Haydn's Haus

[George]

All those noises are a shame. Unfortunately, I haven't found any spare time to go to my father's house (where I have stored some thousands of disks) in order to check out if my Derzhavina set is defective or not (a digital download purchased on 7digital.com before the physical copy, it's actually defective). That said, I find Derzhavina's interpretation superior to Buchbinder, who sounds a bit old-fashioned in comparison. I don't know if it's s a mania of mine, but I usually find Buchbinder's playing as too much legato, lacking in deepness and without enough separation among notes. It's hard to explain...

It's interesting you mention the word mania, for I find Derzhavina's playing at times bordering on manic. It's exciting and fun, yes, but I found myself wondering a few times when listening to her set 'is this Haydn?' I am not entirely sure. I have only heard 1/10 of Buchbinder's set, but to me he seems more traditional, but still fresh and delightful. I am glad to have both sets, though I do wish Derzhavina's label would get back to me and I could get my hands on a non-defective set.

[Wakefield]

It's interesting you mention the word mania, for I find Derzhavina's playing at times bordering on manic. It's exciting and fun, yes, but I found myself wondering a few times when listening to her set 'is this Haydn?' I am not entirely sure. I have only heard 1/10 of Buchbinder's set, but to me he seems more traditional, but still fresh and delightful. I am glad to have both sets, though I do wish Derzhavina's label would get back to me and I could get my hands on a non-defective set.

If you wanted a really eccentric Haydn, Marc-André Hamelin would be the man. Sometimes, he deletes any recognisable trace of Haydn. For sure, this is not a good thing in my book. 

I have not explored the disks of Bavouzet on Chandos, but he is apparently doing some very good things there.

[George]

If you wanted a really eccentric Haydn, Marc-André Hamelin would be the man. Sometimes, he deletes any recognisable trace of Haydn. For sure, this is not a good thing in my book. 

Not in mine either.

And I didn't mean to say Derzhavina's weird or anything, just more energetic and expressive than most. I know she put a lot of time into recording her cycle (15 years to Buchbinder's 2), so I have a lot of respect for her.

I have not explored the disks of Bavouzet on Chandos, but he is apparently doing some very good things there.

I sampled McCabe. He's like Buchbinder on a lot of Valium.

[Wakefield]

Not in mine either.

And I didn't mean to say Derzhavina's weird or anything, just more energetic and expressive than most. I know she put a lot of time into recording her cycle (15 years to Buchbinder's 2), so I have a lot of respect for her.

We're totally in agreement.

I sampled McCabe. He's like Buchbinder on a lot of Valium.

McCabe was the first pianist I listened to playing all the piano sonatas; therefore, I'm biased in his favor. I think he's very good: not on the fast side (you're right), but finally rewarding.

Having said that, maybe if I were listening to McCabe for the first time today, my opinion would be similar to yours. 

[Jo498]

I do not remember Derzhavina as all that "manic", lively yes, but not exaggerated. What I found remarkable (and rather romantic) that she plays some of the "tempo di minuetto" movements very slowly and often "melancholic". This works well if the menuetto more or less replaces a slow movement but takes some getting used to if the menuetto is the final movement.

(I have not checked for noises again but I am pretty sure that they are "deeper" than disc manufacturing. What I thought I could discern is more probably some artefact of editing the tracks, unfortunately.)

[George]

Of all the recordings of Haydn on modern piano I like Jean-Efllam Bavouzet's ongoing cycle more than any of the others mentioned.  Although, I hate the cover art.

Have not heard his Haydn. Hopefully there will be a budget box at some point after he finishes.

[Wakefield]

About Bavouzet:

Although, I hate the cover art.

It's a kind of joke about the similarity between the silhouettes of Haydn and Bavouzet; but, I agree with you, after five volumes is a bit tiring. 

[SonicMan46]

My set arrived and I started listening today.  Uh-oh!

I can't figure out what it is, but there is a noise is, like a "pop" or "click" sound, but it's on my set and two others that I tried from completely different sources. It can be easily heard intermittently throughout the set, but clearly heard on such movements as track 11, CD 01 and track 02, CD 02. 

Can folks who have this set please check and see if you hear the noise and can tell me what it is? It's on Spotify as well.

Hi George - I've been re-listening to the Derzhavina performances and have not noticed any unusual 'pops or clicks' (probably my 4th time through the box set) - also, I put on my headphones and listened specifically to the two tracks you mentioned in the quoted post - quiet as expected.  Did you request a replacement?  Dave

[George]

Hi George - I've been re-listening to the Derzhavina performances and have not noticed any unusual 'pops or clicks' (probably my 4th time through the box set) - also, I put on my headphones and listened specifically to the two tracks you mentioned in the quoted post - quiet as expected.  Did you request a replacement?  Dave

I did. And so far, crickets. 

[Gurn Blanston]

Way back when, before any of this blogging stuff came along, I grew frustrated with trying to discover anything useful about Haydn's music, like even when it was written! So one of the things I have been trying to do, along with bring us all a bit of chronologic biography, is to make it easy to discover when something was written. So this week, I have posted the Music of the 1770's.

Hope you find it interesting, and also that you will point out any oversights or typos or mistakes or anything about it you wish to discuss.

