After celebrating thirty years of life and work together with the Trios by Dvořak, our three wandering companions (Vincent Coq, piano, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin and Raphaël Pidoux, cello) have brought out another round of Trios, this time by Joseph Haydn, the inventor of this form, which is an inheritor of the baroque trio sonata, with a cello part often providing the basso continuo. There are 39 authentic compositions by Haydn for this instrumental format, which he wrote at various points throughout his life. The music is of very high quality and it unites all the characteristic forms of his style, his vivacity, expression, freedom of tone and form, and the zest of his cheering humour. The Wanderers have judiciously selected their works from three different epochs for this new album which offers the Trios n° 14, 18, 21, 26 & 31 which offer plenty of surprises and rare tonalities from Haydn, like A-flat major, F-sharp minor, or E-flat minor. The performance is both fluent and lucid. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Following his acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s Concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet returns to his exploration of Haydn’s Sonatas, described by the magazine Gramophone as "a major modern recording landmark in the Haydn discography". As in previous instalments, Bavouzet has programmed sonatas from Haydn’s early, middle, and late periods, giving added interest to the recital. Sonatas No. 10 and No. 2, dating from the 1750s and ’60s respectively, share the key of C major, but differ in form. The short No. 2 was almost certainly written for pupils whilst Haydn was working as a teacher. No. 10 is more ambitious and extensive. Sonatas No. 41 and No. 44 date from the early 1770s and show some influence from C.P.E. Bach and the "Sturm und Drang" movement. More virtuosic than the earlier sonatas, in these the trademark humour of Haydn is also more evident. Sonatas No. 52 and No. 53 were composed a decade later and are conspicuously more demanding, technically and musically. As in the case of the previous volumes, this album was recorded at Potton Hall in Suffolk, on a Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano. © Chandos

This release marks the 35th anniversary of the Guarneri Trio Prague, and the group members say they picked Haydn for the occasion because of the festive quality of his music. Not everything here is festive; the Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob. 15/26, is on the melancholy side, but the idea is generally valid. The Guarneri Trio Prague is not a household name, but chamber groups have rarely lasted so long, and the group has released superb recordings that stand up to rehearings years later. This may well become one of them. The five trios recorded here all come from the late-middle and late periods of Haydn's career and qualify as genuine piano trios. They differ substantially in structure and mood, but they receive a consistent, confident approach from the Guarneri Trio. Hear the opening Piano Trio in G major, Hob. 15/25, known as the "Gypsy" trio with its Hungarian verbunkos finale. This is one of Haydn's most popular chamber works, and it would seem hard to improve on what previous trios have done, but the lithe, confident playing of the group at the very least, comes close. The players take quick tempos and execute them without a hitch, and they have the indefinable grasp of humor and of the unexpected that makes Haydn performances work. A fitting celebration. © James Manheim /TiVo

The vagaries of the market have led a French pianist to record all his albums in England (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet for Chandos) whereas an English pianist, Paul Lewis, recorded all of his for the French label Harmonia Mundi. They both share a real love of Haydn. While the Frenchman has been recording sonatas by the Austrian composer from the start, Paul Lewis waited until he had assimilated Beethoven's 32 Sonatas and Schubert's as well, so as to be able to get to the root of the repertoire. For his first album dedicated solely to Haydn, he has chosen four sonatas, 32, 40, 49, and 50, allowing him to deploy his whole expressive range, dispelling once and for all the "Papa Haydn" tag that has for so long dogged the great musical innovator. In Paul Lewis's hands, Haydn's music is not that of an ancestor, however good, but of a Viennese classicist, performed with great nuance, a fluid sound and a wonderful, plastic beauty which makes the keyboard sing, underlining Haydn's joyful and puckish side as well as his passing melancholy. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Yes, yes, the three Trios n° 15, 16 and 17 of 1790 were originally written for flute, piano and cello, and not for the oboe, piano and bassoon; but we know well how in those days, works intended for great amateurs (Londoners, in this case) could easily be adapted for any number of other instruments, whether bass or melodic parts: and so why not this delicious, pastoral combination? As for the Trio by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, its origin is even more unique. Written before 1740, it is written across a number of pages which carry counter-punctual efforts by Johann Sebastian and his son; Wilhelm Friedemann's writing includes a Sonata for Two Flutes and Harpsichord, which is transcribed here for oboe – the pianist's right hand taking on the role of the second flute. The bassoon follows the bass part. The rest of the album, all dedicated to the same son, and also to the better-known Carl Philipp Emanuel, also takes in works written for other arrangements but deftly redistributed here for the trio formed by oboist Maurice Bourgue, the pianist Kimiko Imani and bassoon player Sergio Azzolini – based on the transcription principle which was very much the norm in the 18th century. © SM/Qobuz

