Haydn's Haus

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh, the original for those who don't want to convert from the 4 words per line format;

HAYDN: Keyboard music (all)Tom Beghin, hpsi, pno
Naxos 501203 [12CD] 18 hours

Someone at McGill University had a wonderful idea: what if we tried to reconstruct the actual performing circumstances of the playing of Haydn keyboard works—instruments and room ambience—and recorded these reconstructions? It would be a wonderful experiment. Haydn's works span the scale from small pieces to be played by a player alone or perhaps a student for a teacher all the way up to the big sonatas meant for concerts. His work spans an important time in the development of keyboard music. The early works are for harpsichord, clavichord, or primitive piano; and the last works were meant for instruments fairly close to modern pianos. And there's enough music to make a series of programs to show how the music and the players and the purpose of the music all interact.

McGill, as a major university that takes the arts seriously, had the resources to put into this and very smart people to make it happen. There's a DVD bonus disc in this set that shows a lot of what they went through in investigating room sizes and reverberation and selecting instruments. I think they may have worked from empty rooms and not compensated later for the dampening effects of spectators and their clothing, but still it's a wonderfully clever and laboriously carried out enterprise. If you ever have a chance to see the video presentation, either on television (fat chance if you live in the US) or perhaps on YouTube, try to take advantage of it.
But now we come to the problems, and they're big ones.

The first and lesser problem is the instruments. The ones used here are two harpsichords (copies of a 1755 Johann Leydecker and a c. 1770 French one), a clavichord (Saxon style c. 1760); a table-piano (a copy of 1788 Ignaz Kober); and three fortepianos (copies of Anton Walter from 1782 and after 1791 and Longman, Clementi & Co, 1798). They are played with old tunings that will sound strange to modern ears, and the instruments themselves, except for the fortepianos, sound strange in this music. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but  it is something to be mentioned and understood. The early works actually sound better on harpsichord and clavichord than they do on modern pianos because the writing is spare and the bass-treble balance of the old instruments works with the writing better. Of course some of these early works could well have been played with a bass instrument (gamba or cello) doubling the bass line and a flute or violin playing the treble, but no need to go there.

The second problem, which is serious, i,e. who is doing the playing. Mr Beghin, who is Belgian-born academic, studied with harpsichordist Malcolm Bilson and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, among others, but he plays like well... an academic. We've been spoiled with the supple, beautifully rhetorical Haydn performances of players like Schiff and Bavouzet and Beghin, who probably knows and deeply understands rhetoric and its role in 18th Century music, seems not to be able to translate this knowledge into performance. What we get instead are odd performances that seem to lurch hammishly in attempts at expression the great F minor Variations are the worst victim of this—or to relax into blandness—Sonata 34 in E minor, so beautifully played by Schiff is pretty plain-vanilla musically, despite the ingenious use of ornamentation. I don't know why this is so. Perhaps he had to learn a lot of music in a short time and didn't have a chance to get deeply into it—or maybe he's just not natural performer.
One thing he is is a consistently interesting and informative writer. His copious notes are fine exploration of many of the concern involved in trying to perform this music.

If you're looking for Haydn sonatas to listen to and get to know, this is not the set for you. Get the Schiff set and then buy the Bavouzet discs as they come out (he's up to three, I believe). There are some good complete sets (Jando on Naxos, McCabe on Decca—though a little subdued sometimes Walid Akl, if you can find him), but Schiff and Bavouzet are really at the top of what you can get now.

On the other hand, if you already know these works or are a scholar or a university music department librarian, this is worth considering. The oddity of the playing won't matter that much, since you already know the music and you can listen past it to the sounds of the instruments and the "play" between the instruments and the halls. You may also be able to hear, as Beghin suggests, how the music and the instruments shaped each other, since Haydn was a true professional deeply involved in the day-to-day matters of how is music was to be performed and what instrumental resources he had available to perform it.
CHAKWIN


Oh, just as a further comment; "harpsichordist Malcolm Bilson..."  ??  I have nearly every recording by Bilson that can be found today, and without exception they are played on the fortepiano. In point of fact, he is among the top 3 living fortepianists and was a teacher of most others you can name. Mr. Chakwin would do well to know little things like that before writing about them.   

[mc ukrneal]

Here's a bombshell. I increased my Haydn collection by 20-30%!

