Classical Music: Haydn Piano Sonatas

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is adept at performing the music of whichever composer he has chosen to showcase. His attention to detail and exceptional skill in delving into the minutiae of each score, coupled with his fabulous knack for bringing out the nuances, mean he delivers perceptive and captivating performances.

Recorded on the Chandos label between 2009 and 2021, the complete set has just been released by Chandos and presented in a clam-shell box, which will retail at eleven discs for the price of five.

The project has been striking in revealing Bavouzet’s stunning technical capability and his astute interpretations, as well as highlighting Haydn’s development and offering another dimension to Haydn’s compositional skill.

Bavouzet used a Yamaha piano, and the engineers have done a fine job at Potton Hall in capturing the beautifully expressed playing, the pauses, articulation, and ornamentation.