Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 40, 49, 50 Paul Lewis

• Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49:
• 1 Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49: I. Allegro 10:20
• 2 Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49: II. Adagio cantabile 08:29
• 3 Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49: III. Finale. Tempo di menuetto 04:11
• Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50:
• 4 Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: I. Allegro 10:42
• 5 Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: II. Adagio 05:29
• 6 Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: III. Allegro molto 02:39
• Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32:
• 7 Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: I. Allegro moderato 06:54
• 8 Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: II. Menuet 03:57
• 9 Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: III. Finale. Presto 04:38
• Piano Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40:
• 10 Piano Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40: I. Allegretto innocente 08:58
• 11 Piano Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40: II. Presto 03:03
• Total Runtime 01:09:20

Info for Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 40, 49, 50

Haydn's relationship with the keyboard was so intimate and inspirational that it enabled him to develop ideas of the most varied character. From the whimsical to the dramatic, this highly attractive music combines mischievousness, ingenuousness, eloquence and lyricism. Haydn's wealth of contrasts is interpreted with unique grace by Paul Lewis.



"I've wanted to explore the piano sonatas of Haydn in detail for some time. It's unfortunate that his works don't get played as often as they deserve, as they contain some of the most startlingly original and irresistibly absurd piano writing in the entire repertoire. There aren't many composers whose music can raise a laugh from an audience, but Haydn certainly tops that short list. His outrageous ability to surprise, shock, and poke fun at the listener still feels remarkably fresh in an age when ever-increasing extremes have become the norm.

Brahms is a composer I've come to love more recently. Few composers manage to fuse wild passion and high drama with such supreme perfection of the craft of composition - a perfection that, for me, felt untouchable for many years. Brahms strikes me as an overwhelmingly contradictory composer whose madness has an inner logic, and in whose hands the rawest of emotion can sound simultaneously unrestrained and refined.

Paul Lewis talks about the Haydn’s piano sonatas: "I realised that I couldn't resist dedicating a few years to exploring Haydn and Brahms but felt that, in practice, the programmes would need another element to bring these two hugely contrasting composers together. That element wasn't too difficult to find. Many of the miniatures in Beethoven's three sets of Bagatelles have much in common with the quirkish humour of Haydn, while some others look forward unmistakably to the heartfelt romanticism of Brahms. The Diabelli Variations - arguably Beethoven's greatest piano work - goes even further in both directions and, in the context of this series, serves as a summing up of the whole. I can think of no piano work more wide-ranging in character than Beethoven's final major work for the instrument. It encompasses everything from the blustering to the introspective, the farcical to the deeply serious, the tender-hearted to the downright bloody-minded - and a final variation which, miraculously, manages to rise above it all while looking in all possible directions at once." (Paul Lewis)

Paul Lewis, piano

Paul Lewis
is internationally regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. His recent cycles of core piano works by Beethoven and Schubert have received unanimous critical and public acclaim worldwide, and consolidated his reputation as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the central European classical repertoire. His numerous awards have included the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year, two Edison awards, three Gramophone awards, the Diapason D'or de l'Annee, the Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana, and the South Bank Show Classical Music award. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Southampton.

He performs regularly as soloist with the world's great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony, New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, and the Royal Concertgebouw, Tonhalle Zurich, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Philharmonia, and Mahler Chamber Orchestras, in collaboration with such conductors as Sir Colin Davis, Stephane Deneve, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Bernard Haitink, Pablo Heras-Casado, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Sir Charles Mackerras, Andris Nelsons, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Robin Ticciati. He is also a frequent guest at the world's most prestigious festivals, including Lucerne, Mostly Mozart (New York), Tanglewood, Schubertiade, Salzburg, Edinburgh, La Roque d’Antheron, Rheingau, Klavier Festival Ruhr, and London’s BBC Proms where in 2010 he became the first pianist to perform a complete Beethoven piano concerto cycle in one season.

Paul Lewis’ recital career takes him to venues such as London's Royal Festival Hall, Alice Tully and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Zurich, Palau de Musica Barcelona, Oji Hall in Tokyo, Melbourne’s Recital Centre, and the Sydney Opera House.

His multi-award winning discography for Harmonia Mundi includes the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, concertos, and the Diabelli Variations, Liszt’s B minor Sonata and other late works, and all of Schubert’s major piano works from the last six years of his life, including the 3 song cycles with tenor Mark Padmore. Future recording plans include the Brahms D minor piano concerto with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, and solo works by Mussorgsky and Schumann.

Paul Lewis studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before going on to study privately with Alfred Brendel. Along with his wife the Norwegian cellist Bjørg Lewis, he is artistic director of Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in Buckinghamshire, UK

Booklet for Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 40, 49, 50