This is violinist Ji Young Lim’s debut recording, a captivating programme of sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven. She is partnered by pianist Dong Hyek Lim, who launched his relationship with Warner Classics with a Chopin recital in 2015. (Both musicians are from South Korea, but they are not related – that they share a surname is coincidence.) Also in 2015, shortly after Ji Young Lim triumphed in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels – one of the most prestigious events of its kind – she gave a recital in Washington, D.C. where she was greeted with a standing ovation. In the words of the Washington Post, her programme – which included Mozart’s Sonata No. 18, the opening item on this disc – “showed off an impressive arsenal of strengths — a range of colors that extended from a brilliant shimmer on top … to an almost viola-like richness and graininess on the bottom, the ability to race from one end of the finger-board to the other with a tap dancer’s agility and precision, a dramatic flair and an inclination to risk-taking that allowed her to revel in a funky, bluesy note-bending for her Gershwin encore.” All three Mozart sonatas (Nos. 18, 21 and 26) date from 1778-79, a troubled period that was marked above all by the death of the young composer’s mother during an unhappy voyage to Paris. “This music seems so simple, joyful and charming,” says Ji Young Lim, “but there are more emotions inside … Mozart is the composer who is closest to me. He is always there, waiting.” Nos. 18 and 21 belong to the set of ‘Palatine’ Sonatas that Mozart dedicated to Marie Elisabeth, Electress of the Palatinate, a region in western Germany. All the sonatas are characterised by a real partnership between the two instruments, as is the case for the Beethoven's Sonata No. 1 in D Major. It dates from the late 1790s, when Beethoven was not yet 30 years old, and is still Classical, even rather Mozartian in spirit, but the composer’s powerful personality shines through. Ji Young Lim describes it as “a good match” for the three works by Mozart. Aptly, in view of the genial interaction between the instruments in all these works, Dong Hyek Lim describes his first-time collaboration with his compatriot as “easy and joyful”. © Warner Classics

Jonathan Nott's exceptional recordings of Gustav Mahler's symphonies are among the most impressive in the hybrid SACD format, and the 2011 release of the Symphony No. 3 in D minor follows suit. This is the longest of Mahler's symphonies, and for many years, recordings of it had been somewhat rare in the marketplace and hit or miss in execution, sometimes succeeding in conveying Mahler's mystical vision, though often succumbing to the difficulties of making such a sprawling work cohere. Nott's achievement with the Bamberg Symphony is not only a triumph of interpretation, but it is also a compelling performance that holds the listener's attention from beginning to end. Not only is the orchestral playing first-rate, but the singing of contralto Mihoko Fujimura and the combined ensembles of the Bamberg Cathedral Boys Choir and the women of the Bamberg Symphony Choir add an angelic luster to this rendition. If Mahler's so-called Wunderhorn symphonies have an ethereal quality, it is fully evident in the sung movements, though the composer's extremely complicated emotional world is on display throughout the work. Nott's involvement with the score is deep and convincing, and the efforts of all the musicians yield an extraordinary listening experience. This live recording is recommended as one of the best of 2011. © TiVo

Still little known by music lovers, Japanese pianist Hiroaki Takenouchi has a boundless admiration for the works of Joseph Haydn, whose terrific inventiveness he has been analyzing for many years. For this first album on the Artalinna label, he proposes four sonatas that were composed in the early 1770s. They feature a dense, spirited, serene, and joyful Haydn that is consistently uncluttered. © Artalinna/Qobuz

What a shame that Mozart’s other bassoon concertos (of which there supposedly were four others) vanished without a trace! Indeed they represent works of youth, albeit the youth of Mozart is equivalent to the maturity of many composers! Bassoonist Sergio Azzolini gives us his interpretation of this small masterpiece on an original bassoon built by Kaspar Tauber in 1790, an instrument on which all the difficulties imagined by Mozart take their full measure: not only did he require the lowest note, but also the highest accessible note, and added virtuosities, which probably stunned the bassoonist who played the score for the first time. The sound of this ancient and venerable instrument, finer and more “pinched” – and precise – than a German Fagott, closer to a French bassoon, creates a rather unusual listening and musical experience. Continuing the programme, the Bolzano String Academy decided to offer a very ample serenade by Michael Haydn, including a movement subtitled “Concertino per il fagotto”, while other movements put emphasis on the solo trumpet. It’s important to note that it is, for the most part, a formal reconstruction made by our musicians to offer a great serenade like it might have been played at the time: by inserting movements from various previous works. It’s with these types of works that we see how Mozart managed to draw from Haydn, the Great’s younger brother, much too discreet in view of his immense talent – a talent Mozart took advantage of, deliberately or not, in his own creations. © SM/Qobuz