It seems that these
recordings from Andreas Staier on Deutsche
Harmonia Mundi were previously issued
on Harmonia Mundi in 1990 (CD1) and
1993 (CDs 2-3). Presented now in a smart
new three CD box set these make attractive
listening for those Haydn collectors
who prefer their keyboard music played
on the fortepiano. On the first CD Andreas
Staier uses a 1989 fortepiano by Christopher
Clarke, after Anton Walter of Wien circa.
1790 and on CD 2 and 3 a 1986 fortepiano
by Christopher Clarke, after Anton Walter,
circa 1792. I would suggest however
having a listen to the sound of the
instrument before considering purchase.
Haydn composed for
the genre of the piano sonata over a
period of some thirty-five years, from
1760 to about 1795. For some reason
he ceased writing in the form fourteen
years before his death while his fellow
Vienna-based contemporaries Mozart,
Beethoven and even Schubert continued
to write sonatas up to the end of their
lives. Haydn was to write some fifty
piano sonatas although it was not quite
the happy medium that the string quartet
and the symphony proved to be. All the
same Haydn’s greatest works in this
genre contain some tremendous music
and rank with the best produced before
Beethoven’s time.
Haydn’s piano writing
brought a new concept of thematic presentation
and enlargement, a mastery of structure,
at times a daring in the use of tonalities
and unexpected effects, and a wealth
of expressiveness. Building on the piano
sonatas of Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach,
Haydn developed the classical form by,
"improving so largely upon the
earlier", says biographer J. Cuthbert
Hadeen, "that we could pass from
his sonatas directly to those of Beethoven
without the intervention of Mozart’s
as a connecting link. Beethoven’s sonatas
were certainly more influenced by Haydn’s
than by Mozart. The masterpieces amongst
Haydn’s sonatas ... astonish by their
order, regularity, fluency, harmony
and roundness, and by their splendid
development into full and complete growth
out of the sometimes apparently unimportant
germs ... "
Generally the keyboard
music of the eighteenth century can
be divided into two categories. One
viewpoint states that there are those
compositions intended for performance
by ‘connoisseurs’ or ‘experts’, and
there are those designed for the use
of ‘amateurs’. Many of Haydn’s sets
of variations are the lightweight and
more decorative music for the amateur
with only limited demands being made
on the player’s technique.
Göttingen-born
keyboard player Andreas Staier uses
two modern fortepianos copies, after
Anton Walter of Wien, from the period
around 1791. The sound of the fortepiano
is very different to that of the modern
grand piano that artistes would typically
use today. Some listeners will undoubtedly
find the fortepiano a refreshing change
and many will favour the authenticity
but the sound will certainly not be
to everyone’s taste. Although I am a
lover of performances on authentic instruments
the fortepiano was one of the least
successful instruments and the most
deserving of improvement. I am not always
comfortable with the sound made by many
fortepianos and however fine a performance
may be I find it difficult at times
to get past the often unpleasant sound.
The Anton Walter copies used here do
not have the most appealing timbre that
I have heard but I am able to live with
the sound and appreciate the quality
of Staier’s interpretation.
Fortepianist Andreas
Staier has impeccable credentials having
studied with eminent teachers and keyboard
performers Gustav Leonhardt, Nikolaus
Harnoncourt and Ton Koopman. The thoughtful
paying is most appealingly caught, maintaining
a natural expressive flow with an elegance
of phrasing. Staier is spirited without
rushing and displays plenty of subtlety
and imagination. The sound of the fortepiano
is well recorded and the booklet notes
are reasonably informative although
an article by Andreas Staier is rather
eccentric. If I were to suggest just
one recording of a selection of Haydn's
piano sonatas it would be the acclaimed
accounts from Leif Ove Andsnes on EMI
CDC5 56756-2. Alternatively the series
of the complete Haydn piano sonatas
on Naxos from Jenö Jandö is
very consistent and direct in style.
Haydn’s piano sonatas
offer many delights and certainly deserve
to be better known. These accounts performed
on the fortepiano are rather an acquired
taste. If possible I would recommend
a listen before purchase.
Michael Cookson
Andreas Staier, fortepiano 
