*SEALED*BIS 15CD HAYDN/Ronald BRAUTIGAM, Fortepiano COMPLETE SOLO KEYBOARD WORKS

	£		30
	$		40

          *Box Set 15CD*            Franz Joseph  HAYDN   (1732-1809) :   COMPLETE  SOLO  KEYBOARD  MUSIC

                 _______   RONALD  BRAUTIGAM,  Fortepiano by Paul McNulty (Amsterdam, 1992, after A.G.Walter c.1795)   _______

• BIS-CD-1731/33   (released 2008)   Recorded 1998-2002, Lanna Church, Sweden
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• 15xCDs in lined paper sleeves, plus 59 page Booklet (Notes in English/French/German) - in hinged lid box

                                                * FACTORY  SHRINKWRAPPED  15 CD  BOX SET *

                           UK  FREEPOST  =  1st CLASS SIGNED FOR            WORLDWIDE  TRACKED/SIGNED FOR  =  £9

FROM AMAZON :
 Thrilling performances on a historically accurate instrument., 20 Mar. 2012 By  Gruntled Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Haydn Complete Music for Solo Keyboard (Audio CD) In my opinion, Haydn's music for (forte)piano is generally badly underrated, especially in comparison to Mozart's. I have long owned the McCabe version of Haydn's complete music for solo keyboard instrument. I'm probably influenced by my harpsichord playing background, but I find both McCabe's instrument and his performances a bit bland. So I wanted a fortepiano performance and also a complete set, because there are FABULOUS works like Haydn's sonata no. 10 which is relatively unknown and you only ever find it on complete versions. Yes I agree with a previous reviewer that at times Brautigam's tempos are overly brisk (this goes especially for the later works), but there are an awful lot of advantages to this set that (to my mind) amply compensate. Brautigam is astoundingly virtuosic and many of his performances are positively thrilling (and make McCabe's version sound dull, even pedestrian, by contrast). As for the criticism that Brautigam's instrument reverberates, that's what a fortepiano is SUPPOSED to do, and in my opinion the instrument is absolutely superb. I decided in the end not to throw out the McCabe version, but I will certainly be listening to Brautigam a lot more frequently. Technically the recording is as much superior to McCabe's as is to be expected, in view of the advances that have been made in this field since the seventies. And finally, the value for money, on the complete Brautigam set, is just unbelievable.

 Haydn's music = 'life is good' (even when it's not), 26 Feb. 2015 By  lofthouse This review is from: Haydn Complete Music for Solo Keyboard (Audio CD) My response to music is uninformed by any understanding or knowledge beyond the most superficial. Haydn's music is a case in point where I am not equipped to tell you why his music is so profoundly uplifting, I can only tell you that it is.

Impressionistically, I say that Haydn makes aristocrats of us all; listening to any of his music is to be in rooms lit by windows (as often as not with morning sunshine pouring in) as tall and wide as the houses we live in. His music has a vigour and depth that one's soul responds to as, `always known'.

These solo keyboard pieces are a case in point; there is dance in these lines, and muscular poetry; both suffused with light. This is important because Haydn's music does encompass the extremes of the human experience and yet the darkness and difficulty never overwhelm; they are acknowledged, but do not set the tone of Haydn's experience or reality, at least as I hear them in his music.

Brautigam's performances have a zest to them that sits well with performances of some of Haydn's other music with which I am familiar (string quartets, keyboard trios and symphonies). Among my favourite performers of these works are Bruggen (symphonies), Fischer likewise, the Tatrai and (original) Tokyo Quartets and the Van Swieten and Florestan Trios

The other reviewer is right about the reverberant sound on these recordings; I don't find it so bothersome though.

Much less reverberant, and special, recordings of some of these keyboard pieces can be found by Maria Bergmann on Hanssler (essential East German radio recordings from 1961 - 1976), Nadia Reisenberg on Ivory Classics (excellent 2CD set) and Zoltan Kocsis' on Hungaroton.





Entering Haydn's musical universe 5 Nov. 2008 By L. Johan - Published on Amazon.com Format: Audio CD        5 out of 5 stars "Complete Music for Solo Piano" - that is, this box collects all the 62 Haydn piano sonatas, including the the early divertimento-sonatas, and all his other known music for piano solo (interesting minor pieces, variations, etc.) on 15 cds, which you get for the price of say 3-4 full price cds. A steal, of course. Or is it?

Well, the competition is not too hard. There is no other set which is "complete" in the same sense. But most of the piano sonatas are available in two other complete sets, John McCabe's (Decca: Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas) and Rudolf Buchbinder's (Warner: Joseph Haydn: Complete Piano Sonatas). I haven't heard these, so I cannot compare the artistic qualities. In terms of money, however, the present set is unbeatable.

In addition to "complete" sets, there are recordings with selections of Haydn's piano music, e.g., with Richter (BBC, Decca: Piano Sonatas Nos 40 41 44 48 52, Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2, 24, 32, 46Richter plays Haydn, Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann, & Rachmaninov (BBC)), Gould (SONY: Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Hob:XVI, Nos. 42, 48-52, Haydn: The Six Last Sonatas), and Brendel (Philips: Haydn: 11 Piano Sonatas). These should be considered in their own right.

Ronald Brautigam is the artist of the present performances. Performing Haydn, he prefers to play on fortepiano, a Paul McNulty 1992 replica of an A. G. Walter 1795 original instrument. It is of course much smaller than a grand piano - smaller in size and in sound as well. I am not an expert in these things, but the difference is significant for all ears. This could be a matter of taste: "authenticist" fortepiano sound vs. grand piano sound. The sound is not quite full bodied but in particular more fragile than what you get from a Steinway. If this is the "correct" sound for Haydn I don't know. But I will not take a stand here. In a sense, however, these performances are revelatory. Despite the fortepiano, the music never sounds thin but complete with all the explosive dynamism that Haydn requires, especially in the later sonatas.

So I am not sure if Brautigam also tries to play in an "authentic" style (whatever that could be). Comparing his performance of piano sonata no. 37 (Hob. XVI:22) with Richter's (BBC), Brautigam's is three minutes longer. One could perhaps have expected the opposite.

Listening to these performances and digesting them take time. That is the usual problem with Haydn boxes (symphonies, piano trios, string quartets - it's a complex universe). Life seems a little too short for grasping it all, if you're not dedicated to Haydn only. In any case, these performances are first class. Brautigam is an accomplished artist, and his playing is both brilliant and thoughtful. Sound quality is impeccable.

Given that you accept the fortepiano sound: warmly recommended.