Haydn
was not much of a pianist, and his sonatas, for the most part, pose little in the way of technical challenges. Yet
Artur Schnabel
said of
Mozart
that his piano music is too easy for children yet too difficult for adults, and perhaps the same is true of
. There are so many shades that may be given to his music. A fine recent cycle by pianist
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
often pushes his work in a proto-Romantic direction, which is entirely justifiable. Here,
Peter Donohoe
, in a double album that appears to be the first in a new complete cycle, goes in an entirely different direction, with dry, precise readings reminiscent of no one so much as
Domenico Scarlatti
. Sample well, but those for whom his interpretations click will find a wealth of insight here and often humor that only gains by being understated. Try the Adagio slow movement of the
Piano Sonata in E flat major, Hob. 16/49
, where varied material of the most dizzying inventiveness unfolds like some kind of new life form out of prosaic opening material. One might object to a few of
Donohoe
's decisions; he applies pedal to music that would have been for harpsichord originally, for example, but for most of the double album, the listener is on the seat's edge wondering what will come next. A note: some reviews have pointed to editing errors on this release, but our copy was intact; physical album buyers might inquire as to how long their copy was on the shelf. ~ James Manheim