Sviatoslav Richter - J. Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 44, 40, 41, 48, 52 (1992)

Sometimes art is so simple and relaxed it seems to come from a place of utter mastery and command. This superb Sviatoslav Richter recording is like this. The presentation is easeful; there’s nothing forced. Richter just plays the music. These sonatas are reasonably easy for a pianist of his caliber, so the technical polish is perfect, which he makes sound effortlessly achieved. And Richter’s love for these Josef Haydn sonatas shows clearly. It results in a disc that is easily the best set of Haydn piano music in my collection.

The numbers of the sonatas Richter includes are close to one another, but they span Haydn’s career. Richter opens with the sonata 44, the first written and a product of Haydn’s “storm and stress” period in the early 1770s. Though in a minor key, it is reflective and sentimental rather than dramatic. The interpretation here is wonderful and poignant. Richter follows with the sonatas numbered 40 and 41, which are more cheerful and from a bit later in Haydn’s career. The performances are what I described before – loving, masterful and unstrained. The “Allegro e innocente” which opens the sonata 40 (from 1784) struck me as particularly attractive though the playing is consistently beautiful throughout. Richter concludes with the two most famous works included, the 48th sonata in C and the biggest effort from Haydn in this genre, the sonata 52 in E-flat, the only three-movement sonata found here. 48 and 52 date from later in the composer’s long career and are probably played more frequently than any of the author’s solo piano compositions. Richter again delivers successful interpretations.

This is a comprehensively excellent disc. Recorded live in Mantua, Italy in 1987, I heard almost no audience sound and, in fact, the sonics are very good. I have a big Haydn collection and would point to this release as the place to start if you want to just one instance of the composer’s solo piano works. I loved discovering this recording. Warmly recommended.