

extrait des notes rédigées par Richard Wigmore © 2009
Français: Hypérion

Die e-Moll-Sonate Nr. 34 war eine von drei Sonaten (einschließlich Nr. 39), die 1783 in London veröffentlicht wurden, obwohl sie wahrscheinlich (wieder dieses Wort) vom Ende der 1770er Jahre datiert. Das überragende einleitende 6/8-Presto nagt mit sturer Besessenheit an seinem lakonischen Hauptthema und steigert sich zu einem griesgrämigen Höhepunkt in der Coda, bevor sich die Anfangsphrase in Luft auflöst. Nur das zweite Thema in G-Dur, das in süßen Terzen und Sexten erklingt, bietet einen Moment der Entspannung. Das G-Dur-Adagio, das extravagant mit Rokkoko-Schnörkeln verziert wird, leitet via eine Passage von quasi Opernrezitativ ins Finale über, dessen volkstümliches Thema seiner innocentemente-Markierung alle Ehre macht. Dies ist eine weitere haydnische Verschmelzung von Rondo und Variationen mit einer wiederkehrenden E-Dur-Episode, die nahe mit dem e-Moll-Hauptthema verwandt ist.

aus dem Begleittext von Richard Wigmore © 2009
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

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