Although he was not a virtuoso pianist like
his friend and fellow composer Mozart, Haydn did show a consistent
interest in keyboard music during his long and distinguished
career. His piano sonatas are full of interest, having held
their place in the repertory across more than two centuries,
even if they do not quite represent the main focus of the composer's
achievement. The proof of all this is that the world's leading
pianists play Haydn's sonatas on a regular basis.
The Belgian pianist Etienne Rappe was born
in 1965, and he was just 23 when he recorded these three sonatas.
He has not developed into a major artist on the international
stage, however, and the present British catalogue features no
recordings by him. Yet on the evidence of these performances
he is a gifted pianist with clear and well focused musical judgement.
These performances certainly capture the spirit
of Haydn. Rappe plays a splendid Fazioli instrument, not a 'contemporary'
fortepiano, and his control of both tone and phrasing is excellent
and thoroughly appropriate. Each of the sonatas therefore has
a well articulated balance of lyricism and activity, with clear
textural details easily communicated. Take the opening of the
F major Sonata, for example, in which the phrasing is beautifully
shaped to allow the music's momentum to develop (TRACK 1: 0.00).
The recorded sound is pleasing, too, in a natural
acoustic which allows shadings of dynamic to make their mark
(TRACK 3: 0.00, for example). There may be more celebrated performances
by star pianists, but I doubt that they will give more pleasure