Haydn: 3 Sonatas

Approfondimenti

The closely-fused duo that is the pianist Ludmilla Berlinskaya and her husband the French pianist Arthur Ancelle is perhaps best understood as a single head with two bodies, whether in town or on stage. Their partnership has produced a string of recordings for the Russian Melodiya label, with works by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Liszt and Sain-Saëns. This latest album, featuring Arthur Ancelle in a solo performance, is a complete turnaround. After an initial solo record given over to four Ballads by Chopin and two piano pieces by Dutilleux, and here he is in three sonatas by Joseph Haydn, a musician of inestimable importance, an inventor of forms and a new musical language, who threw off baroque to found what would become known as Classicism. The Sonatas n° 30 and 31 both date from 1768 and the novelty of their writing is striking. The record ends with Haydn's final sonata (n° 62), composed in 1794, which would open the door to a new world, and inspired the young Beethoven
. Arthur Ancelle, who has reflected deeply on the meanings of this music, brings out all the bite, the spirit, the novelty, the gobsmacking virtuosity, the often off-the-wall humour and the intertwined feelings of nobility and melancholy. © François Hudry/Qobuz