Here's the scoop. It started benignly enough with an innocent blind listening test. Me being a blind listening junkie - I couldn't resist a new blind listening exercise. And lo and behold it was a Haydn quartet. I generally don't like chamber as much as orchestral stuff, but who could resist. Besides, I've been enjoying chamber more and more these past few years (the Brahms Piano Trio 1 is guilty as charged).  Well I listened to several versions. I listened and re-listened. But there was one where I really liked the interpretation and I really loved the sound.

I should mention that prior to this, over the past year or so, I have been painstakingly assembling a complete quartet set by buying up individual releases so that I could test out all sorts of different ensembles. There has been so much disagreement about some of the performing groups that I wanted to listen to myself. So I assembled the Justice League of Quartet ensembles - the cream of the crop - the best of the best - the pick of the litters - well, you get the picture. I got the London SQ in Op 9, Auryn in Op 17, Mosaiques in OP 20 and 33, Tetrai in Op 50, Festetics in Op 64, Kodaly in Op 71, Takacs in Op 76, and Lindsays in Op 77. I built these around the Endellion Op 54 and 74, which I had owned previously and enjoyed (to test the waters). I paid more than I had to just to be able to hear a variety of ensembles.

A few months ago, I had gotten all the discs in the mail. I ripped the 16 discs to my collection - priority! In they went and then they sat there...and sat there....and sat there. I didn't know why I was avoiding it. Perhaps it seemed too much like work. Thus, well-timed, along came DavidW's blind listening comparison of Haydn String Quartet of Op 50, #1. Remember the blind listening? I started this story with the blind listening.  Well, I listened and I listened and I listened. Lo and behold, it turned out that one of the performances was in my top three both times. No other group had that (and I had liked them too). Surely, I had to get them? But what about the blood, pain and hard cash spent on all those discs - how could I justify the expense of a (full, expensive) set. After all, even the cheapest of Haydn Quartet sets is not cheap. I struggled and rationalized, and pleaded with my wallet! I was rejected, not once but several times.  But then - a sale!!! For $50, the set could be mine! I ordered it! Oh rash act, but the price was a sign surely!  And I still had everything before Op 9 to get and this was a group I didn't have yet(who said rationalizing is bad?).

But was it to be mine?!?!? It was out of stock when I ordered it. No!!!!!!  I waited with bated breath. Would it ship?!? I checked my email and I waited. Sometimes I would check several times a day. I waited and waited and each day I checked. And a week later - success! It shipped! But then I had to travel for work and I didn't come back immediately, which is when I made my mistake. I had it shipped to where I was. But because of a strange set of circumstances, I kept travelling, and the box was always a destination behind! Ack! Would it ever catch up? Was I being punished for my lack of attention to my existing discs? Would I ever lay my hands on it. One week dragged to two weeks to three to four to a month to two months. Would I ever be united with my precious? Was destiny intervening? It is now 2.5 months since that fated set was dispatched and today, finally, it caught up to me!!!!

So I sit here, up late, listening to the second disc in a row from this set - the Op 76 String Quartets. I recognize a couple of the melodies, but I have never actually listened to them before and they are glorious. The sound and the playing are top notch. I am, at long last, at peace with my Hadyn Quartets.



By now you must wonder - which set is it?










Maybe?







You sure you want to keep going?























Almost there.....









One more....








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[DavidW]

Awesome I'm so glad that it's cheap now, I have to buy that set!  (rebuy because I lost the set, not sold but lost the set).

[Gurn Blanston]

Excellent, Neal. Hope you have many happy hours with this music. As I mentioned somewhere before, the Haydn quartets were my introduction to chamber music in general. Hope they are your threshold too! 

[Wakefield]

I agree with that, Jeffrey. If you will note his "favorites", not a single one of them is either on original instruments OR played by any pianist who attempts to follow an historic style. As he mentions himself early on, "We've been spoiled with the supple, beautifully rhetorical Haydn performances of players like Schiff and Bavouzet ". Yes, he has!

Like so many, he can't get the sound of modern performance out of your head in order to be able to actually appreciate what is being presented. He can't get past the 200 years of stylistic accretion which is piled on top of the original music being played in the original style. If the playing was done in a modern style, then what would be the point of playing it on authentically recreated instruments? You would just play it on a Steinway and be done with it! I'm not arguing that there is anything wrong with Schiff and Bavouzet (of Hamelin for that matter, or any of those others). I'm saying that they are no basis for comparison with what Beghin is doing. At the very least, compare him to Brautigam, Schornsheim, or Wataya, Staier, Oort, Bilson, Fuller... and even then, the essential difference is a lack of compromise being made for the sake of entertainment value. If that makes Beghin an academic, then so be it. It certainly doesn't devalue the quality of his playing, or the project itself, which is one of the boldest ventures to emerge from the modern recording industry. If that is a bigger concept than one, small-minded beetling critic can handle, that's OK with me. I loved having my intellect entertained for once.

