The major work here is Haydn’s deliciously funny Fantasia (Capriccio) in C major of 1789, a sort of Scarlatti sonata on steroids. Jandó plays it straight–even those moments where Haydn asks that the performer let the note die away entirely pass by almost unobserved, and his tempos in general are stodgy. A pity, because the remainder of the program, mostly a selection of minuets and other dances for keyboard, is enjoyable.
This isn’t major Haydn, obviously, but almost all of it dates from the 1790s, the period when “The Great Entertainer” (to use H.C. Robbins Landon’s felicitous phrase) was at his most entertaining. Here, “playing it straight” lets the music speak for itself with most of its unaffected charm and wit. A decent way to fill in the gaps in your Haydn keyboard collection, then. The sonics are fine too.
