For a long time, Haydn was seen primarily as a forerunner to Mozart and Beethoven, and his sonatas were often reduced to being considered clever teaching material.
Performer Biography
Markus Becker's complete recording of Max Reger's piano works on 12 CDs is considered legendary and a major achievement in German piano artistry.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Haydn's music is described as profoundly human, reflecting life with all its beauties, depths, hopes, losses, and joys, carried by passion and irony.
Performer Biography
Markus Becker, the pianist on this album, is known for his original programming choices and is an exceptional jazz improviser among classical pianists.
Performer Biography
Markus Becker has won the ECHO-Klassik award three times and the German Critics Choice Award for his CD recordings.
Historical Context
Haydn, born in 1732, still had one foot in the Baroque age, which is evident in the latent polyphony and musical rhetoric in his works.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Joseph Haydn's piano sonatas are characterized by unexpected turns, sudden ideas, humorous associations, and surprising asymmetries, alongside long melodic arcs.
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Haydn: Keyboard Sonata No. 47 in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: III. Finale. Presto