That was very persuasive, Gurn. I have not even read the review of this guy, but you've convinced me. 

BTW, I think he hasn't correctly listened to his Schiff neither.

[Gurn Blanston]

That was very persuasive, Gurn. I have not even read the review of this guy, but you've convinced me. 

BTW, I think he hasn't correctly listened to his Schiff neither.

Ah, yes, but preaching to the choir, I'm afraid, ALF.   

I haven't heard Schiff's Haydn so am in no position to criticize it. I do like McCabe and Brendel though. Not more than Staier, Schornsheim or (yes) Beghin though.

[Bogey]

Ah, yes, but preaching to the choir, I'm afraid, ALF.   

I haven't heard Schiff's Haydn so am in no position to criticize it. I do like McCabe and Brendel though. Not more than Staier, Schornsheim or (yes) Beghin though.

Cool that we have choices.  McCabe and whoever is tickling the ivories in the brick set have made me quite happy.  I just may need to spin some Papa tonight. Hmmmm....

[Gurn Blanston]

Cool that we have choices.  McCabe and whoever is tickling the ivories in the brick set have made me quite happy.  I just may need to spin some Papa tonight. Hmmmm....

That's Oort & Friends, Bill. I agree, that is another nice set, I think it is 5 different keyboardists, but all nicely entertaining.  A night shouldn't pass without at least a modicum of Haydn. Just sayin'....

[Karl Henning]

(* chortle *)

G'night, gents!

[Bogey]

Goodnight, Karl.

[Gurn Blanston]

Despite having been deprived for a long while of a couple of disks, even to the point of one of my Hausmates razzing me about it, through a series of coincidences this week I was finally able to acquire Vols 5 & 6 of the String Trios by the Vienna Philharmonia Trio on Camerata. Greatly looking forward to their arrival early next week. There just aren't enough string trio recordings out there, and it is with mixed feelings that I can now say "I have all 8 of them"...

[Karl Henning]

Not often do I post here in the Haus, but I listen to "Papa" all the time. Well, some (quite a good bit) every week, anyway.

[Gurn Blanston]

Not often do I post here in the Haus, but I listen to "Papa" all the time. Well, some (quite a good bit) every week, anyway.

And that's all that really matters.

[Karl Henning]

And that's all that really matters.

Aye. There's a sort of Why didn't I start listening to more of this, earlier? vibe, which is more thrilling, than any matter of hand-wringing.

[Gurn Blanston]

Aye. There's a sort of Why didn't I start listening to more of this, earlier? vibe, which is more thrilling, than any matter of hand-wringing.

My opinion is that if you are a fan of more modern music, but you want to listen to just one truly Classical composer for balance, then Haydn would be easily the first choice. Hell, 90% of all my listening is Classical Era, and he's still my first choice!

[mc ukrneal]

My opinion is that if you are a fan of more modern music, but you want to listen to just one truly Classical composer for balance, then Haydn would be easily the first choice. Hell, 90% of all my listening is Classical Era, and he's still my first choice!

Isn't Michael swell?

[Karl Henning]

(* eighteenth-century rimshot *)

[Gurn Blanston]

Isn't Michael swell?

Yes, actually, he is. I was lumping the 2 Haydn's together when I wrote that....

[DavidRoss]

So I sit here, up late, listening to the second disc in a row from this set - the Op 76 String Quartets.

Darn...I was sure it would be Quatuor Mosaïques. Need a respite from a world rapidly going madder every day? Haydn 4tets to the rescue!

[Gurn Blanston]

Darn...I was sure it would be Quatuor Mosaïques. Need a respite from a world rapidly going madder every day? Haydn 4tets to the rescue!

So true. And the Op 76 are at the top of the heap when it comes to 'sanity music'!

I like the Mosaiques take on Op 76, but my favorites are these (sorry, David, yet another hard-to-find-but-worth-the-effort disk);




Actually, my final playlist for Op 76 includes some from both of these sets. Tough choices!