[Karl Henning]

That 70s Show!  Good show, Gurn!

[SonicMan46]

Hey all Haydnistos - 

I just left the post below in the 'considering thread' but likely will receive more attention here - comments appreciated; plus, all of the MP sellers seem to be located in Japan - I've never ordered from there, so are some better than others and what is a reasonable shipping time across the 'western pond'?  Thanks.  Dave

Haydn - London Symphonies w/ Kuijken & La Petite Bande - I've been looking at this Japanese offering for years hoping that it would be re-released elsewhere at a decent price - now the package is available from Japan for $35 on Amazon MP + $4 S/H - my questions are:  1) Are these 'real' CDs vs. CD-R; and 2) Are the liner notes (if available) in Japanese only?  Thanks for any comments - Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

Hey all Haydnistos - 

I just left the post below in the 'considering thread' but likely will receive more attention here - comments appreciated; plus, all of the MP sellers seem to be located in Japan - I've never ordered from there, so are some better than others and what is a reasonable shipping time across the 'western pond'?  Thanks.  Dave

I have ordered twice from Japan via AMP, and both times were brilliant. I can't answer your questions about the liner notes because I have those as the 5 single disks. Clearly they have been remastered and squeezed onto 4 disks. Some of my Japanese disks are bilingual others are not, so I have to leave it to someone else to answer that. Even if they aren't, the set is worth having. I will scan my notes and send them to you. ;-)

[Gurn Blanston]

That 70s Show!  Good show, Gurn!

Thanks, Karl. I am sure they will be useful to a few people anyway. Given how long it took me to get them done, you gotta know the answers aren't readily available!   

[Wakefield]

I have ordered twice from Japan via AMP, and both times were brilliant. I can't answer your questions about the liner notes because I have those as the 5 single disks. Clearly they have been remastered and squeezed onto 4 disks. Some of my Japanese disks are bilingual others are not, so I have to leave it to someone else to answer that. Even if they aren't, the set is worth having. I will scan my notes and send them to you. ;-)

Dave:

My copy is a set of original CDs, not CD-R; but I purchased it several years ago (actually twice because I made a mistake).

Liner notes are only in Japanese.

I have never ordered directly from Amazon.co.jp or its MP; but from cdjapan.co.jp and hmv.co.jp. Both of them were excellent, although quite expensive in terms of shipping and handling, so your price seems excellent, IMO.

[SonicMan46]

My copy is a set of original CDs, not CD-R; but I purchased it several years ago (actually twice because I made a mistake).

Liner notes are only in Japanese.

I have never ordered directly from Amazon.co.jp or its MP; but from cdjapan.co.jp and hmv.co.jp. Both of them were excellent, although quite expensive in terms of shipping and handling, so your price seems excellent, IMO.

Thanks Gurn & Gordo - regular CDs is what I expected (from memory I believe that DHM -> BMG -> Sony BMG); I have at least 3 sets of these works, so notes are not that important (when I started buying CDs in the mid-80s, a lot of the jazz I wanted came only w/ Japanese notes - still have a bunch!).  I checked one of Gordo's links and the image below showed up - assume same package - for $32 (shipping to me ranged from $6 to $18) - I'll add some more items and see what the shipping costs may be?  Dave

[Wakefield]

Thanks Gurn & Gordo - regular CDs is what I expected (from memory I believe that DHM -> BMG -> Sony BMG); I have at least 3 sets of these works, so notes are not that important (when I started buying CDs in the mid-80s, a lot of the jazz I wanted came only w/ Japanese notes - still have a bunch!).  I checked one of Gordo's links and the image below showed up - assume same package - for $32 (shipping to me ranged from $6 to $18) - I'll add some more items and see what the shipping costs may be? Dave

It's a good plan. HMV usually offers discounts if you purchase several items. 

[Mandryka]

It's interesting you mention the word mania, for I find Derzhavina's playing at times bordering on manic. It's exciting and fun, yes, but I found myself wondering a few times when listening to her set 'is this Haydn?' I am not entirely sure. I have only heard 1/10 of Buchbinder's set, but to me he seems more traditional, but still fresh and delightful. I am glad to have both sets, though I do wish Derzhavina's label would get back to me and I could get my hands on a non-defective set.

I can see why she plays like that, because it's quite attractive to see him as playful and forceful, speed is a good way to help get that effect.  I don't think she pulls it off as well as Ranki, she's not bad though - if I have one reservation (and this may be a bit unfair, I don't know) she sometimes sounds a bit studied to me, like too nuanced.  But as I said, that may not be fair. Ranki has been my favourite Haydnist for a long time, you may remember. Having said that I haven't listened to Buchbinder in the early sonatas at all.

Just listening this evening to Buchbinder play some very late sonatas, I was struck by Haydn's stop-go style. I don't know enough about classical style to know how distinctive it is, and how "rhetorical" it is. I shall have to get Beghin's book next time I decide to give classical style some serious time.



 

[George]

Just listening this evening to Buchbinder play some very late sonatas, I was struck by Haydn's stop-go style.

I have been noticing that stop-go style as I have listened to his set. I am not sure I like it. 

[Gurn Blanston]