Haydn’s piano sonatas embody the sound of surprise within decorous, economically expressive parameters. The best Haydn pianists bring out these qualities by staying out of the music’s way, yet clarifying its elegant contours with characterful phrasing and absolutely centered rhythm. Ronald Brautigam is such a pianist, as borne out in his second disc for a projected survey of Haydn’s complete keyboard output. He brings out the harmonic tension in the slow movements through varying accentuation and voicing rather than traveling the well-trodden rubato route. Fast movements are brisk but never breakneck, due in part to the pianist’s tendency to taper phrases at cadential junctions. The recorded sound does justice to the fortepiano’s subtle timbral differences from register to register, although the over-resonant sonics amplify the intimacy of Haydn’s pared-down textures to a fault. Some may prefer the closer, more analytical microphone perspective in Andreas Staier’s more headlong Haydn fortepiano interpretations for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. Still, Brautigam’s scrupulous playing merits serious attention, and I’m sure the remaining releases for this series will be as strong as this highly recommended installment. [2/1/2000]
