The piano sonatas of Haydn, written like Mozart's for an instrument quite different from a modern grand and lacking even the level of virtuosity of Mozart's works, have lain mostly untouched by big-name pianists except for the big, Beethovenian late sonatas.
Emanuel Ax, having established a reputation for an unusually diverse repertoire, recorded a series of Haydn sonatas for Columbia in 1988, and they did well enough to earn reissue in Sony's revival of Columbia's old budget "Great Performances" line. A performer with some familiarity with the fortepiano, he treads a good middle ground between performances by the likes of
Horowitz and those of historical performance specialists playing the agile little instrument Haydn knew. He develops a clean sound with little use of the pedal, and with strong percussive attacks that suit Haydn's irregular rhythms. Volumes are scrupulously kept in check. Four sonatas are included: the late Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50 (the numbers representing a volume number followed by an individual work number, come from the so-called Hoboken catalog of Haydn's works), is joined with three works from the 1770s and 1780s for a decent overview of the various kinds of keyboard music Haydn wrote. The small Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 48, from 1789, is a modest two-movement work, with both charm and weight, of the kind Haydn might have written for one of his female students or patrons. The sonatas Hob. XVI:20 and XVI:23 represent the dark and the ebullient sides, respectively, of Haydn's 1770s output, while Hob. XVI:50 is probably Haydn's last sonata. If you've never heard it, listen and learn how immensely influential it was for the young Beethoven: the abrupt use of texture to make things happen, the polyphony that is at once witty and gnarly, the highly decorated slow movement--all these things show that whatever disagreements Beethoven had with Haydn, he was listening, and listening closely. Sound quality is a major downside here; everything from start to finish is inexplicably muffled and distant. For those with forgiving (cheap) sound equipment, though,
Ax's readings make an excellent place to start with Haydn's sonatas for the general listener. Those in search of an authentic Haydn experience may prefer
Ronald Brautigam's beautifully recorded versions on fortepiano.